Mt. SAC joins cyber war against online terrorists in Walnut

Locally, students and faculty at Cal Poly Pomona and Mt. San Antonio College are responding to the commander-in-chief's call and are ready to enlist in Obama's cyber army. In addition to learning how to combat cyber-terrorists, students are also being trained to jump into one of the few growing job markets of today - the field of information assurance.

These two schools, along with Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State San Bernardino and Whatcom Community College in Washington, will share a $3 million grant awarded by the National Science Foundation last month. The grant will fund computers and other supplies to help the schools build cyber security curricula and outreach programs aimed at attracting high school and college students to careers in cyber security.

Mt. SAC was chosen as the nexus of a new cyber-security center expected to be up and running on the Walnut campus in six months. The center, which will be the first of its kind on the West Coast, will be host to cyber security events, programs and teacher training, officials said.