Partnership enables leading cybersecurity and IT solutions provider to address the University’s robust cybersecurity needs.
TekStream, a cybersecurity and IT solutions leader, announces its partnership with Louisiana Tech (LA Tech).
The collaboration strengthens the University’s cybersecurity posture and supports workforce development by establishing a student-run security operations centre (SOC) powered by Splunk enterprise security solutions.
LA Tech’s Chief Information Officer, Dr Thomas Hoover, alongside the University’s College of Engineering and Sciences, sought a solution that would enhance the university’s security posture while creating advantageous career opportunities for students.
Partnering with TekStream provided an opportunity to do so without the lengthy amount of time traditionally required to create a programme from the ground up.
Based on TekStream’s Workforce Academy, the student-run SOC offers students hands-on cybersecurity experience by working in a live, production-grade environment, speeding up their career readiness.
The SOC aligns alert complexity with skill development, providing the university with cost-containment leverage while ensuring students engage in threat hunting, log analysis, incident response and risk reporting at a comfortable skill level.
All activities are mapped to NIST and NICE frameworks and supported by TekStream’s expertise.
“The cybersecurity industry has a severe need for new, eager talent,” says Rob Jansen, Chief Executive Officer, TekStream.
“We’re excited that our partnership with LA Tech will expand on the growing number of programmes TekStream has with higher education institutions to create a new and improved pathway for students to enter the industry.”
With the student-run SOC established by TekStream and Splunk, LA Tech enhances its cybersecurity operations within its budget, benefiting from neighbourhood watch-style security.
The programme will help the university attract high-achieving students interested in cybersecurity careers.
With the accreditation received by the LA Tech programme, students will graduate with over two years of cybersecurity experience and a transcript reflecting the complexity and breadth of their training.
The first group of students will begin their training and manage SOC activities this fall semester.
Within six months of launch, about 20 students are expected to be employed.
“The job market for new graduates is increasingly competitive, despite the need for new cybersecurity talent,” says Dr Hoover.
“We’re excited to give our students the competitive advantage they need to successfully launch their careers after graduation. At the same time, our partnership with TekStream and Splunk allows us an opportunity to create a long-term, affordable solution for shoring up our cyber defences at the same time.”
Building on the success of similar programmes at institutions such as Louisiana State University and The New Jersey Institute of Technology, LA Tech’s new student-run SOC is designed for a rapid launch, giving students the chance to upskill quickly.
Increasingly, higher education institutions are adopting TekStream’s co-managed, student-operated SOCs as a cost-effective way to strengthen their cybersecurity posture while equipping students with a competitive edge as they begin their professional careers.
We asked LA Tech’s Chief Information Officer, Dr Thomas Hoover, further questions to find out more about the project.
What were the primary security gaps you aimed to address by establishing a student-run SOC at Louisiana Tech?
Most quality cybersecurity MDR and co-managed SOC services are too costly for university security budgets. Implementing and managing a SOC is expensive, especially when you lack access to skilled talent but want to run a security program 24/7/365.
How does a live, production-grade SOC improve both the university’s cyber-resilience and students’ real-world readiness?
By partnering with TekStream, Splunk and AWS to launch our co-managed SOC at LA Tech, we gain access to a high-quality, affordable cybersecurity program that also creates an opportunity to provide our students with a level of hands-on learning experience not available at most institutions, giving them a leg up when entering the workforce upon graduation. It provides them with the skillset of a level 2 analyst. At a time when AI is compounding the industry-wide talent gap, this is more critical than ever for soon-to-be grads.
What role does alignment with NIST and NICE frameworks play in strengthening governance and risk management?
Alignment with the NIST and NICE frameworks is foundational to strengthening governance and managing risk. From a governance perspective, using frameworks like NIST allows us to clearly define roles, responsibilities and control ownership across the university and with TekStream. The alignment is critical in co-managed environments, ensuring accountability, supporting audit readiness and allowing us to demonstrate due diligence to regulators, accreditors and executive leadership without reinventing the wheel.
On the risk management side, they help us prioritise what matters most. By mapping threats, vulnerabilities and controls to frameworks like NIST, we can make informed decisions about where to best invest our resources.
The NICE framework plays a complementary role, particularly for a student-powered SOC. It provides a framework that defines cybersecurity roles, skills and career pathways, enabling us to safely integrate students into real-world operations while managing risk through clear task scoping, tiered access and competency-based progression.
How has Splunk Enterprise Security enhanced visibility and incident response across the university environment?
A major benefit of running a multi-tenant Splunk setup with TekStream is access to shared threat intelligence across all universities participating in the program, which leverages TekStream’s whole-of-state approach to cybersecurity. It creates a community of shared intelligence in which a threat mitigated and remediated by one university can be shared with all others, enabling all to proactively benefit from threats identified and mitigated, regardless of campus origin.
What safeguards are in place to ensure security quality while students handle real operational responsibilities?
Although the students have a large role in SOC operations and monitoring for and reacting to security events, TekStream still holds a key role in the structure of the SOC, providing invaluable guidance to our students while also managing the odd hours, those when students are in class, on break or studying for their next exam. It is truly a co-managed SOC structure.
Additionally, they leverage a ‘pyramid-of-pain’ model when coordinating with students on their work, ensuring they are operating at a level that fits both their skill set and comfort.
How do you see this model shaping the future of cybersecurity talent development in higher education?
Entry-level cybersecurity talent is being forced to level up their skills and experience due to the ongoing impact of AI on the industry. Higher ed programs modelled after this one help students gain the experience and resources they need to develop those skills and enter the market at a competitive level. These programs will help raise the bar for what is considered table-stakes cybersecurity education moving forward.
