Cybersecurity - Foundations

The Cybersecurity - Foundations program is an opportunity for students, interested in the field of cybersecurity, to complete college courses leading to industry certifications and an associate degree. High school students enrolled in the program will earn high school and college credit for coursework simultaneously. Students who begin the program their junior year of high school will earn a high school diploma and an associate degree from Zane State College. Students will be required to complete a core set of classes which prepares them in the following disciplines: networking, operating systems (e.g., Windows, Linux, etc.), security, and penetration testing. Upon completion of the coursework, students may also be prepared to sit for certifications such as: Linux+, Security+, Network+, and CeH. Mastery of skills will prepare the students for employment in positions such as: network security analyst, IT security engineer, senior network security analyst, information security analyst, computer security technical specialist, or network and computer systems administrator.

Students in this program will be able to:

1. Identify, analyze, plan, implement, monitor cybersecurity mechanisms to protect information assets, computer systems, and networks, and respond to attacks.
2. Effectively lead, work, and communicate in cross-functional teams.
3. Apply ethical and moral standards in maintaining information security in cyberspace.
4. Adapt to new technologies, tools, and methodologies to remain current in the field.
5. Apply security principles and practices to all components of a system.
6. Review the legal, regulatory, policy, and ethical issues related to securing cyberspace, and ensuring the privacy of personally identifiable information.
7. Optimize the effectiveness of cybersecurity in an organization by performing vulnerability assessments, risk mitigation, forensic analysis, and auditing of information systems.
8. Use specialized knowledge and techniques to obtain skills and if applicable, certifications in the cybersecurity field.