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Students are helping Maine businesses, municipalities stay ahead of cyber threats

Six partners across the state are working with the Maine Cyber Range to make them less vulnerable to cyber attacks.

AUGUSTA, Maine — Cybersecurity attacks continue to rise in Maine, but an effort is underway to better protect businesses and municipalities from these types of threats.

Currently, six state partners across the state are working with the Maine Cyber Range. These partners include L.L. Bean, the cities of Bath and Presque Isle, the Greater Augusta Utility District, Kennebec Savings Bank, and Piscataquis County.

Students from the University of Maine at Augusta and the University of Maine at Presque Isle make up the Maine Cyber Range team. They replicate their partners' security systems in a simulation lab and then attack these systems to identify weaknesses. They then come up with ideas on how to strengthen them.

“There have been a lot of cyber attacks against a lot of Maine municipalities, and a lot of them are ransomware-type attacks,” Henry Felch, director of the Maine Cyber Range, said. “A lot of what we’re trying to do with this is raise awareness of everything and how to maybe detect some of these threats."

Felch said they’re also training their partners so they can recognize potential threats to their network in the future. 

“Students are learning how to deal with stuff in real life as opposed to reading it in a textbook,” Felch added. “I think that's beneficial, but also, the goal is to benefit the citizens of the state.”

The project has received more than $400,000 in funding from the Maine Emergency Management Agency and the University of Maine System's Maine Economic Improvement Fund Small Campus Initiative. 

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