Purdue University is offering new cybersecurity short courses in social engineering and digital forensics as part of a growing suite of offerings through the Purdue Polytechnic Institute’s Cyber Education Network Training Resources (CENTR).

The National Security Agency (NSA) has chosen Cal State San Bernardino to be a leader of its core workforce development initiative, selecting it for a $10.5 million grant and naming the university’s Cybersecurity Center as the Community National Center for Cybersecurity Education. This prestigious designation illustrates CSUSB’s continued prominence as the premier institution of higher education for cybersecurity education and took effect Sept. 18, 2020. 

Brigham Young University (BYU) announced the formation of the new BYU Security Department, which will function separately from and alongside the BYU Police Department. The BYU Security Department will oversee on-campus security for buildings, such as the Museum of Art and the Harold B. Lee Library, as well as campus properties, such as the Motion Picture Studio and West Campus (former Provo High School). The department will also have responsibility for campus parking.

Purdue University Global will commemorate Cybersecurity Awareness Month with a variety of activities throughout October.

For the third consecutive year, the estimated number of violent crimes in the nation decreased when compared with the previous year’s statistics, according to FBI figures released today. In 2019, violent crime was down 0.5% from the 2018 number. Property crimes also dropped 4.1%, marking the 17th consecutive year the collective estimates for these offenses declined.

A ransomware attack last spring at Simon Fraser University (SFU) reportedly compromised the personal information of about 250,000 students, faculty and alumni. Information included student and employee identification numbers, full names, birthdays, course enrolments and encrypted passwords.

Many higher education institutions have seen a decline in on-campus residency, dining, and parking along with deferred enrollment which has resulted in reduced revenue. At the same time, they have had to decrease class sizes, transform non-academic spaces into classrooms, and improve ventilation systems. All of which come with mounting expenses.

Two new public safety committees were created this month by University of Utah Chief Safety Officer Marlon Lynch and appointed by U President Ruth Watkins. The Public Safety Advisory Committee and the Independent Review Committee are comprised of students, faculty, and staff from across the institution and are designed to ensure a broad representation of constituents are included in public safety decision-making.

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and Chancellor Jim Malatras announced the launch of a State University of New York System (SUNY) system-wide COVID-19 case tracker dashboard. The centralized dashboard will provide real time, up-to-date information on COVID-19 cases, testing, and quarantine and isolation space availability across SUNY's 64 colleges and universities to more efficiently monitor, respond to, and contain the virus.