According to Nassau County executive Edward Mangano, the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency (NIDA) has authorized the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) to establish an information assurance/cyber defense research facility to serve the nation's need for cyber security. The facility will allow select NYIT students and faculty to conduct research on information assurance and cyber defense as a "Certified Information Assurance Courseware Institution recognized by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Central Security Service" with a goal of creating new technologies to help secure our critical national information and data pools. "As recent events have demonstrated, the cyber threat is one of the greatest threats America faces today, and policymakers and operators will benefit from having a source of intelligence to call upon here in Nassau County," Mangano said. "Establishing such a research facility has been a priority for my administration." The IDA selected NYIT to operate the research facility following a 2014 Request for Qualifications. NYIT is pending its final designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance/Cyber Defense by the National Security Agency. Steel Equities will provide 10,000 s/f of rent-free space at 2 Seaview Blvd. to house the cyber security facility. The facility will be "hardened - to a possible Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) standard. "This research facility will support efforts to help the Federal Government battle disruptive cyber threats." said IDA executive director Joe Kearney."We believe that the establishment of this facility will help spur the growth of cyber security companies in the county and bring more high-paying jobs to Nassau County."