Smith’s Cyber Risk Portal a UMD “Invention of the Year” Finalist

A Cyber Risk Portal that engages organizations in anonymously measuring their cybersecurity capabilities against industry standards and their peers and competitors is a University of Maryland “Invention of the Year” finalist—an honor to be announced as part of a Celebration of Innovation and Partnerships event (invitation only) on May 9, 2016 at the University House.

Researchers in the Supply Chain Management Center at the Robert H. Smith School of Business developed the portal over the last six years, with collaborative support from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

“The portal provides best-practice tools to determine an organization’s IT and supply chain assurance levels,” says Sandor Boyson, research professor and co-director of the Supply Chain Management Center. “This a is unique community resource in that it has the secure portal interface, comprehensive NIST-based assessment criteria, dynamic database and peer benchmarking features of our Cyber Risk Portal.”

The results can be used by government procurement agencies, insurance/reinsurance underwriting organizations, financial/lending institutions, rating agencies and others to holistically evaluate exposures to the cyber risks in their integrated IT supply chains.

 Professor and center co-director Thomas Corsi, Smith School CIO Holly Mann and research fellows Hart Rossman and Christopher Keegan have worked with Boyson in developing the portal.

UMD’s Celebration of Innovation and Partnerships event is part of UMD’s “30 Days of EnTERPreneurship” and honors “exceptional inventions that have the potential to make an important impact on science, society, and the free market.”

UMD’s Office of Technology Commercialization  within the Division of Research selected the finalists from inventions—167 in 2015—by UMD faculty and students. The Cyber Protection Portal is one of nine finalists in the Physical Sciences category. Read more here.