Fairfield University has a new Security Operations Center (SOC), designed to monitor the University’s network, guard against cyberattacks, and look for potentially critical vulnerabilities.

“The SOC will be run by computer science students. They will monitor data through dedicated software, identify potentially critical vulnerabilities, and raise alerts to the security team of the ITS department,” explained Mirco Speretta, PhD, director of the School of Engineering’s Cybersecurity program.

The state-of-the-art SOC lab is equipped with 11 computers and five 65” TV screens. Six of the computers are used by security technicians and the remaining five are used to cast information onto the TV screens. 

The partnership between the School of Engineering and Information Technology Services to launch the new lab began several years ago, while collaborating on cybersecurity projects in the existing Cybersecurity Lab, which is used by graduate students. 

Said Dr. Speretta, “We wanted to offer our undergraduate students a more involved and meaningful cybersecurity experience. For this reason, the security team — led by Fairfield’s Chief Information Security Officer Henry Foss — and the School of Engineering explored the idea of opening industry-standard tools to students in a professional environment.”

Through hands-on experience in the SOC lab, students will learn how to use industry-standard software such as Splunk, CrowdStrike, and Proofpoint, while monitoring data and identifying potential threats in a controlled environment. 

“An SOC lab represents an essential component for the security of a modern organization," noted Dr. Speretta. "The activities carried out by the students working in the SOC will greatly increase the overall security infrastructure of the University.”