Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), attended St. John’s University for a discussion on cybersecurity on April 24 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sen. Gillibrand discussed growing cybersecurity threats and college programs designed to increase careers in the field. 

University president Rev. Brian Shanley, Collins College of Professional Studies (CCPS) Dean Luca Iandoli,  SJU students, professors and cybersecurity professionals were in attendance. 

The event began with a tour of the second floor of St. Augustine Hall, where CCPS is located. Sen. Gillibrand was shown the Design Factory, Drs. E. Lawrence and Adele V. Deckinger Center for Integrated Advertising Communication and the Cybersecurity and Homeland Security labs. 

The Senator — who serves on the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees — then facilitated a roundtable discussion on the importance of cybersecurity in New York City. She emphasized her federal cybersecurity scholarship project, which would provide substantial financial assistance to students from qualifying institutions in exchange for their engagement in public service.

In an exclusive interview with The Torch, Gillibrand said the program “is essential for our families, our communities and our whole country.” 

“We need this generation to be our best and brightest in this industry because they’re smarter than the rest of us. They know [the Internet and its capabilities], it’s native to them, it’s something they understand instinctively and I think we need them defending the country.” 

In the discussion, she also said that in the past 10 years, she’s been most concerned with the growing threat of cyber-attacks, and “everything that’s harming our economy and making our people less secure.”

“This school is important because it’s training the next generation of cyber-defenders that we desperately need, as well as our innovators and inventors of the future.” 

After touring the labs, the senator said the cybersecurity lab was “very impressive.” 

“Clearly, [the labs] inspire students to choose careers in cyber[security],” she said. “It has the capacity and state-of-the-art technology that allows people to imagine what these careers are actually like, and give them the training to succeed in those careers.”

The senator also spoke about the growing threat of TikTok and has been vocal about banning TikTok if not sold to a domestic company. She spoke of her belief that social media is being used to target users and “convinces you to see the world a different way.” 

When asked how to navigate these concerns as college students, Gillibrand said, “It’s important to put social media into the context that ‘these are not your friends.’” 

“I would tell young people that [TikTok] is just a tool. Use it for what’s good for you and don’t get consumed by it because they’re not your friends.”