An alliance of educators, government officials and the Iowa National Guard is setting out to inform the public about cyber security. The group aims to better protect people from increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks.

The Iowa Cyber Alliance is the nation’s first statewide program dedicated to cyber security. One of its leaders is Doug Jacobson, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Iowa State. He says one of the group’s goals is to prepare young people for careers in what he calls “the very hot field” of cyber security.

“We’re just continually seeing an increase in the amount of cyber-attacks," he says. "So we’re at a point where basically more and more companies need to protect themselves.”

He adds the alliance also wants the public to be aware of the threats posed by cyber attacks.



“We’re now at point where people need to take on a more active role in protecting themselves because the attackers are getting much better,” he says.

The state adopted a cyber security strategy in July of 2016. It calls for the sorts of cyber security awareness training the Iowa Cyber Alliance proposes.