The Department of Informatics and Networked Systems is pleased to announce that the University of Pittsburgh, through the Laboratory of Education and Research on Security Assured Information Systems (LERSAIS), has been redesignated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (NCAE-CD). This designation is awarded by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to academic insituttions offering cybersecurity-related degree programs. Pitt received this prestigous designation for its "Security Assured Information Systems" specialization in the Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS) program in the Department of Informatics and Networked Systems.
Programs are evaluated and recognized for their ability to prepare students to protect the National Information Infrastructure. The redesignation means that the University of Pittsburgh is one of only 17 institutions in Pennsylvania to be designated as an NCAE-CD, whose graduates from the MSIS program have the skills and knowledge to contribute to the defense of the country's cyberspace.