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Cybersecurity Center

Welcome to Strayer University's Cybersecurity Center

The Strayer University Cybersecurity Center is a dedicated space for this fast-paced and growing field. Strayer is focused on creating a pathway to infuse employer needs and emerging trends into our programs. This center focuses on providing information about Strayer’s cybersecurity course and program offerings as well as important cybersecurity trends and topics.

Contact Sr. Dean Dr. Carlo Sapijaszko with any questions.

Academic Opportunities

The key mission of the IT Industry Advisory Board is to create pathways to infuse employer needs and emerging trends into the Information Technology programs. Board members range from industry practitioners, academicians, and entrepreneurs, all uniquely qualified to offer valuable input to further Strayer IT programs.

  • Ray Caparros - Cybersecurity Engineer – Mantech
  • Sunny Chowdhury - Entrepreneur/Cloud Architect - Amazon 
  • Tom Christensen - Amazon Solutions Architect - AWS
  • Meggie Enxuto - Vice President of Education - Devmountain 
  • Mark Merkow - Application Security Architecture / Design / Engineering - HealthEquity, Inc. 
  • Louise Ng - Transformation Architect - VMware 
  • Delayne Sorrells - GSSP-Security Business Management Office Leader - Cisco
  • Myles Vogel - Consultant - Principal 

Faculty

The following faculty are associated with Strayer University’s cybersecurity-related programs. 

  • Darcel Ford, PhD
  • Christopher Gorham, PhD
  • James Manning, DSc

Cybersecurity News and Events

Strayer places high again in the 2023 NSA Codebreaker Challenge

Strayer University placed sixth out of 348 educational institutions in the U.S. that participated in the 2023 NSA Codebreaker Challenge. This is the second year that Strayer students competed in this challenge. In this year’s scenario, the US Coast Guard (USCG) discovered an unidentified signal near US waters. Individual students played the role of NSA employees providing technical assistance to the USCG to identify and investigate the unknown object producing the signal. Strayer University is proud of our students’ achievements as part of the NSA Codebreaker Challenge.

We invite all cybersecurity enthusiasts looking to enroll at Strayer University to reach out to Dr. Ford. We would love to share more about our participation in the codebreaker event and answer any questions you may have.

MSISA program earns key NSA designation

The National Security Agency (NSA) and a committee of academic peers designated Strayer University as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD) and validated the Master of Science in Information Security and Assurance (MSISA) degree program.

To earn this recognition, Strayer was required to demonstrate that the MSISA program aligns closely with important cybersecurity knowledge units that have been validated by experts in the field.

Enrollment in our MSISA program gives students a path toward joining a highly skilled workforce that is critical to protecting the nation’s information infrastructure. MSISA students gain key skills and knowledge that are important to today’s employers in the cybersecurity and defense field.

Cybersecurity competition in CIS562

Starting in the Spring 2021 term, students enrolled in CIS562: Computer Forensics Planning had an opportunity to participate in a Cyber Challenge (competition). The first challenge was designed by Strayer faculty (Prof. Ford) and offered on May 19. The task given to students was to use industry-standard forensics tools to recover a deleted file with a specific characteristic, in this case, a specific modification date. Students had 90 minutes to complete the challenge, and their answers to questions while completing the challenge determined their rank. Students received a certificate of rank following the Cyber Challenge. The challenge has been offered every term thereafter, and students will have other competition opportunities in the future!

Student IT Career Community on Facebook
Current students have the opportunity to join Strayer’s Information Technology Career Community on Facebook to learn about careers in the IT field, learn how to find jobs, and connect with community members. Students also hear from guest speakers, including professionals currently working in the cybersecurity field.

External Links

Cybersecurity Resources

Cybersecurity Talent Demand and Career Paths

Current Cyber Threats

Institutional Security Resources and Awareness

In addition to the resources below, Strayer has additional cybersecurity policies, procedures, and resources that are available to students and staff who have Strayer log-in credentials.

Courses

The following courses are relevant to the field of cybersecurity and are included in the degree programs offered at Strayer. Click on the course below to learn about the associated course descriptions in the University Catalog.

Online
CIS 332 - Network Server Administration I

This is a lab-based course that helps to prepare students to install, configure, secure and maintain the Windows server environme...Read more

Online
CIS 333 - Networking Security Fundamentals

This is a lab-based course that provides an overview of information technology security principles, challenges, vulnerabilities a...Read more

Online
CIS 502 - Theories of Security Management

This course presents current and emerging theories in security management. Topics include the policies, guidance, technologies an...Read more

Online
CIS 512 - Advanced Computer Architecture

This course examines the structure and operation of digital computers in the context of providing data and infrastructure securit...Read more

Online
CIS 527 - IT Risk Management

This course addresses the topic of risk management and how risk, threats and vulnerabilities impact information systems. Topics i...Read more

Online
CIS 534 - Advanced Network Security Design

This course examines strategies to design, administer and maintain a comprehensive enterprise security infrastructure. Topics rel...Read more

Online
CIS 542 - Web Application Security

This course addresses the risks, threats and vulnerabilities for web-based applications and the people who use them. This course ...Read more

Online
CIS 552 - Cybercrime Techniques & Response

This course examines the threats, crimes and other abuses that are present in the cyber realm. Topics include identifying the bad...Read more

Online
CIS 560 - Security Access and Control Strategies

This course presents typical cyber operations including access and control, where ethical dilemmas arise and provides tools for l...Read more

Online
CIS 562 - Computer Forensics Planning

This course presents the systematic methods in conducting computer forensic investigations, acquiring digital data and reporting ...Read more

Online
CIS 565 - Cryptography

This course covers cryptography from historical, applied, and theoretical perspectives. Topics include symmetric and asymmetric e...Read more

Online
CIS 598 - Graduate Information Assurance Capstone

In this integrative capstone course, students will examine and solve real-world cybersecurity problems and apply associated techn...Read more

Online
SEC 340 - Computer Forensic Technology

Get the knowledge and skills to identify, track and prosecute cyber criminals. Understand computer forensics; creating a secure l...Read more

Online
SEC 420 - Perimeter Defense Techniques

This is a lab-based course that covers topics in offensive network security, ethical hacking, network defense and countermeasures...Read more

Online
SEC 435 - Network Penetration Testing

This is a lab-based course that covers topics in advanced penetration testing and information security analysis. Students are exp...Read more