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IVY College offers rigorous programs that blend academic depth with practical training.
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Cybersecurity
ACADEMICS
Cybersecurity
Program Description
Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity Curriculum
Nowadays, cybersecurity has become the top priority for any organization in protecting their digital assets or monitoring online activities. Since hackers and cyber terrorists have endless opportunities to exploit individuals, government institutions, and even large companies, defending against cyber-attacks and security breaches is considered the top priority in organizations to protect their data and remove possible vulnerabilities. Although new innovative technologies have been designed to address the needs, modern, sophisticated adversaries can easily find vulnerabilities and make exploits to launch attacks for financial gains or to achieve specific objectives. Therefore, cybersecurity degree programs have become more popular in the past few years.
- IVY College’s cybersecurity degree program is designed to provide necessary cybersecurity education and produce well-trained students equipped with knowledge on protecting cyber assets. Fundamental topics to be covered in the program are listed in the following:
- Data Security: data protection at rest, during processing, and in transit.
- Software Security: development and use of software that reliably preserves the security properties of the protected information and systems.
- Component Security: the security aspects of the design, procurement, testing, analysis, and maintenance of components integrated into larger systems.
- Connection Security: security of the connections between components, both physical and logical.
- System Security: security aspects of systems that use software composed of components and connections.
- Human Security: the study of human behaviors in the context of data protection, privacy, and threat mitigation.
- Organizational Security: protecting organizations’ assets from cybersecurity threats and managing risks to support the successful accomplishment of their missions.
- Societal Security: aspects of cybersecurity that broadly impact society.
Learning Outcome
To combat the growing cyber threat, the government, private, and public sectors are promoting the cybersecurity field and encouraging education to gain the necessary qualifications and knowledge to begin a computer security career. As cyber threats and attacks continue to escalate in the nation, expert cybersecurity professionals are in high demand and play a crucial role in our future safety.
IVY College has access to some of the best and brightest training resources and is a proud leader in this growing technology sector. Our newly designed courses integrate biblical principles to ensure the highest good is applied as you work in the digital world. Our main goal is to have our students gain the required technical skills in areas such as network security, systems security, identity management, network defense, information assurance compliance, strategic planning, and cybersecurity ethics.
- Students who graduate with a BS in cybersecurity will be able to:
- Analyze a complex computing problem and to apply principles of computing and other relevant disciplines to identify solutions.
- Design, implement, and evaluate a computing-based solution to meet a given set of computing requirements in the context of the program’s discipline.
- Communicate effectively in a variety of professional contexts.
- Recognize professional responsibilities and make informed judgments in computing practice based on legal and ethical principles.
- Function effectively as a member or leader of a team engaged in activities appropriate to the program’s discipline.
- Apply security principles and practices to maintain operations in the presence of risks and threats.
- Identify, assess, and manage cybersecurity risks across the organization.
- Integrate regulations and compliance requirements with cybersecurity strategies.
- Apply current technical tools and methodologies to secure systems.
- Measure and assess risk management practices and policies for an enterprise network.
- Maintain confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information systems.
Successful Degree Completion
As described, the BS in cybersecurity degree is in great demand. The proposed program of study will include all foundational, technical core courses, non-technical courses, and advanced cybersecurity courses of the cybersecurity principles knowledge units set by the National Security Agency (NSA), allowing students to be well prepared for the workforce. Below is additional information on the career outlook for students graduating with a BS in cybersecurity.
Career Outlook
Graduating with a BS in cybersecurity allows students to pursue work with a wide variety of employers, achieve highly technical positions, and apply for positions that will bring fulfillment and better life satisfaction. In a growing and diverse field like cybersecurity, work always brings new challenges, and students can continue learning on the job well beyond graduation. In response to the evolving threats—and increasing costs—of the digital landscape, today’s organizations are prioritizing cybersecurity risk management more than ever.
One of the main reasons applicants should consider getting a BS in cybersecurity is the high level of skill needed to fill the massive talent shortage in the cybersecurity industry. This drastic skills gap has led the government, along with many private organizations, to offer financial incentives for those looking to pursue a degree in cybersecurity. The cybersecurity program at IVY College will position students to fill this critical void, equipping them with the cross-disciplinary skills and expertise that today’s employers demand.
According to a recent research report [1] from the Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), 55 percent of organizations said that increasing cybersecurity protection is one of their highest business initiatives driving IT spending. As a result, there is a growing demand for cybersecurity professionals—and that demand continues to soar. In fact, a report [2] from Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that there will be 3.5 million cybersecurity job openings by 2021. The 2020 median pay for information security analysts is $103,590 per year and $49.80 per hour. The job outlook from 2019 to 2029 is 31%, which is faster than average [3].
Top In-Demand Cybersecurity Careers
Those who obtain a degree in cybersecurity could be strategically positioned to begin pursuing several fulfilling cyber positions. Earning an undergraduate degree potentially makes a candidate more appealing to employers, training, or certifications that may be required to gain cybersecurity-related employment.
Our cybersecurity curriculum includes all the required courses to fully prepare students for the certification of the most sought-after programs (Network +, Security +, Ethical Hacking, Penetration Testing).
Among the top in-demand cybersecurity job titles that our program prepares our students include:
- Security Analyst
- Security Engineer
- Security Architect
- Security Administrator
- Security Software Developer
- Cryptographer
- Security Consultant
Course Outlines
BS in Cybersecurity: Core, Elective and General
Computer Science Core Courses
| Course # | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CS 101 | Foundations of Computing | 4 |
| CS 102 | Intro to Programming (Lec+Lab) | 4 |
| CS 103 | Computer Science I (Lec+Lab) | 4 |
| CS 201 | Computer Science II (Lec+Lab) | 4 |
| CS 202 | Data Structures | 4 |
| CS 301 | Operating Systems | 4 |
| CS 302 | Artificial Intelligence | 4 |
| CS 303 | Data Science | 4 |
| TOTAL: 32 | ||
Cybersecurity Major Courses
| Course # | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CY 101 | Computer Data, Communication, Networking Protocols and Management | 4 |
| CY 102 | Ethics in Cyber Security | 4 |
| CY 201 | IT Systems Components Security | 4 |
| CY 202 | Introduction to Computer and Mobile Forensic | 4 |
| CY 203 | Principle of Cyber Security and Security Management | 4 |
| CY 204 | Introduction to Cryptography | 4 |
| CY 301 | Network Security | 4 |
| CY 302 | Reverse Engineer | 4 |
| CY 303 | Cyber Security Planning | 4 |
| CY 304 | Principle and Practices of Network Defense and Applied Network Security Monitoring | 4 |
| CY 401 | Advanced Cryptography | 4 |
| CY 402 | Secure Software Engineer | 4 |
| CY 403 | Mobile Device & Wireless Security | 4 |
| CY 404 | Cloud Computing Security | 4 |
| CY 405 | Cyber Security Capstone I | 4 |
| CY 406 | Threat Intelligence and Cyber Defense | 4 |
| CY 407 | Cyber Security Capstone II | 4 |
| TOTAL: 68 | ||
Computer Science Elective Courses
| Course # | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CS 304 | Software Engineering | 4 |
| CS 305 | Human Computer Interaction | 4 |
| CS 401 | Computer Architecture | 4 |
| CS 306 | Database Administration | 4 |
| CS 402 | Theory of Computing | 4 |
| CS 307 | Advanced Object-Oriented Programming | 4 |
| CS 308 | Database Systems Design | 4 |
| CS 403 | Analysis of Algorithms | 4 |
| CS 309 | Unix System Programming | 4 |
| CS 310 | Computer Networks | 4 |
| CS 404 | Parallel and Distributed Computing | 4 |
| CS 405 | Independent Study | 4 |
| TOTAL: 48 | ||
General Education Courses
| Course # | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CE 100 | English Composition | 4 |
| CE 103 | English Literature | 4 |
| SM 102 | Statistics | 4 |
| SM 101 | Algebra | 4 |
| SM 103 | Calculus | 4 |
| HA 101 | U.S. History | 4 |
| HA 102 | World History | 4 |
| SM 109 | Introduction to Physical Science | 4 |
| SB 102 | Introduction to Sociology | 4 |
| SB 103 | Introduction to Psychology/ OR Natural Science (Health/Chemistry/Biology) | 4 |
| SB 111 | Introduction to Intellectual Property Law | 4 |
| SB 106 | Critical Thinking | 4 |
| TOTAL: 48 | ||
