The University of Maryland Honors College has selected Harshita Kalbhor ’26 for the 2024 Gordon Prize in Managing Cybersecurity Resources. Harshita was recognized for this award at the Honors Citation Ceremony on April 26, 2024.
Harshita is a sophomore Computer Science major and Astronomy minor in the ACES program. In her award-winning paper, “From Private Ownership to Public Risk: Securing National Infrastructure,” Harshita proposes a systems-based and interdependent model to address cybersecurity threats affecting national security, business, and the public good. Highlighting the limitations of evaluating cybersecurity risks at individual levels, Harshita advances a collaborative approach for business leaders and policy-makers that emphasizes the interconnectedness of organizations, and allocates resources based on intersecting cyber-vulnerabilities, prioritizing areas with the highest impact on human welfare. Understanding national security, global supply chains, and public social support systems in connective cyber-relation, Harshita offers an integrated and humane approach to cyber-resource management that exemplifies the spirit of the Gordon Award.
About the Gordon Prize in Managing Cybersecurity Resources
Established in 2008 by Lawrence A. Gordon, Ph.D., the EY Alumni Professor of Managerial Accounting and Information Assurance in the Robert H. Smith School of Business, the Gordon Prize recognizes the best essay on the topic of managing cybersecurity resources from a managerial accounting and/or economics perspective. Dr. Gordon is a faculty member in the Honors College Advanced Cybersecurity Experience for Students (ACES) program and co-established the Gordon-Loeb model.
Photo credit: Amina Lampkin.
