Cybersecurity and Educational Institutions

CYBERSECURITY: High School to Colleges and University Settings.

Introduction

Cybersecurity is currently a guaranteed benchmark for data and information transmission and communication in global digital community. Unfortunately, collaborative cybersecurity from high school to college is only a stand-alone accelerated road map to mitigate every minute and everyday cybersecurity threats. There is virtually zero unemployment among cybersecurity professions and within the next ten years, the global demand will soon outpace the supply of cybersecurity professionals at every level. As a result, cybersecurity presents itself as an emerging and guarantee career pathway calling on college and university settings that are fertile domains and advocates of practical employment to reexamine current academic curriculum to include collaborative cybersecurity education to guide and protect the tactic of committing historic cyberattack against global community. This domain in education will never go out of business or expire. It is a promising landscape for successful future careers, since the global society is now linked through the Internet and computer systems that continue to extend to all parts of the globe. Unfortunately, this communication hallmark is constantly threatened by breaches communication. A course in cybersecurity will be a proactive reaction pointed toward resolving and mitigating cyber-threat and cyber-attacks on vulnerable innocent citizens.

Cyber-threats are immeasurable by nature and call for an “all-hands-on-deck” approach beginning from high school to college and university education. Perpetrators of cyber-attacks are becoming progressively sophisticated and the collective global village has to respond aggressively and collectively to these attacks by using the available resources and labor to deploy in this war to succeed. All this fight requires is good faith and collective endeavor and trust

among high school educators and college and university professors, who are dedicated to using their intellect and time to continue to search for more sophisticated ways to forestall any new devises and initiatives of the criminals to protect sensitive cyber materials.

Breach

The incident on September 5, 2019, at the College of Central Florida, (CCF), where a hacker knew President James Henningsen was out of town and availed himself of this situation to extort money from the college speaks directly to the dire need for cybersecurity. According to Henry Glaspie, associate vice president for information technology, a cyber-criminal, posing as the president, sent an email to another vice president reporting that his (the presidents’) credit card was stolen and that he needed the vice president or someone to wire him money to complete his mission with. The request was urgent and sounded so authentic because the president was truly out of town on a college mission and his subordinates respected him and would honor every word, especially request in times of hardship from him. This theft was only aborted and prevented when the vice president decided to call the president to acknowledge the receipt of the request and ask specifics as to where and how to expedite the sending of the money. At this point, the president declined having sent any such message and it was discovered that the message emanated from a cyber-attacker. Hence, the knowledge of cyber-security abated the crime.

For more practical purposes, some college and university students are enrolled in Army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) as an educational program, which combines college electives in Military Science with practical and unmatched leadership. Directly aligned with this training are studies in cyber-security, which equip these trainees with cyber-intelligence highly needed in espionage and security protection. This is a worthwhile initiative, which opens up

venues for high school, college, and university set of courses to reexamine course offerings to allow students to pursue identical cybersecurity leadership internship with the United States Homeland Security and the United States Naval Department of cybersecurity. These courses are either taught directly or infused into the curricular to equip the students with the rudimentary skills in cybersecurity and safety.

Notification

The best security and protective measures against cyberwar and cyberattack is to implement professional alliance in cybersecurity as an acceptable guideline for high school educators and college professors in managing, delivering instruction and tailoring learning endeavors toward cybersecurity. Cybersecurity, like other academic disciplines, is a challenging, rigorous, and time-consuming program, requiring an intellectual approach through partnerships and alliances with professional organizations.

Mitigation

The new generation from high school to college and university levels is a credible instrument to foster intrinsic motivation to pursue careers in cybersecurity. They require precise length of time for training, understanding and adjustment to the new challenges and work atmosphere in computer sciences; therefore, a high equal degree of dedication and commitment is required by students, high school educators and college and university professors and parents to enhance this new knowledge. The educational system is an ideal, unique, universal and promising center

conducive to the development of solutions to eradicate cyber-attacks against global innocent citizens.

This initiative can effectively take off with the establishment of professional career advisory board (PCAB). Projected members of the PCAB should include high school educators, college and university professors, parents, the U.S. Naval representatives from Cybersecurity unit, representatives from the Department of Homeland Security and elected student representatives.

Questions

Why should parents be active members of the professional career advisory board (PCAB)? Parents are emotionally involved in their children’s educational pursuit and must be informed on their children's educational goals and objective leading to a much-needed career pathway. Why should high school educators, college and university professors be active members of PCAB? High school educators, college and university professors are directly, emotionally and academically attached to students’ learning endeavors and academic performance leading to a much-needed career pathway.

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Why should a naval representative from Cybersecurity unit and a representative from Homeland Security be active members of PCAB? To provide life-long practical and unmatched leadership to those who are ambitious to embrace a

career in cybersecurity profession.

Why should a student representative be an active member of PCAB? Peer-to-peer network and communication has often been and will continue to remain a living force leading to a much-needed career pathway. The students’ representative acts as the voice of the students and participates actively in designing the causes, being part of the creation not just the consumption

Lesson Learned

The lively conduit to battle the global scourge of cyber-threats is to heighten the understanding and reinforcement of integrated course offerings, grounded in practical and unmatched professional career education to eradicate cyber-attacks against vulnerable innocent citizens. Most higher education administrators often, in flexible dialogue, ignore cyber-threats and fall into incorporate funding of cyber-threats in annual budgets of organizations. Cyber-threat is a global and credible imminent danger requiring an intellectual approach through partnerships and alliances with high school educators, colleges and universities professors, naval representatives from cybersecurity unit, parents, representative from Homeland security.

About the Author - Dr. Joseph O. Esin is Professor of Computer Information Systems Jarvis Christian College at Hawkins, Texas USA, and Visiting Professor of Research University of Calabar, Nigeria