The University of Texas at San Antonio's
UT San Antonio has been designated by the National Security Agency as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education.
The Leader in Advancement of State and Community Cybersecurity
Established in 2001 as part of UT San Antonio’s creation of a cybersecurity program, the CIAS is a research center on a mission to secure the nation’s infrastructure and foster a Culture of Cybersecurity. This grassroots-level research effort continues to produce practical campaigns, such as cybersecurity training and preparedness, cybersecurity competitions and K12 education programs.
20+ Years at UT San Antonio
Ponemon Institute study 2014
Universities.com ranking 2016
National Security Agency
Center for Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Research Cyber Operations
high-quality, high-impact
Competitions
The CIAS hosts the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, Panoply and HiveStorm, and co-founded CyberPatriot. The CIAS has been developing and conducting competition programs to educate, train and prepare individuals for the cybersecurity workforce since 2005.
2024
high-quality, high-impact
Cybersecurity Training
Courses
Seminars
Workshops
Our training efforts focus on improving overall cybersecurity awareness, technical capabilities, professional development and continuity plans. We’ve been helping professionals, organizations and communities prevent, detect, respond to and recover from cyber incidents for more than 20 years.
Reached
K-12 Education
Gaming
Committed to creating a culture of cybersecurity nationwide, the CIAS focuses on K-12 education that introduces students to cybersecurity principles through educational gaming and storytelling. Our goals are to create good cyber hygiene and awareness of cyber careers.
Played In
World Leader
Leading the ISAO Standards Organization since 2015 and helping SLTTs establish comprehensive cybersecurity programs as the CIAS-ISAO, the CIAS actively engages the information sharing community to promote secure, rapid and widespread information sharing that helps detect and block cyber-attacks.
Information Sharing
CIAS-ISAO
National Cybersecurity
Preparedness Consortium
Filling the cybersecurity gap since 2004
A Collaboration of Five Universities
Testimonials
This Is What They Say
Press Coverage
We're in the News
Stanford University wins 2023 National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition
18th annual competition trains next generation of cybersecurity professionals DALLAS (May 1, 2023) – Stanford University competed against nine other student-led teams to become champion
UTSA receives $1.2 million CISA grant to develop Pilot Program for SLTT Governments
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has awarded the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS) at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) a $1.2 million grant to conduct a pilot program to help state, local, tribal and territorial governments identify high value assets (HVA) in order to prioritize resources and planning. The pilot will aid these governments in establishing an HVA program that aligns with the federal government’s while maintaining the flexibility needed to incorporate their individual needs.
Senate Passes Cornyn Bill to Enhance Cybersecurity Programs at UTSA, A&M
(November 22, 2019) — U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) released the following statement after the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium Act, legislation that would authorize the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to work with the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium (NCPC) to help prepare for and respond to cybersecurity risks at the national, state, and local levels, passed the Senate.
StateScoop: UT San Antonio gets CISA grant to develop high-value asset cybersecurity
(March 9, 2021) — The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on Monday announced a $1.2 million grant to a think tank at University of Texas at San Antonio that will launch a pilot program to help state and local governments improve the cyber defenses of their most critical systems.
Free Cyber Security Resources for Children During COVID-19
BLOG — To complement – and supplement – the eLearning assignments children are using to pass the time at home, parents can access additional cybersecurity and technology focused activity sheets. The UTSA Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security offers a variety of resources for free to families to help create a culture of cybersecurity for all ages.
Angelo State and UTSA Partner for Cybersecurity Pilot Program in San Angelo
SAN ANGELO, Texas (August 26, 2021) – The National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity, as part of the National Security Agency (NSA), has awarded a grant in the amount of $1.67 million to the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS) at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) to help communities become more cyber secure nationwide.
New Game Aims to Teach Cybersecurity to Elementary Kids
(July 8, 2020) — Actively working to improve the Nation’s culture of cybersecurity, the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS) at the University of Texas at San Antonio has developed Cyber Threat Protector, a new tabletop card game that is designed to introduce cybersecurity principles and safety to players – beginning in the third grade.
BizJournals: Municipalities becoming more prominent target for cybercrime
Municipalities are being attacked and their data is being held ransom by cybercriminals. Recently, 22 cities in Texas were hit with simultaneous ransomware attacks. The attack on the 22 cities was a hot topic during two recent back-to-back conferences in San Antonio: the CyberTexas Foundation conference and the Information Sharing and Analysis Organization Standards Organization’s third annual International Information Sharing Conference hosted by the CIAS at UTSA.
University of Central Florida wins 2024 National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition for Sixth Time
19th annual competition trains the next generation of cybersecurity professionals amid current skills shortage SAN ANTONIO (April 27, 2024) – University of Central Florida competed