U.S. Senator Rick Santorum says program will better equip U.S. Army

PITTSBURGH, PA, April 17, 2003—Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute  (SEI) hosted U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and representatives from the  U.S. Army Reserve’s Chief Information Officer’s office today for  the launch of a new partnership between the SEI and the Army Reserve Information  Operations Command (ARIOC). A champion of cyber security, Senator Santorum helped  to secure $1.5 million in funding for this initiative between the SEI and the  U.S. Army Reserve to promote information assurance.

This partnership will give the Army Reserve access to the world-class resources  developed by the SEI to provide protection and defense of critical U.S. Army  infrastructures. The ARIOC brings Army Reservists with high technology skills  developed in their civilian occupations to support the Army and the rest of  the DoD in the critical areas of information assurance. The new partnership  will enhance these skills by training Reservists to act as teams, conduct information  assurance operations and respond to threats.

“Senator Santorum is a leader in the U.S. Senate in the high-technology  arena, and he has routinely supported the work of Carnegie Mellon and the SEI  in the critical domain of information-assurance technologies,” Stephen  E. Cross, CEO and director of the SEI stated. “This joint partnership  will enhance the ARIOC’s ability to support the Army and the rest of the  DoD in the areas of information-assurance training, operations, and threat assessment  and response.”

Senator Santorum, a champion of cyber security, has secured $1.5 million in  funding for this particular initiative between the SEI and the U.S. Army Reserve  to promote information assurance.

“The SEI continues to make Pennsylvania a leader in the field of information  assurance through their study and dissemination of information-assurance standards  and practices,” said Senator Santorum. “As we continue to rely on  information technology to support our civilian and military needs, we must guard  against non-traditional threats and address our cyber vulnerabilities. The partnership  between the SEI and the U.S. Army Reserve will equip our military to counter  these threats.”

The ARIOC is composed of five regional information operations centers that  were established based on their proximity to national information-technology  centers, with the North Central IOC headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa.