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UA Little Rock receives $1 million to upgrade cybersecurity program

Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the grant to UA Little Rock in the hope of protecting the next generation of Arkansans.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — On Thursday, inside the Bailey Alumni and Friends Center on the UA Little Rock campus, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin announces his office donating a $1 million cybersecurity grant to strengthen the school's program in hopes of protecting the next generation of Arkansans.

We probably all are familiar with the word cybersecurity.

Many of us have fallen prey to or experienced an attempt to steal our money or have our accounts hacked, whether that be on a computer, cell phone, or tablet.

Situations like those are the exact thing Griffin hopes to stop by donating $1 million to UA Little Rock's cybersecurity program.

"What goes on in this university on cyber is going to be helpful to Walmart and Tyson and Murphy USA," Griffin said. "The massive companies that are going to be residing in Magnolia, like one of the largest lithium deposits in the world."

According to the university, the grant will establish a cyberspace operations research and education center on the university's campus.

The degree plan for cybersecurity has been in place for nearly four years, but with the growing interest in the field, the university's resources have become limited.

UA Little Rock Associate Professor Dr. Phillip Huff said this grant will help expand that.

"This new center will provide dedicated secure spaces where our students can work on sensitive projects in partnership with community leaders, law enforcement and industry mentors," Huff said.

Cameron Jackson, a student, has already completed his bachelor's degree in cybersecurity and is now pursuing his master's.

Jackson said he was among the first students to complete the program and loves its current direction.

"I'm actually the first class to graduate with a bachelor's in cybersecurity," Jackson said. "It's great to see that we have over 100 students because, at some point, I was one of like nine other students [in the program]."

Now, he is applying his education to life by protecting those most vulnerable to these types of attacks.

"We have an older generation that we have time to think about," Jackson said. "It's important that we have an infrastructure in place to make them feel comfortable and let them have their backs."

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