快活视频

By Rebecca Kirkman on February 15, 2022

Towson University-born cybersecurity nonprofit SecurEd Inc.鈥檚 recent award of $150,000 from the will support further innovation focused on building a cyber-ready workforce. The award brings SecurEd鈥檚 2020鈥�21 revenue to $1.5 million.

placed third in the national competition for cybersecurity nonprofit organizations that provide practical, hands-on or immersive cybersecurity experiences that give confidence to students, teachers, practitioners and political and business leaders.

Based out of the StarTUp at the Armory, SecurEd helps academic institutions build a cyber-ready workforce through product and services that facilitate teaching, learning and research across the data care education continuum.

鈥淭he mantra of SecurEd is free cybersecurity curriculum,鈥� says Blair Taylor, associate professor in the Department of Computer & Information Sciences who co-founded the company with Sidd Kaza, professor and director of the 快活视频Cyber4All Center, in 2017. 鈥淲ith the help of foundations like Gula Tech, we are able to sustain our efforts and look toward the future.鈥�

At the heart of SecurEd鈥檚 resources is a collection of nearly 900 modules within the Cybersecurity Labs and Resource Knowledgebase (CLARK), the largest compilation of free cybersecurity curriculum for educators in K鈥�12 and university settings. Created by Towson University with a grant from the NSA, CLARK鈥檚 intellectual property (IP) is now licensed by SecurEd to reach a broader audience.

鈥淪ecurEd spun out of Towson, licenses IP that was created at Towson and is able to support Towson students,鈥� says Kaza. 鈥淲e think that is pretty exciting.鈥�

Since its founding, SecurEd has grown to a team of 12鈥攁ll with ties to TU. Its location at the StarTUp at the Armory gives the team access not only to high-tech workspaces but also other entrepreneurs.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been able to look at our work through a different lens here,鈥� says director of operations Paige Zaleppa 鈥�19, 鈥�21 of the move to downtown Towson. 鈥淲e've seen an increase in ideas on the team that we wouldn't have had before because there's different ideas coming from the different companies and their domains that they're working in.鈥� 

Zaleppa started at SecurEd as an undergraduate information systems major and stayed on through her master鈥檚 degree in computer science. Now, she leads a team of nine 快活视频student employees and is an adjunct professor in the computer and information sciences department.

Talking with other startups based in the space gives the SecurEd team a chance to learn firsthand about cybersecurity needs in a variety of industries, adds Emily Vogel 鈥�20, 鈥�22, SecurEd鈥檚 software architect and graduate student in TU鈥檚 computer science program. 鈥淲e are able to network with other companies and get a feel for what they know about cyber and what we need to focus on,鈥� Vogel says.

Working at SecurEd gives 快活视频students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience not only in the computer science field but also at a nonprofit organization. 鈥淭hey don't always realize that they're going to make the world a better place,鈥� Taylor says of students going into computer science. 鈥淪o it's good to have that focus on the mission. We've always said that cyber has a service focus.鈥�

Led by Ron and Cyndi Gula, co-founders of Maryland-based cybersecurity company Tenable, the Gula Tech Foundation aims to increase public cybersecurity awareness. 

SecurEd鈥檚 recognition from another homegrown cybersecurity organization, Kaza says, puts 快活视频on the map.

鈥淭he other two organizations that won the grant are not out of Maryland,鈥� he says of San-Francisco-based, first-place winner CodePath.org and Indiana-based, second-place winner Teach Cyber. 鈥淲hen Gula recognizes a company like ours, born and bred out of Towson, that is very exciting for us, because that brings Towson University's name out there in the cyber world and within the industry.鈥�