Partnership will help public sector entities improve their cybersecurity

Merit Network and Center for Internet Security (CIS) have 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).

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 info@cisalliance.org.