Communications of the ACM
Attracting the Next Cybersecurity Pros
Classes for the USC Viterbi School's master's degree in cyber security begin this fall.
Credit: University of Southern California
In an interview, Winnie Callahan, director for business, education, government, and health innovations at the University of Southern California (USC) Viterbi's Information Sciences Institute, recently discussed the school's new master's degree in cybersecurity.
The United States will need 700,000 new cybersecurity professionals by 2015, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Ideal candidates for the USC program, which begins this fall, will be "the best and brightest" who recognize the significance of information security, and are prepared to address challenges, Callahan says. The program emerged in response to her interactions with professionals involved in critical infrastructure, such as power and transportation at various organizations, including the U.S. Strategic Command and the National Security Agency. USC has recruited several top cybersecurity professionals with government and military backgrounds to teach courses for the new program.
Callahan says the United States must focus on engaging students in science and math fields at a younger age, because "if a young person doesn't kind of see something exciting that they can do in some of these harder courses, they kind of self-eliminate as they go into junior and senior high." In addition, she says organizations and schools should try to reach women and minorities at a younger age.
From GovInfoSecurity.com
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