New UTRGV cyber security center to partner with Valley governments

EDINBURG — The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in collaboration with the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) unveiled a new center that is aimed to support local cyber security and give students hands-on experience for the real cyber world.

The center is called the Regional Security Operations Center (RSOC) and has an office on the UTRGV Edinburg and Brownsville campuses.

Hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday outside of the UTRGV Education Complex, leadership from UTRGV, DIR, the state and the city of Edinburg joined in officially unveiling the center.

“Cyber security is a necessity, it is not a luxury to protect our data and that’s so important for us,” State Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa said at the ribbon cutting. “Nowadays, you pick up the paper every other day you see some hacker, some cyber security threat coming in, taking data, personal information. The damage is not only to our communities, but our families and our finances.”

RSOC’s goal is to help support cyber security for local governmental agencies. The center offers security monitoring, alerts, guidance, training and protection for clients to help prevent or quickly recover from cyber security issues.

The center is one of three that DIR is launching with public higher education institutions to enhance cyber security for cities, counties and school districts to increase the number of cyber security analysts.

DIR launched the first RSOC in 2022 at Angelo State University and selected UTRGV and the University of Texas-Austin as future sites.

RSOC is set to offer free security services to governmental agencies in 28 counties of Texas including the Valley, and Val Verde and Refugio counties.

The Harlingen Public Waterworks and the city of Pharr are among the governmental agencies already partnered with the university’s center said Seth Pheasant, deputy chief information security officer.

Arriving at UTRGV three years ago as an information security architect, Pheasant said starting on the proposal for the center is one of the first things he worked on.

Seth Pheasant, UTRGV deputy chief information security officer, speaks during a tour of the Regional Security Operations Center on the Edinburg campus on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (Omar Zapata | The Monitor)

“It’s such a relief to finally be here,” he said. “There’s always these hurdles along the way but also it’s been a lot of fun building this program out. It’s a topic I’m so passionate about. I’ve been doing this my whole life and I’m glad to see all the team members we’ve been able to bring on board as part of this program.”

Pheasant said services that will be provided by the center include things such as vulnerability scanning for public addresses, credential monitoring services, endpoint detection and response, and network security.

As for how the center benefits UTRGV students, Pheasant said students gaining hands-on experience will give them a competitive edge in the job market.

“I can actually speak to that firsthand, I’m actually a byproduct of a very similar program myself,” the Illinois State University alum said. “It’s just what has been incredibly beneficial to my career and I just hope that we can produce similar things.

Lizbeth Jaime, a recent UTRGV graduate with a bachelors degree in cyber security, is currently an analyst trainee for RSOC.

Jaime said she worked with the UTRGV Information Security Office which gave her hands-on experience which has prepared her for the new position at RSOC.

“It’s bittersweet because … there’s very low stats of women and even lower stats of Hispanic women being a part of (cyber security),” she said. “You’re part of a male dominated industry but you’re also contributing your part and your knowledge. You’re putting yourself out there and helping other female workers that want to join.”

Pheasant agrees that information technology has historically been male dominated but is seeing a shift for more women to get involved.

“I think we are trying to champion that here,” he said. “To get as diverse of an environment as we can … we believe everybody has something to offer. Many of my coworkers are female and they have skills that I absolutely admire and I honestly don’t know what I would do without them.”

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