“A Slam Dunk”: LSU Emerges as National Leader in Cyber for Critical Infrastructure

Accelerating Cybersecurity for the Energy Industry

LSU is the first university in the nation to partner with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T), and Idaho National Laboratory (INL) on a unique model for cybersecurity for critical infrastructure. Louisiana’s extraordinary energy, chemical, and manufacturing assets and LSU’s industry partnerships and cybersecurity expertise are positioning the state as an epicenter of advanced cyber talent and technology development.

As part of this model, LSU will soon receive custom equipment—the first of its kind on a university campus—for cybersecurity training for critical energy infrastructure. The Tiger Skid, as it’s called, will be installed on LSU’s flagship campus in Baton Rouge this summer and housed at LSU’s Petroleum Engineering Research, Training & Testing (PERTT) lab. The PERTT lab is already home to six research wells and field-scale instrumentation where university faculty, staff, and students work directly with industry to develop new technologies and solve energy challenges.

Through the Tiger Skid, industry and agencies will now have access to a cyber threat training and research environment like nowhere else in the nation while students gain hands-on experience in a rapidly evolving field that is essential to Louisiana’s economy and national security.

“When we heard LSU has an oil well on its campus, I was very intrigued—no college or university had ever told us that. A month later, we were at LSU, and it was astonishing to see their investment, the quality of the coursework, and how many cybersecurity students there were.”

Alex Reniers, threat hunting section chief at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency