There are more than 650,000 cybersecurity-related jobs open across the nation, and the UNLV College of Engineering is doing its part to help fill the gap at a time when cyber attacks on companies and individuals are at an all-time high.

UNLV officials will discuss current efforts and how they align with the White House's newly published National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy (NCWES) during a Cyber Workforce Summit on Wednesday, Aug. 9.

The NCWES provides pathways to facilitate the creation of opportunities and skills development for American workers and the next generation digital workforce to pursue good-paying, middle-class cybersecurity jobs. UNLV contributed to the development of the NCWES and will welcome the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD), private sector, academic, and community stakeholders to discuss strategies to place more Americans into cyber jobs and how student experiential learning - including UNLV’s Free Cyber Clinic - can support community and local government access to cybersecurity resources.

This event will also feature a tour of UNLV’s first-ever cybersecurity escape room. A team of students and faculty from UNLV’s Department of Computer Science recently built the escape room as part of the annual GenCyber Camp last month. The escape room is split up into segmented compartments, each featuring a cybersecurity challenge that must be solved before moving on to the next area. Activities include USB tampering, lock picking, invisible ink, code cracking and drone flying.

The Summit will open with welcome remarks from UNLV officials, and a keynote address by Kemba Walden, Acting National Cyber Director at the White House. A panel discussion cybersecurity education and workforce development will follow.