Free Cybersecurity assessment program available to students

Kilgore College students can now apply for the Cyber FastTrack program, part of an innovative cybersecurity training partnership with the SANS Institute and the state of Texas.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the partnership in February.

Cyber FastTrack will allow any college student to progress through cybersecurity training with up to up to $2.5 million awarded in college scholarships through the program.

“This represents a partnership of some of the nation’s key infrastructure programs and initiatives working to find talent to support cybersecurity across the nation,” said Danny Darden, CIT instructor at KC. “This is another opportunity for KC students to show that they are aware of national challenges and be prepared to participate in securing our future.”

No previous cybersecurity experience is required to sign up for the all-inclusive, tuition-free online program, which is underway and continues through September of 2019.

Students can learn more about the program at https://www.cyber-fasttrack.org/ or by contacting Darden at 903-983-8680 or ddarden@kilgore.edu.

To participate in Cyber FastTrack, students must meet the following criteria:

• Have access to a computer and the internet
• 18 years of age or older
• permanent resident of the United States
• Have been registered as a student at a regionally accredited community college, four-year college, or graduate school in the past 24 months in one of the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming.