Cybercrime is growing, both globally and in Texas. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar will be on the University of Houston campus Tuesday, Oct. 22, to share results of a study from his office on the threat and to meet with UH cybersecurity faculty and students.
Texas ranked third among states in its number of cybercrime victims in 2017 and second in its financial losses, according to the study. The cybersecurity industry employs about 130,000 people in Texas and contributes at least $35.5 billion to Texas’ gross state product, according to the comptroller's office.
Hegar’s visit to Houston is part of a statewide tour of efforts by the state’s universities to produce a skilled cybersecurity workforce. The average annual salary for cybersecurity workers is $110,000.
The University of Houston is a leader in cybersecurity research and education, one of only a handful of universities designated by the National Security Agency as a Center for Academic Excellence in both cyber defense education and research and provides national leadership to the NSA Center of Academic Excellence program through the CAE National Resource Center for Knowledge Units and Academic Standards, which UH has hosted since the resource center’s inception.
The University is also home to the Center for Information Security Research and Education and is a national leader in cybersecurity for critical infrastructures through a professional master’s degree program aimed at protecting these critical elements of the economy.
WHAT: Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar will discuss cyber threats in Texas and
efforts to address them
WHEN: 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22
WHERE: College of Technology, University of Houston campus
MEDIA CONTACT: Jeannie Kever, 713-743-0778, jekever@uh.edu