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Computing and Security Enrichment Outreach Program (CSEOP)
The demand for cyber security professionals is high and is expected to grow even more in the coming years in both the public and private sectors. They are needed to protect computer networks and systems in the financial, communication, energy and transportation industries, and in government, against cyber-attacks.
The National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have designated Fairleigh Dickinson University as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education (CAE-IAE) for the academic years 2012 through 2015, and recently re-designated the University as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CDE) for the academic years 2015 through 2020.
Students attending CSEOP will progress from core concepts of computers, networking, and criminal justice to cybercrime and criminal investigations. They will gain exposure to programming concepts and steganography, which is the practice of concealing a file, message, image, or video within another file, message, image, or video. Additionally, students will explore cryptography, the study and use of secret codes, and its applications in information security.
Each year, the FDU's Center for Cybersecurity and Information Assurance sponsors a widely attended Cyber symposium. The 2015 theme, Law Enforcement and Cyber Defense, showcased ways in which government authorities and the private sector partner to prevent, detect, and mitigate cyber threats and crimes. The keynote speaker was Sherrill Nicely, Chief Information Security Officer, Central Intelligence Agency. Along with other distinguished speakers, she presented and discussed security threats, business continuity, and forensics that affect the nation and in turn the world.
The CSEOP program modules are planned to be:
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1. Welcome, Overview of Computers & Security
2. Introduction to Data Networking
3. Overview of Criminal Justice System
4. Introduction to Secure Programming
5. Computers and Cybercrime
6. Introduction to Cryptography
7. Elements of Information Hiding & Discover
8. Cyber Career Development Talk, Graduation
A recent generous grant from the Verizon Foundation will enable piloting this program in Fall 2016. CSEOP will be the main outreach program aimed to satisfy the requirements of FDU's CAE-CDE designation.
