*In this photo:* DSU, Jeh Johnson, National HBCU Week

On Campus

U.S. Homeland Security Sec. Jeh Johnson Speaks at DSU

Monday, November 7, 2016

DSU, Jeh Johnson, Cyber Security, Homeland Security U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, DSU President Harry L. Williams, Gov. Jack Markell, U.S. Sen. Tom Carper and State of Delaware CIO James Collins, pose outside of the OSCAR Building.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson paid a visit to DSU on Nov. 7 and let its students and faculty know that there are abundant job opportunities in the federal government’s cyber security field.

Secretary Johnson was the keynote speaker at a Cyber Security Conversation event held in the MLK Jr. Student Center. The standing-room filled parlor included Gov. Jack Markell, U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, members of the state’s Department of Technology and Information, along with DSU President Harry L. Williams, administrators, faculty and students representatives, especially from the University’s Department of Computer and Information Sciences.

Prior to the event, Dr. Williams gave Secretary Johnson a walking tour of the DSU campus, including a stop at the Optical Science Center for Applied Research (OSCAR) Building.

For images from the Cyber Security Conversation event, click on the below link:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/48216028@N03/sets/72157672631634474/show

The Homeland Security secretary shared some of his thoughts on the country’s current cyber security challenges.

“When I first began as the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, I thought that counter-terrorism should be the cornerstone of our work,” Security Johnson said. “Over the last three years, I have come to believe there can be more one cornerstone, and that cyber security should be the other one.”

He noted that while “bad cyber actors and cyber hack-a-visit” are become increasingly more sophisticated, they can be countered by better email discipline by everyday users.

“The most sophisticated cyberattack occurs by a simple act of spear phishing,” Secretary Johnson said. “It happens when someone opens an email that shouldn’t have been opened.”

For the abundant number of computer and information sciences majors, the Homeland Security secretary gave them hope for their job prospects.

“We need good cyber security talent to come work for Homeland Security and the federal government agencies,” he said. “We are spending a lot of time going to Historically Black Colleges and Universities looking for talent for cyber security.”

In addition to talking about cyber security, Secretary Johnson talked about the first time he met then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama at a fundraiser. “In 2006, he asked if I would support him (in his run for president),” he said. “I knew I was participating in history, and in 2008 Barack Obama was elected by 69 million voters, the largest popular vote for a human being in this country.”

DSU, Homeland Security, Cyber Security Job Fair Ty'Ron Washington (l), a DSU management information major, speaks with representatives of Homeland Security at the Cyber Security Job Fair.

The Homeland Security secretary also came to DSU bearing honors for Sen. Carper and a proclamation from President Obama celebrating 2016 National HBCU Week, which he presented to the DSU president.

After the keynote address, the Cyber Security Conversation event continued with a discussion that included expert perspectives from panelists Ian Bromwich, managing director/CIO of Design and Digital, Barclays Bank; Peter Edge, executive associate director of Homeland Security Investigations for U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement; Elayne Starkey, chief security officer, State of Delaware; and Dr. Marwan Rasamny, chairperson and associate professor, DSU Department of Computer and Information Sciences.

The panel discussion was moderated by James Collins, chief information officer for the State of Delaware.

The event also included a Cyber Security Job Fair that was held on the 2^nd floor of the MLK Jr. Student Center.