Merit Logo Merit IconSet
Skip to content

Merit Network and the Center for Internet Security Announce Collaboration

Note: This article from Merit's News Archive is over 2 years old. The information contained within it may be out of date, including missing images or broken links.

February 26, 2014

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Merit Network, Inc. and Center for Internet Security (CIS) announced today a collaborative partnership to help entities across the nation improve their cyber defenses by offering Michigan Cyber Range cybersecurity training courses and Merit Secure Sandbox service to state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) governments, nonprofit organizations and public sector educational institutions at discounted rates.

The Michigan Cyber Range, hosted by Merit Network, offers certification courses for a number of cybersecurity disciplines, with instruction available on site and live online. Courses can also be delivered upon request to any location in the U.S. The curriculum for the cybersecurity courses is developed and provided by Mile2, a developer of vendor-neutral professional certifications for the cybersecurity industry. Mile2 is NSA-accredited, and maps to the recommendations of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies (NICCS).
Michigan Cyber Range
Merit Secure Sandbox is a secure, virtual environment for professional training, product testing, and research. Offered as Platform as a Service through the Michigan Cyber Range, this virtual environment is specially engineered to provide a full range of capabilities without the cost burden of specialized hardware, expensive software licenses, maintenance, and network bandwidth charges. Users may build their secure sandbox from a catalog of ready-made virtual machines or supply their own virtual computer environment.

“The partnership with CIS will increase the Cyber Range’s national audience,” said Joe Adams, vice president of research and cyber security at Merit Network. “We want people and organizations across the nation to take advantage of the Range’s courses and services and CIS will help us reach them. We’ve got a strong presence in Michigan and we’re ready to step on to the national stage.”

The Center for Internet Security serves as a central resource in the development and delivery of products and services, assisting its partners in government, academia, the private sector and the general public in improving their cyber security posture. CIS serves a leadership role in efforts that will have the most significant impact on improving security both nationally and globally.

“We thank Merit Network for their willingness to partner with us and make it possible for so many organizations to implement essential security solutions at a lower cost than they could achieve individually,” said William F. Pelgrin, CIS president and CEO .

For more information about accessing the discounted services, contact the Center for Internet Security at 518-880-0699 or [email protected].

As a benefit of Membership, Merit Members may be eligible to receive discounted cybersecurity courses & services, for more information contact [email protected].

About Merit Network

Merit Network Inc., is a nonprofit corporation owned and governed by Michigan’s public universities. Merit owns and operates America’s longest-running regional research and education network. In 1966, Michigan’s public universities created Merit as a shared resource to help meet their common need for networking assistance. Since its formation, Merit Network has remained at the forefront of research and education networking expertise and services. Merit provides high-performance networking and IT solutions to Michigan’s public universities, colleges, K-12 organizations, libraries, state government, healthcare, and other non-profit organizations.

For more information: www.merit.edu

About The Center for Internet Security (CIS)

The Center for Internet Security (CIS) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization focused on enhancing the cyber security readiness and response of public and private sector entities, with a commitment to excellence through collaboration. CIS produces consensus-based, best practice secure configuration benchmarks and security automation content, and serves as the key cyber security resource for state, local, territorial and tribal governments, including chief information security officers, homeland security advisors and fusion centers. CIS provides products and resources that help partners achieve security goals through expert guidance and cost-effective solutions.

For more information: www.cisecurity.org

[meritmediacontact]