Anderson University to open Center for Cybersecurity

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Anderson University is launching the Center for Cybersecurity in fall of 2020. The university will offer a traditional degree in cybersecurity along with interdisciplinary majors in cybersecurity and criminal justice, cybersecurity and mathematics, and cybersecurity and analytics, according to a news release. The center will also offer a cybersecurity minor and a non-degreed professional certificate.

Leading the new cybersecurity programs is Ken Knapp, who has more than 20 years of experience including computer security in the United States Air Force and a history in cybersecurity program development at Tampa University. Anderson University is currently hiring more qualified cybersecurity faculty and building an advisory board of industry professionals, the news release said.

“Our cybersecurity majors will give students the ability to serve and protect people and resources in cyberspace,” Knapp said in the news release. “We are not only including technical cybersecurity courses in the programs, but we are also including courses like risk management and regulatory compliance. Cybersecurity is not just a technology problem. You also have to address issues regarding people in the workplace. Our cybersecurity programs are going to provide a holistic approach to cybersecurity.”

Cybersecurity courses will include ethical hacking, cyber threat intelligence, digital forensics and cloud security. While all four majors of the cybersecurity programs receive a traditional bachelor of science, the interdisciplinary majors will allow students to pair their cybersecurity courses with courses from the College of Public Service and Administration, the College of Arts and Sciences or the College of Business, the release said.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that information security analyst jobs are expected to grow 32% by 2028, making it one of the fastest growing career fields, according to the release.

“Our corporate and industry partners across virtually every sector are eagerly awaiting the start of our program in fall 2020,” Provost Ryan Neal said in the release.