Logo: University of Southern California

January 27, 2014: USC Viterbi and Talon Cyber Tec LLC Announce New Partnership

Press Release
CONTACT: Megan Hazle -
January 27, 2014 —

 

The USC Viterbi School of Engineering and Talon Cyber Tec LLC have partnered to share research and expertise to benefit students and the company, an industry-recognized leader in providing information security services and computer forensic investigations to corporations, law firms, and government agencies.

“Having Talon Cyber Tec LLC formalize a partnership with the USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s Cyber Security team both validates the quality of the USC cyber initiative while also enhancing the expertise and capabilities our program will be able to provide to students and professionals alike,” said Dr. Winnie Callahan of the Viterbi Informatics Program. “Talon has a history of not only assisting businesses and governmental agencies with some of their most difficult cyber challenges, but also is often called on to test new techniques related to forensics and other technical discovery … a perfect fit for both our education mission and our research thrusts. Working with Talon will provide another venue for students to experience hands-on learning. Additionally, their participation with us will provide an enhanced dimension to USC Viterbi’s professional outreach. This partnership truly is a win for both organizations!”

The partnership will provide Talon Cyber Tec with cutting-edge research and academic resources and will strengthen USC Viterbi's offerings by leveraging the company’s diverse team of experts and experience. Additionally, USC Viterbi and Talon Cyber Tec will jointly host educational programs, seminars, and conferences for various private and public sector industries.

"This partnership emphasizes our commitment to proactively safeguarding our clients' intellectual property and critical business operations, as well as providing the incident response and computer forensic expertise required to respond to a security incident or legal matter," said Ron Williams, CEO of Talon Companies. "Talon Cyber Tec's proven array of capabilities and offerings will be further enhanced by the multi-year initiative this prestigious partnership with USC Viterbi solidifies.”

Government officials and leading think tanks consistently identify cyber security as a top-priority issue facing both the private sector and the U.S. government. USC Viterbi and Talon Cyber Tec will continue in their leadership role in this field by working to secure the nation's critical infrastructure, protect the private sector, and react to security breaches.

USC Viterbi’s Master of Cyber Security degree program began in 2013 under the guidance of Herb Schorr and Winnie Callahan, who helped develop program from her position as Executive Director at the University of Nebraska’s Peter Kiewit Institute. USC Viterbi’s Cyber Security degree program is led by a world-class group of professors, including Blaine Burnham, Roger Schell, B. Clifford Neuman, and Lyndon Pierson.

 

About the USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Engineering Studies began at the University of Southern California in 1905. Nearly a century later, the Viterbi School of Engineering received a naming gift in 2004 from alumnus Andrew J. Viterbi, inventor of the Viterbi algorithm now key to cell phone technology and numerous data applications. Consistently ranked among the top graduate programs in the world, the school enrolls more than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students, taught by 174 tenured and tenure-track faculty, with 60 endowed chairs and professorships. http://viterbi.usc.edu

About Talon Cyber Tec LLC
Talon Cyber Tec, with corporate headquarters located in Costa Mesa, California, is one of three companies within Talon Companies (www.taloncompanies.com). Talon Companies was founded by Ron Williams after a successful 22-year tenure with United States Secret Service where he worked within and supervised all divisions of the Secret Service in the Los Angeles Field Office, including the credit card and financial fraud squad, the counterfeit squad, the Presidential Protection Squad, and the elite Counter Assault Team (CAT) to combat terrorism. Talon Cyber Tec was co-founded with Todd Stefan, a graduate of USC, who has been a champion of information security and computer forensic investigations since the mid 1990s. Todd Stefan is a frequent speaker, author, and security researcher, as well as having participated in and led a wealth of engagements for private and public corporations, financial institutions, attorneys, government agencies, critical national infrastructure, military installations, and local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. Talon Cyber Tec provides a full spectrum of information security services, from proactive assessments, compliance audits, and penetration tests, to reactive incident response services to combat breaches and computer forensic investigations to support legal matters.

Contact
Megan Hazle – 213-821-1887 or hazle@usc.edu