In a landmark move to revolutionize rural South Carolina’s cybersecurity landscape, Denmark Technical College and Fusion Centers have announced plans for a state-of-the-art managed security operations center (SOC) corporation headquartered and founded in Denmark, SC.
Inspired and sponsored by revolutionary work in securing the Nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) by the Cyber Bridge Foundation and the CBDA scholarship committee, the managed SOC will serve multiple customers, including HBCUs, higher education institutions, the United States Department of Defense and other public agencies.
Fusion Cyber, which has been instrumental in providing support for DTC’s emerging cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI) programs, is leading the development and the creation of a new company, Fusion Centers Inc., that will operate the SOC, providing endpoint detection and response, a cutting-edge AI cybersecurity solution to discover and address cyber threats in real-time.
“We’re happy to announce that we’re taking technical apprenticeship education into the AI cyber-secured age by rolling out Fusion Centers, which will be headquartered on Denmark Technical College’s campus,” said Christopher Etesse, CEO of Fusion Cyber. “Through the Cyber Bridge Initiative and our network of support, we envision multiple Fusion Centers working in concert across senior military institutes, HBCUs, and Minority Serving Institutions from New England, through the mid-Atlantic and across the Southeast, bringing well-paying new-economy jobs to these rural economies.”
Fusion Centers will operate on an apprenticeship model, providing a pathway to an in-demand career field with economic mobility focusing on jobs of the future while providing a much-needed service to HBCUs and other institutions.
“The SOC will be an integral part of complying with the stringent guidelines of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which lays out the specifics for the layers of cybersecurity required for colleges to continue to offer federal financial aid, for Denmark Technical College and many other HBCUs,” said Willie L. Todd, Jr., Ph.D., President and CEO, Denmark Technical College.
“In addition to providing apprenticeships, the SOC will offer employment opportunities to our rural veterans, who have so much to offer but often struggle to find relevant career options after leaving active duty,” added Etesse.
The SOC will offer 24/7 services 365 days a year, providing unmatched security for student data.
Fusion Centers has hired Sandor Slijderink for the on-site director position for the SOC and aims to go live in the first half of 2024.
“The development of this facility will allow students of our small, rural HBCU to achieve economic mobility while building a fulfilling career in the cybersecurity industry. Denmark Technical College is beyond grateful for Fusion Cyber and all the partners involved as we increase diversity and work to achieve equity in the information technology field. We aim to be a major disruptor in the trajectory of cybersecurity education,” said Todd.
