Cybersecurity Industry Needs and the CSEC Abet Curriculum Analysis
Abstract
In the recent years, companies in the IT/cybersecurity industry have expressed their concerns about the lack of knowledge entry level cybersecurity employees are experiencing after graduating from a four-year cybersecurity program. Organizations such as National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) which is led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides a framework to map certain knowledge, skills, and tasks that have provided a way for universities to build their cybersecurity course curriculums. By following this framework at the competency level, it can be used to ensure students are adequately prepared for industry level jobs upon graduation from a four-year cybersecurity program. The goal of this study was to explore if there are gaps in terms of workforce development for cybersecurity competencies that graduates from ABET-accredited four-year bachelor’s cybersecurity -IT programs (Degrees and Majors) have? For this research, there were three phases: a gap analysis, a survey, and a comparison. A gap analysis was conducted to assess the current cybersecurity curriculum for Purdue University’s undergraduate four-year program. The survey was conducted amongst a list of companies, obtained from Purdue University’s Center for Career Opportunities (CCO) who have previously hired students from the four-year cybersecurity program in the Polytechnic Institute. Finally, a comparison was done to show what the gap analysis was, what was originally thought to be missing from the current curriculum, what industry said was missing, what was the same and what was different. It has been determined that a gap does exist, and this survey's results concluded there were three common issues with hiring new cybersecurity talent as well as identified what competencies were originally thought to be missing based on the gap analysis and the industry survey. Also, while industry certifications are not required to secure entry level positions at the companies who responded to the survey, they certainly are preferred. This research can help make students from the four-year undergraduate cybersecurity program at Purdue University be more competitive when applying for entry-level cybersecurity industry positions upon graduation.
Degree
M.Sc.
Advisors
Karabiyik, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Curriculum development
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