AFRL enters into partnership with local school Published Jan. 30, 2006 By Air Force Research Laboratory Rome Public Affairs ROME, N.Y., (AFMCNS) -- Development and testing of a high school curriculum in cyber security is the goal of an educational partnership agreement recently formulated between the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Information Directorate and Rome Catholic School. Under terms of the agreement, the directorate's Cyber Operations Branch will provide technical assistance to the school, including course material, equipment and mentoring. "The pilot program takes flight as a technical elective in the spring semester - starting Jan. 31," said Dr. Kamal Jabbour, principal computer engineer in the Cyber Operations Branch. "The elective course in cyber security will meet four periods each week, alternating lectures and laboratory sessions, for a total of 20 weeks." The pilot curriculum builds on the success of the Advanced Course in Engineering Cyber Security Boot Camp, and seeks to develop a sound scientific foundation to cyber security education. The course outline includes a broad range of cyber security topics ranging from network configuration, vulnerabilities and threats, to prevention, detection and response. Syracuse University's College of Engineering joined in this three-way partnership, and assisted in training the Rome Catholic School instructors and in equipping a 12-station laboratory to support the experimental component of the course. "The goals of this program include a documented and tested curriculum for a high school cyber security elective that meets New York State educational requirements, including a detailed course outline and lesson plans for eventual statewide adoption," said Dr. Jabbour.