St. Bonaventure University filed for approval from the National Security Agency (NSA) for the cybersecurity program to secure scholarships.
Bonaventure seeks a designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence (CAE) in cybersecurity after successfully gaining approval for the major by the New York State Education Department in August, according to Steven Andrianoff.
Andrianoff, cybersecurity program director and professor of computer science, said the approval process for the NSA is similar to the New York State Education Department requirements.
“We had to say who the faculty were [and] what kinds of resources we’d be available to offer the program,” Andrianoff said. “The [CAE] is more of the same, but even more detailed in terms of what you’re covering in your curriculum and what types of resources that you’re going to have available—hardware, software, faculty, time—you’ve got to show that you have that in place.”
The program, offered in conjunction with Hilbert College, requires some courses to be taken via remote instruction through Hilbert, said Andrianoff.
Andrianoff said between 10 and 20 students have already been admitted to the program for the fall semester.
Devon Sullivan, a freshman computer science major, said he is interested in what the cybersecurity program entails.
“The future is turning everything digital, which includes important documents and information,” Sullivan said. “It is important to be able to secure different areas of the Internet to prevent easy access of private information that gets stored online.”
Sullivan said he is interested in the “cracking” portion of cybersecurity, better known as hacking.
“Cracking is a part of cybersecurity which primarily concerns unauthorized remote computer break-ins via communication networks such as the Internet (Black Hats), but also includes those who debug or fix security problems (White Hats), and the morally ambiguous ‘Grey Hats,’” Sullivan said. “With a cybersecurity degree, one could pursue a well-paying job in ‘White Hat hacking’ for a company to fix any issues that may make them vulnerable.”
Sullivan, who hopes to become a self-employed programming freelancer, said the program will be beneficial to students.
“There is a high demand for cybersecurity jobs and the jobs pay decent money,” Sullivan said.
Andrianoff said he hopes to hire at least one faculty member to enhance the program.
“The goals for the program are to provide a quality academic experience for students that prepares them for careers in the field,” Andrianoff said. “I think what we want to do is make sure that the academics that are part of the program are of the highest standards of quality.”
koniecrc14@bonaventure.edu
