Apr. 4—WHITE HALL — America's businesses, hospitals, colleges, and banks are under a daily cyber assault.
The larger ones, industry watchers say, can expect to endure around 1, 200 such attacks a day, as hackers attempt to breach customer data and other critical information — and on Tuesday morning, a real monster of one was ensuing at the I-79 Technology Park.
Well, this one wasn't real.
But it could have been.
In this scenario, it all started out with a malicious email — loaded with a virus — that an employee unwittingly clicked on, to start the spiral rotating.
"These attacks are so coordinated and sophisticated, " Clint Anderson said.
"Sometimes I'll hover over an email for a second. I'll have to say, 'Wait. This doesn't quite look right.'"
And he does cybersecurity for a living.
Anderson is a program manager in the cybersecurity arm of Leidos, a Fortune 500 company that handles everything from biometrics to business support services.
Leidos at present also has a local connection, with a Morgantown operation doing business in Morgantown's WestRidge business and retail complex.
Monday and Tuesday, a lot of that brain power was encased at the tech park, which is located in an expanse of rolling hills just south of Fairmont in Marion County — and in full view of the highway for which it is named.
The 48-hour mission ?
To help fledging cybersecurity professionals stop the fake bad guys, so they can repel the real ones later on.
Students from WVU, Fairmont State University, Marshall and the University of Charleston, in an exercise that was one part recruiting tool — and two parts educational seminar — in a safe, controlled environment.
In the parlance of the trade, it's called "behind the keyboard " work, and Anderson and the others pronounced the competitors quite fit for their future jobs.
"Jobs " is both descriptor and mantra for Jim Estep, the longtime president and CEO of the High Technology Foundation, an anchor entity in the park.
"We want to hire as many West Virginians as we can, " he said, "and Leidos is a good corporate partner."
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