College launches certificate programs, bachelor’s and master’s degree paths

Albany, N.Y. (August 16, 2011) – With President Barack Obama deeming cybercrime "one of the most serious economic and national security threats our nation faces," the demand from business and government for cybersecurity in the digital age is escalating. In response, Excelsior College has unveiled five new programs at the bachelor’s and master’s level geared specifically to developing the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.

“Technological progress over the past half century - and especially since 9/11 - has connected our government, business, military, and our personal lives around high-speed computer networks,” said Dr. Jane LeClair, dean of Excelsior College’s School of Business and Technology. “So it should come as no surprise that we now face an escalating cybercrime threat. We must be vigilant in educating the next generation of cybersecurity professionals to defend our interests. Excelsior College is prepared to do our part with five new programs.”

Excelsior College Cybersecurity Programs

The new cybersecurity curricula have broad coverage on strategies, policy, ethics and legal compliance, operational processes, techniques, and technologies that secure and protect sensitive information and information systems. Excelsior College will have five distinct tracks from which students may choose:

• Bachelor of Science, Information Technology in Cybersecurity Technology
  The curriculum focuses on ethics and legal compliances, operational processes, techniques, and technologies that secure and defend information and information systems.
• Undergraduate Certificate in Cybersecurity
  Technology curriculum focuses on the techniques, policies, and operational procedures that detect threats and secure information.
• Master of Science in Cybersecurity
  This program provides professionals with advanced techniques and knowledge to manage and protect an organization’s cyber assets. The program focuses on prevention, detection, countering and recovery from cyber incidents.
• MBA in Cybersecurity Management
  Using a multidisciplinary approach, this MBA concentration is designed to provide students with a broad analytical framework for evaluating and solving cybersecurity problems.
• Graduate Certificate in Cybersecurity Management
  The graduate certificate in cybersecurity management evaluates strategies for societal responses to cybersecurity threats at enterprise, national and global levels. This program is designed for mid-career professionals who wish to help meet the challenges posed by the increasing cyber threats.

Future Cybersecurity Demand

The demand for cybersecurity professionals should continue into the future and salaries should rise along with it. According to a benchmark study funded by Hewlett-Packard and carried out by the Ponemon Institute, an internet security research group, the median annualized average cost of cybercrime to the organizations that participated in the study was $5.9 million – a 56 percent increase from the previous year. Recovery and detection were the most costly internal activities for the groups studied.

Hacker groups are also on the rise. LulzSec, one such group, recently staged a two-month global Internet attack, striking the CIA and FBI. The United States Senate security infrastructure and U.S. corporations such as Sony and Fox were also victimized, with the perpetrators stealing credit card numbers of thousands of individuals and publishing them online.

Dr. Michael Verro, criminal justice program director in Excelsior’s School of Liberal Arts, said, “From identity and information theft to sexual exploitation to cyberterrorism, both the public and private sectors are demanding highly-skilled, highly-trained specialists to act as deterrents. Our cybersecurity degree and certificate programs will provide multiple career pathways, both technical and analytical, toward developing and implementing effective defensive policies for both domestic and international cybercrime.”