The nation's largest state-run cybersecurity agency launched Monday evening at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Texas Cyber Command, created earlier this year by state law and $135 million in state funding, is led by Retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Timothy James White.
"The imperative is this state has a dependency on cyberspace in ways that you all live, but you may not necessarily know in detail or depth the circumstances the state and every other state and everywhere across the globe, has an extraordinary vulnerability," White told a crowd featuring elected leaders and UT system leaders at the university's downtown campus.
"But please make no mistake, ladies and gentlemen, big actors in this space, state, nation-state actors in this space, criminal organizations in this space," White said. "They're coming for Texas. They've come for Texas. They are here."
White said that Texas Cyber Command's mission right now is to work on identifying weaknesses in state and local government systems, and to coordinate with those governments on best practices to prevent cyber breaches and how to respond effectively when they do happen.
UT San Antonio President Taylor Eighmy said the university is poised to play a major role to advance that mission.
"UT San Antonio stands ready to contribute subject matter expertise and state of the art facilities to help build a robust cyber defense infrastructure for the state of Texas, developing advanced cyber tools, cultivating partnerships, including our deep federal ecosystem here, and supporting cyber security operations," Eighmy said.
San Antonio has the largest concentration of cybersecurity expertise in the U.S. outside of Washington, D.C.
Joint Base San Antonio is home to the Sixteenth Air Force, which is responsible for "information warfare."
Texas Cyber Command also plans to collaborate with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Security Agency, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Southwest Texas Fusion Center.
"We look forward to working together to ensure ongoing success and security for San Antonio and all of Texas, and to be the benchmark for excellence at the national level is the first state to do this," Eighmy said.
Disclosure: UT San Antonio is a TPR sponsor. We cover them as we would any other business, institution or organization.
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