The University’s Regional Security Operations Center is celebrating National Cybersecurity Awareness Month by opening a new office in the Perry-Castañeda Library.
The UT-RSOC, founded in 2024, operates under the University’s Information Security Office and is state-funded, according to Robert Childers, the support team manager and vulnerability management lead for UT-RSOC. The center was founded after Senate Bill 475 passed, which “provide(s) cybersecurity services to public sector organizations across Texas,” according to its website.
Childers, a computer science sophomore who has worked for the center for more than a year, said a team of students from across campus and professional staff operates the UT-RSOC. The center supports clients by providing automated scanning and alerts, incident response and other cybersecurity services free of charge. Clients include school districts, nonprofits and infrastructure facilities that “don’t have a dedicated security team (or) a huge budget,” Childers said
“Any company who’s either government-sided or a nonprofit can come to us, and we give them our services for free,” Childers said. “We do not charge a single cent.”
The center has been in development for more than two years, UT-RSOC manager Jeremy Carter said, according to UT News. Childers said that before the new office opened, the center worked asynchronously.
“We did have a small, little, tiny office in the backrooms of Dobie (Twenty21),” Childers said. “But no one would actually go in there. It’s great now to have an office. It’s a treat.”
Childers said the updated office includes one of the largest screens on campus, plus added storage and wireless monitors. Childers said the space has created new opportunities to involve more students. He said that the center expects to train more than 50 new students this semester.
“It opens up a lot of lines for collaboration between us students and the professionals,” Childers said.
