Students in Ball State University's computer technology program will be getting help from someone besides their professors.
The Department of Technology's program has invited Wiresoft Inc. to serve as a member of the program's advisory committee.
Wiresoft, a Cincinnati network security provider for small to medium-sized businesses, has donated Firegate 100, a unified threat management device, to the computer technology program so that students studying network security can practice with cutting edge technology, David Hua, assistant professor of technology, said.
"You hear on the news how companies are being hacked into," Hua said. "The Firegate 100 is a device that helps prevents those things from happening. As students are learning about technology and because they're going to become the persons responsible for networks, it's good that they be familiar with the resources they need in order to get the job done."
The Firegate 100 is to be used in the computer technology program's student datacenter and will be available to students sooner than the department expected. The datacenter is a smaller version of datacenters found on corporate networks and has been under development. This is the first time the program has had access to such current technology, and the new device has quickened the development, Hua said.
Thomas Schram, president and CEO of Wiresoft, said he felt it was important that Wiresoft provide Ball State with a platform for teaching its computer security students. He said that he and Terry Ballantini, regional sales manager for Wiresoft, can be consultants to the class if there are questions about the technology.
"It's a great way to interact and react with the university's teaching methods, and it helps get our name out," Ballantini said. " There's nothing like a hands-on training tool. That's what the Firegate 100 is to these students."
Schram met Hua at a trade show in Indianapolis and Schram, a native of Peru, Ind., which is 45 minutes from Muncie, said that finding out Hua was a professor at Ball State teaching computer security caught his attention. Not only is this the first time that Ball State has worked with a network security provider but also the first time Wiresoft has worked with a university in this way. Ballantini said that since becoming partners with the Ball State in December, Wiresoft is now establishing partnerships with Illinois State University, University of Illinois and other places in Ohio,
"It gives a good excuse to get back to Indiana," Schram said. "I know how important it is to give back and that's what I'm doing."
The computer technology program is planning to get involved in the community and economic development of Muncie, as well as in surrounding areas. The program would work with both smaller, local non-profit companies and profit companies who may not be familiar with network security. Hua said development of the datacenter has been sped up by Wiresoft's donation. The new technology gives students the opportunity to experience how the different aspects of an infrastructure are interdependent. Students need to be aware of how changes to one part of the system affect the rest of the system, Hua said.
"What David and his department have done is just nothing short of what I think is terrific," Schram said. "It's practical experience. I doubt that there are many other U.S. universities that offer a computer security class where they are using actual current equipment that we have out on the market."
Schram said Wiresoft's work with the university has helped the students understand network security more to help employers that they will work for.
"The only way that we can communicate to the general population the critical nature of protecting what you have is through the people actually doing the work," Schram said. "Those are the students in that class."
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