ABET Accreditation
The department is aiming to secure ABET accreditation for Cyber Security by 2025 which puts the program within the normal timeframe of 5 years for a new program to collect documentation for applying for ABET accreditation.
Program Educational Objectives
Within three to five years of graduation, the graduates from the Bachelor of Science in Cyber Security program will have:
Objective I: Become productive, responsible professionals in the practice of cyber security and related computer science and engineering areas, including supportive and leadership roles on multidisciplinary teams.
Objective II: Demonstrated effective communication skills, especially in a multi-disciplinary setting, and grown an appreciation for non-technical disciplines such as business law, criminal justice, and information security.
Objective III: Developed the ethical sensibilities and global perspective that allow them to appreciate how the decisions they make impact their community and society at large.
Objective IV: Engaged in lifelong learning to adapt to the rapidly changing nature and need of cyber security.
Educational Student Outcomes
Graduates of the program will have an ability to (https://www.abet.org):
- Analyze a complex computing problem and to apply principles of computing and other relevant disciplines to identify solutions.
- Design, implement, and evaluate a computing-based solution to meet a given set of computing requirements in the context of the program’s discipline.
- Communicate effectively in a variety of professional contexts.
- Recognize professional responsibilities and make informed judgments in computing practice based on legal and ethical principles.
- Function effectively as a member or leader of a team engaged in activities appropriate to the program’s discipline.
- Apply security principles and practices to maintain operations in the presence of risks and threats.
Curriculum Requirements
The curriculum requirements are (https://www.abet.org):
(a) At least 45 semester credit hours (or equivalent) of computing and cyber security course work. The course work must include:
1. Application of the crosscutting concepts of confidentiality, integrity, availability, risk, adversarial thinking, and systems thinking.
2. Fundamental topics from each of the following:
a) Data Security: protection of data at rest, during processing, and in transit.
b) Software Security: development and use of software that reliably preserves the security properties of the protected information and systems.
c) Component Security: the security aspects of the design, procurement, testing, analysis, and maintenance of components integrated into larger systems.
d) Connection Security: security of the connections between components, both physical and logical.
e) System Security: security aspects of systems that use software and are composed of components and connections.
f) Human Security: the study of human behavior in the context of data protection, privacy, and threat mitigation.
g) Organizational Security: protecting organizations from cybersecurity threats and managing risk to support successful accomplishment of the organizations’ missions.
h) Societal Security: aspects of cybersecurity that broadly impact society as a whole.
3. Advanced cybersecurity topics that build on crosscutting concepts and fundamental topics to provide depth.
(b) At least 6 semester credit hours (or equivalent) of mathematics that must include discrete mathematics and statistics.