Department of Cybersecurity

With the prevalence of mobile computing, the advantages of cloud computing, the ubiquity of computing in general, and the issues of securing big data caused by the world-wide explosion of eBusiness and eCommerce today, secure computing environments and appropriate information management have become critical issues to all sizes and types of organizations. Therefore, there is a vital and growing need for all computing professionals to have a foundation in the issues critical to information security and how they apply to their specific disciplines. The minor consists of two required courses and three electives chosen by the student from the computing security advanced course clusters. There are many elective course choices to provide flexibility. Therefore, the minor provides any computing major outside of the computing security degree program with basic knowledge of the issues and technologies associated with computing security and allows students the opportunity to select a set of security electives that are complementary to their majors. Before beginning the minor in students must possess prerequisite knowledge that can be obtained from various programming sequences and courses in calculus and discrete math.

With the prevalence of data breaches and cyber-attacks, securing intellectual properties and customer’s personally identifiable information has become increasingly challenging in business, government, and academia. It is commonly recognized that a key factor for having a cyber-secured environment and operations is well-trained employees with good cyber hygiene. A small human error may lead to a disastrous cyber incident. The cybersecurity risk management minor is designed for students in non-computing majors who are interested in learning about cybersecurity and developing the knowledge and skills to support organizations in their efforts to protect their computing and informational resources. Students learn the basics of computing and cybersecurity and then gain knowledge and practice in cybersecurity policy and law, risk management, and business continuity plans in the event of a cybersecurity attack.