Real Cyber Threats.
Real Skills. Real Impact.

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A single cyberattack can shut down a hospital, lock up a university’s data, or drain a company’s bank account overnight.

With hackers growing more sophisticated and cybersecurity professionals in short supply, many U.S. organizations find themselves vulnerable and underprotected.

At LSU, student cyber defenders are stepping up to help—staffing LSU-run security operations centers (SOCs) where they gain hands-on experience while protecting organizations and people from digital threats. 

“(Students) are the lifeblood and the power of what we're doing here.”

— Mark Liggett, LSU TigerSOC

 

LSU Research Comic 

Comic strip cover panel, "Mike Gets a Crash Course in Cybersecurity." Accessible plain-text version available by clicking the button link below the comic strip.
Comic strip illustrating cybersecurity. Accessible plain-text version available by clicking the button link below the comic strip.
Comic strip illustrating cybersecurity. Accessible plain-text version available by clicking the button link below the comic strip.
Comic strip illustrating cybersecurity. Accessible plain-text version available by clicking the button link below the comic strip.
Comic strip illustrating cybersecurity. Accessible plain-text version available by clicking the button link below the comic strip.
Comic strip illustrating cybersecurity. Accessible plain-text version available by clicking the button link below the comic strip.

Swipe through images horizontally or click dots below gallery to view comic strip. 

 Access a plain-text version of the FULL COMIC STRIP

100%

Job placement rate for LSU SOC
student workers after graduation.

700k

Unfilled cybersecurity jobs in the U.S. in 2023.
— U.S. Department of Labor

With organizations facing costly and time-consuming recovery from attacks, LSU leaders decided to take on cyber threats head-on.

The result is an affordable, student-based solution for businesses and educational organizations that provides constant monitoring, early detection, and the expertise to act when an attack occurs.

The Louisiana Optical Network Infrastructure Security Operations Center (LONI SOC) was launched in 2023 to protect Louisiana’s public colleges and universities.

Craig Woolley, LSU’s chief information officer, said the program wouldn’t be possible without partnerships with the Louisiana Board of Regents, which also owns the LONI asset; the state, which provides funding; and industry partners TekStream, Splunk, and AWS.

TigerSOC followed in 2025, partnering with cybersecurity and cloud solutions firm TekStream as a student-run center that helps protect a diverse group of commercial and public clients nationwide.

Both SOCs report up to the LSU IT Security and Policy team with guidance from Woolley and Sumit Jain, chief information security officer for LSU’s Baton Rouge campus.

 

Aeris Kelleher

Aeris Kelleher

TigerSOC student: ‘I truly
feel like an investigator’  

Aeris Kelleher is an LSU junior from Gonzales, Louisiana, studying computer science with a concentration in cybersecurity.  

She also works at TigerSOC, an LSU student-run security operations center that, in partnership with TekStream, helps protect a broad group of commercial and public clients nationwide. 

We asked her about her work at the TigerSOC. Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity. 

How did you become interested in cybersecurity?

I became interested in cybersecurity when I was around high school age, and I figured out that there's a lot of information that we don't know about online that's publicly available.  

What motivated you to become involved with the TigerSOC?

I wanted real-life experience outside of just on-campus activities. When I heard about the TigerSOC, I was interested because I thought it was the perfect opportunity for me to apply what I've been learning while also doing something meaningful in security.  

What does work look like in the TigerSOC?

While we're in the TigerSOC, we are looking at alerts that come in in real time, and we're investigating these events that come in. That could be network logs, security logs, real-time data, and OSINT tools, which are open-source intelligence tools that allow you to look up malicious IPs and things like that. 

How does it feel to be doing this important work?

I've always loved solving puzzles, so doing this work, I truly do feel like an investigator ... getting to parse through this data and analyze these logs. You're piecing these puzzles together to see if there is any type of malicious event going on, if we have an actual incident happening.  

Is there a specific skill or lesson you gained because of this hands-on experience?

A good skill I've gained is collaboration and teamwork, which I already had a good bit of before, but it's something that you can't learn from a textbook. With a textbook, you can learn how to detect an attack, but you can't learn how to solve one all the way through.  

So, through collaboration and teamwork, we work together a lot. Just talking to each other and making sure that we are all on the same page before closing an event. Teamwork is a huge part of what we do, and it's been amazing. 

Is there anything that surprised you about working at the TigerSOC?

I thought it would be the same every day. I thought that we'd have a very structured environment and that we'd be just working through alerts. But in reality, I work on a lot of different things every day, like looking at logs, investigating alerts, as well as documentation and teaching others.  

So, teaching others is a huge part of my job. It's one thing I've become really passionate about is sharing the knowledge that I've gained with others, whether that be our Women in Cybersecurity club or with our new TigerSOC employees. I've become inspired to teach new people, and that's really surprised me.  

How do you think this experience will prepare you for your career?

This experience has given me a lot of confidence in what I do and what I'm good at. So, I think that, going forward, it's given me a really good sense of being calm, collected, and professional under pressure, and I think that'll help me in any cybersecurity job I'll ever get in the future.  

Why is this work important?

It's important for businesses because cybersecurity is not just about protecting systems, it's about protecting people. So, every day we work on protecting people's personal data and making sure it's safe.  

What career aspirations do you have after you graduate from LSU?

I would love to stay in defensive security. I'd even like to move up to a managerial position at some point. The TigerSOC, through my mentorship and everything, has made that seem obtainable to me, which is amazing. 

LSU Cybersecurity Clinic
Empowers La. Businesses

Many businesses are not proactive about cybersecurity, often believing hackers prefer to target large firms and institutions. But the opposite can be true, according to the LSU Cybersecurity Clinic.

The clinic, which provides free services to Louisiana small businesses, says cyber criminals can be drawn to small businesses because of their poor security posture or as a stepping stone to larger organizations.

Gary Anderson

Gary Anderson

As a partner at Cardinal Capital Commercial Financial Consultants, based in Baton Rouge, La., Gary Anderson knew enough about the dangers of cyberattacks to know he and his colleagues needed help protecting the firm and its clients.

“It's such a jungle out there that everybody's trying to get into your systems and into your computer and find out your stuff and steal from you,” he said.

A couple of years ago, he happened upon one of the LSU Cyber Clinic’s free seminars and decided to enroll. He was immediately impressed.

“First, you go to a basic seminar that says, ‘Here are the nasties that are out there,’” he said. “‘Here's what they're trying to do; here's how they're trying to do it.’”

The clinic offered to do an audit of the seminar attendees’ systems and provide a report detailing practical, real-world strategies to improve their security, such as password protocol and backup practices.

Anderson found the entire exercise to be very professional and thorough, especially his interactions with the LSU students who took part in the audit.

“They were very impressive young people. They knew their business. They knew how to interact well with us and our business environment,” he said. “They made some very good suggestions and were a delight to work with.

“And they do it in such a way that's understandable. I'm not a great whiz with a computer by any means, but they were able to show me what I needed to do to make myself safe.”

Cardinal Capital went on to hire an outside vendor to begin implementing many of the recommendations from the audit, gaining peace of mind that the firm’s data was being protected.

His satisfaction with the process has led Anderson to recommend the LSU clinic to other Louisiana businesses, on a personal level and within area business organizations. As an LSU alum, he said he can do so with confidence and pride in his alma mater.

“I think LSU has resources that we, as alums and citizens of Louisiana, are just not aware of. And becoming aware of them and using them has made my life a lot better.”  

About the LSU Cybersecurity Clinic

The LSU Cybersecurity Clinic is a collaborative effort between LSU and the Louisiana Small Business Development Center and is funded by the U.S. National Security Agency. The clinic and LSBDC offer workshops to educate business owners and workers about potential threats, risks and the consequences of common security threats.

The clinic is directed by Aisha Ali-Gombe, associate professor in the LSU Division of Computer Science and Engineering. Students on degree paths in computer science or computer engineering, or in the E.J. Ourso College of Business, are eligible to participate, with a focus on the areas of threat and vulnerability assessment and cyber defense.

Register for the seminars through the LSBDC website.

 

About the LSU Cybersecurity Clinic

The LSU Cybersecurity Clinic is a collaborative effort between LSU and the Louisiana Small Business Development Center, and is funded by the U.S. National Security Agency. The clinic and LSBDC offer workshops to educate business owners and workers about potential threats, risks and the consequences of common security threats.

The clinic is directed by Aisha Ali-Gombe, associate professor in the LSU Division of Computer Science and Engineering. Students on degree paths in computer science or computer engineering, or in the E.J. Ourso College of Business, are eligible to participate, with a focus on the areas of threat and vulnerability assessment and cyber defense.

Register for the seminars through the LSBDC website.

 

Every student trained in LSU’s security operations centers means one more defender in the fight against cybercrime.

For Arushi Ghildiyal, now a recent LSU graduate, working at TigerSOC provided an opportunity to earn extra income while developing specific cybersecurity skills and more general job skills, like teamwork, critical thinking, time management, and prioritization.

With a degree in cybersecurity, Ghildiyal leveraged her experience with TigerSOC to secure a job with one of the nation’s best cybersecurity teams at Chevron.

“That kind of experience,” she said, “you only really get from experiencing actual cyber incidents and understanding what is more normal versus what is actually malicious.”

“We have threat actors ... investing in malicious activity and trying to to break things. And so, we need people who invest in fixing things and defending things and preventing those kinds of exploits from actually landing and harming our systems. Cybersecurity is our future.”

— Arushi Ghildiyal, LSU alum now working in cybersecurity at Chevron

Fueled by multiple partnerships, the program benefits Louisiana, the nation, clients, LSU, and the students themselves.

LSU’s collaborations connect students with industry leaders and tools used in top-tier cybersecurity operations. Rob Jansen, CEO of TekStream, calls it a “win-win-win,” where:

  • Companies get affordable, U.S.-based protection.
  • Students gain career-launching experience.
  • LSU strengthens Louisiana’s and the nation’s cybersecurity workforce.

“This is a model that is being proven out at LSU, and it's really getting noticed on a national basis,” Jansen said. “LSU is definitely the thought leader around the concept of taking students through a formal process, getting them hands-on experience, and then putting them out into the workplace.”

Rob Jansen

Ron Jansen is the Chief Executive Officer of TekStream.

The differentiator is the workforce development aspect, which is unique to the LSU model.

LSU’s scale, leadership, and partnerships make it a national model for blending education, workforce development, and cybersecurity readiness. 
Mark Liggett,  security operations manager for LSU TigerSOC, helps guide students in real-life, real-work scenarios to help them acquire the skillset and experience to work, first, at TigerSOC, and later, in the cybersecurity field.  
 He says information coming into the SOC raises alerts about abnormal events happening on the customer side. Students investigate those alerts to determine whether the event is or isn't malicious, pulling in TekStream or even the customer if immediate action is needed.
“Not only are they getting an academic value from LSU,” said Sumit Jain, chief information security officer for the Baton Rouge campus, “but they're also getting real-life work experience through working in the SOC. As of last semester, we have a 100% placement for students who have graduated from LSU and worked in the SOC.”

Students at computers with advisers assisting
Group photo of TigerSOC team members and advisers

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