MSU creates center for cybersecurity training

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS)– Michigan State University’s School of Criminal Justice is addressing the rise of cybercrime – with a 1-million-dollar training center that’ll be housed on campus.  

“Cybercrime is one of these problems that isn’t going to go away no matter how much we say this isn’t our problem or, you know, I can defend against these issues myself,” Thomas Holt, director of master’s degree programs for the School of Criminal Justice at MSU said. 

Authorities said in the last two decades cybercrimes have dramatically increased and, as a result, there is high demand for law enforcement to be ready to respond. 

“There are limits on what we can do as individuals. And increasingly, we’re going to see a need for local agencies to be able to respond, even if one of the officers doesn’t care about it as a problem,” Holt said. 

Holt said they will not only be offering training to our local officers but to different leaders across the state, including community resource officers, school resource officers, and others who are working with youth or with the public, to understand the problem of cybercrime. 

Holt said cybercrimes include things like computer hacking, theft of personal information, software infections, fraud, and sextortion.

“Well, research tells us that local police in particular are not equally prepared for cybercrime response,” Holt said. 

“And so, as a result, if you’re in a rural county or you’re in a place that doesn’t really have much of a tech sector, your local police agency may or may not know how to respond.”

Holt said our community has to get to get better at improving the overall response.

The center plans to roll out training sessions beginning in August.