UTSA one of 44 U.S. institutions named a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance/Cyber Defense

By K.C. Gonzalez
Public Affairs Specialist

(Sept. 15, 2014) -- The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is one of only 44 institutions in the nation designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence (CAE) in Information Assurance (IA)/Cyber Defense (CD) by the National Security Agency (NSA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The new CAE IA/CD designation is based on the NSA and DHS’s updated academic criteria for cybersecurity education and affords each CAE institution the opportunity to distinguish its strengths in specific IA/CD focus areas.

UTSA’s recognized focus area is in Digital Forensics, a program that falls under the Department of Information Systems and Cyber Security in the UTSA College of Business.

As one of the leading institutions in the field of infrastructure assurance education, the UTSA College of Business provides critical training for information assurance professionals and contributes to the protection of the national information infrastructure.

“Our curriculum affords UTSA students high-impact research experience under the mentorship of faculty who understand the real-world needs of industry,” said Glenn Dietrich, UTSA professor and director of the Center for Education and Research in Information and Infrastructure Security in the College of Business. “UTSA’s objective is to offer solutions to today’s big cybersecurity problems and develop the workforce needed now and in the future.”

In 2002, the NSA and DHS designated UTSA as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education (CAE) based on the curriculum in the College of Business. In 2009, UTSA was also designated as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research (CAE-R) based on the research of business, computer science and engineering faculty.

With more than 150 students in the program, the Department of Information Systems and Cyber Security offers a broad array of coursework with more than 14 undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of digital forensics, secure network design, intrusion detection and incident response.

Students learn how to protect data, gather and examine digital evidence, perform security risk assessments and study computer and network forensics procedures. Graduates of the UTSA program are placed in governmental and private sector positions with such employers as the CIA, Digital Defense, FBI, NSA, Rackspace and USAA.

In February 2014, UTSA was recognized by the Ponemon Institute as having the best cybersecurity programs in the nation based on a national survey of certified information technology security professionals.

UTSA is also home to the Institute for Cyber Security and Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security. The research and outreach programs are focused on solving global security challenges in today's increasingly technological world. They also give UTSA students the opportunity to conduct research alongside some of the nation's most respected faculty members in security.

For more information about cybersecurity at UTSA, visit http://utsa.edu/cybersecurity.

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