Welcome to the National Security Agency - NSA/CSS

The National Security Agency (NSA) is pleased to announce four new National Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) in Cyber Operations for academic years 2012 - 2017:

• Dakota State University, South Dakota
• Naval Postgraduate School, California
• Northeastern University, Massachusetts
• University of Tulsa, Oklahoma

In this inaugural year of the new CAE-Cyber Operations Program, these four institutions met the highly-rigorous academic and programmatic criteria required to achieve designation as a CAE in Cyber Operations. This program is in support of NICE - the President's National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education: Building a Digital Nation, and it furthers the goal of broadening the pipeline of skilled workers capable of supporting a cyber-secure nation.

The CAE-Cyber Operations Program is intended to identify institutions offering a curriculum that is deeply technical, interdisciplinary, and firmly grounded in computer science, computer engineering and/or electrical engineering, with extensive opportunities for hands-on applications via labs/exercises. The CAE-Cyber Operations Program complements NSA's existing CAEs in Information Assurance Education and Research Programs, and provides a particular emphasis on technologies and techniques related to specialized cyber operations (e.g., collection, exploitation, and response) to enhance the security posture of our nation. These technologies are critical to intelligence, military and law enforcement organizations authorized to perform these specialized operations.