Winter 2008-09 - Pennsylvania College of Technology

2 One College Avenue
Keeping
‘Hackers’
at Bay
New IT Major Focuses on Safeguarding Data
by Tom Wilson, writer/editor-PCToday
hether it’s the Hollywood hacking of
the Pentagon’s war machine or the very
real breach of credit-card information
on file with a national retailer, stories of
compromised computer security have
become commonplace.
Quickly reacting to that threat,
Pennsylvania College of Technology
in Fall 2008 began offering a four-year
degree (information technology: information
technology security specialist concentration)
focusing on protection of an organization’s
data from hostile and accidental intrusions.
Students in the college’s School of Business
and Computer Technologies can enhance
their marketability by acquiring a set
of skills demanded by the 21 st -century
workplace.
The U.S. Department of Homeland
Security has collaborated with a number
of organizations to set security standards
for government-used computer systems,
including curriculum guidelines
disseminated by the National Security
Agency. Jacob R. Miller, associate professor
of computer science, and Sandra Gorka,
assistant professor of computer science,
said the new bachelor’s degree implements
two of those standards – a core curriculum
and a risk-analyst specialization – with a
number of other specialties to be added as
the major grows.
NSA already has certified the
curriculum through its Information
Assurance Courseware Evaluation
program, which ultimately could allow
the college to be designated as a National
Center for Academic Excellence in the field.
The credential, valid through June 2013,
confirms for employers that Penn College
students have completed a course of study
compliant with NSA’s published standards.
Students in the isolated security laboratory
bring “hacking” out of the shadows, identifying
and analyzing computer threats.
“For government agencies, this core
curriculum is becoming a necessity of
employment,” Miller said. “Having the
background prior to being hired gives our
students a competitive edge over those
who would otherwise have to be sent to
training.”
The college officially was certified
during the 12 th Colloquium for Information
Systems Security Education, held in early
June in Dallas.
The relative speed of that curricular
review speaks both to the need for qualified
graduates and the quality of the college’s
existing IT curriculum. When he and his
colleagues sat down to realign the security
majors with what the market demands,
Miller said, “We weren’t that far off ” from
NSA expectations.
The curriculum also has the blessing
of the school’s corporate advisers, many of
whom – health-care providers and financial
institutions, for instance – worry daily
about the data disaster that could result
from a vulnerable information system.
Miller and Gorka explained that Penn
College’s new major even transcends NSA
requirements in adding a component
that will give graduates the edge in the
job market. Not only can students learn
to create and implement comprehensive
security plans, they will be introduced to
the process of investigating a computer
incident using forensic techniques.“We all
strongly believe that we should be able to
demonstrate that the curriculum delivers
what the student is paying for. The first step
in that direction was the NSA evaluation,”
Miller said. “As the curriculum rolls out,
we will be assessing students to identify
what knowledge they are obtaining from
the curriculum. This enables us to plan for
eventual changes in delivery and content
that will ensure that the curriculum
remains current and delivers as promised.”
With each day’s news bringing more
examples of cybercrimes large and small,
a variety of government and privatesector
security positions is likely to
await graduates in the new major. The
coursework is not for everyone – faculty
members stress the need for strong math
skills, including calculus – but successful