The North East Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas (NEISD) has opened the Institute of CyberSecurity and Innovation (iCSI), which offers cyber learning opportunities to students in Texas' tenth largest school district.

iCSI trains students on how to detect and identify hacks and cyberattacks and respond to threats. Students from all seven North East ISD high schools have access to networking and cybersecurity classes. Students work through a four-year pathway where they have the opportunity to earn professional certifications in the areas of information technology. The curriculum provides students with hands-on learning opportunities and real-world exercises related to the professional skills employers are looking for.

iCSI has two cybersecurity classrooms designed with the look and feel of a security operations center. Each classroom contains the technology needed to train students in threat monitoring, connecting them to live RTSP streaming feeds, internet traffic analysis, cyberattack alerts, threat intelligence, local and national web resources, news broadcasts and social media channels. Content displayed includes dark web transaction monitoring, hacking community chatter and maps depicting simulated cybersecurity attack origination and target points. Aiding iCSI in these educational opportunities are three video walls powered by RGB Spectrum’s Galileo video display processors.

 At iCSI, students learn to build, configure and secure computer systems and networks within a data center designed specifically for this purpose. Students can deploy hundreds of virtual machines and private networks. They are challenged daily to study key cybersecurity concepts.