Overview
Mark McKinzie, Chair
The cybersecurity major is housed in the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Statistics. This administrative department and its majors emphasize critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication while stressing interdisciplinary learning.
Cybersecurity is a new, significant field which is vital to national and corporate security. The need for this expertise is increasingly sought after by government and business entities. Cybersecurity itself is a merger of information technology and computer science. The fundamentals of computer science are required to impart background knowledge in areas such as databases, operating systems, and networking. Once a student has mastered these essentials, they go into more specialized areas of instruction, including digital forensics, cyber-law, malware analysis, and others. A graduate of this program will become a valuable member of the workforce critical to protection of corporate or government assets.
The goals of this program are to provide the following:
- A strong foundational IT knowledge necessary for understanding cybersecurity theories, tools, and technologies.
- A theoretical understanding of both basic and advanced cybersecurity principles.
- A wealth of hands-on, practical experience in current cybersecurity tools and technologies.
- A knowledge of the legal and business issues with respect to cybersecurity.
The major in cybersecurity leads to a B.S. degree.