With so much of Americans’ lives online, their vulnerability to attack in cyberspace has increased, as well. The need to protect personal, financial and critical national security information has led to the growth of tech security degree programs, like those offered by DePaul University’s College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM).

DePaul CDM’s efforts in this area recently resulted in their quick redesignation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Originally designated in 2005, DePaul was successfully re-evaluated against more stringent criteria and will now be included in the program until 2013. Fewer than 95 academic institutions in the United States are classified as a Center of Academic Excellence by the two government entities.

The program is designed “to reduce vulnerabilities in the national information infrastructure by promoting higher education in information assurance and producing a growing number of professionals with information assurance expertise,” according to an NSA news release. DePaul meets these demands through a number of initiatives, expanded curriculum offerings and state-of-the-art facilities.

Recently, DePaul added an advanced security lab for students studying IT and network telecommunications security. The lab, funded in part by a $150,000 donation from Cisco Systems, offers leading-edge software and equipment so that students can be at the forefront of emerging security trends and techniques.

Those facilities enable DePaul CDM to provide course offerings the market demands. For example, with a growing need in financial and regulatory compliance, CDM is offering a new concentration in its master’s degree program in Computer, Information and Network Security (CINS). The new Regulatory, Compliance and Audit concentration focuses on the impact of information assurance legislation and IT security controls requirements on enterprises. By expanding the information assurance aspects to IT and financial auditing, the sequence aims to provide a sound foundation for students looking for a career in auditing, compliance and information security management.

To aid its efforts, the college also has launched a new Security Advisory Board, featuring IT security professionals from a major medical center, a top accounting firm, a risk assessment and compliance firm and a leading consulting house. The board will work closely with faculty and administrators to develop curricula, advise on current security and information assurance trends and tailor courses to help students meet the needs of the marketplace.

“Since its inception five years ago, our CINS program has sought a broad coverage across IT security disciplines. We are pleased to have the program's quality recognized again by the NSA and DHS,” said David Miller, dean of DePaul CDM. “The new concentration extends the program's range in information assurance, while the new advisory board will ensure the program's continuing relevance to the needs of industry.”

DePaul’s degree programs in tech security were among the first to launch in the Midwest. DePaul CDM also offers a bachelor of science program in Information Assurance and Security Engineering that teaches students the fundamentals of information security and security engineering, security infrastructure design, implementation and the impact of security requirements on a business operation.

With 3,079 students enrolled in its undergraduate and graduate programs, CDM is one of the largest colleges of its kind in the nation. The university has invested more than $2 million during the past two years alone in state-of-the-art labs, facilities and specialized equipment for the college. For more information on the security programs, visit www.cdm.depaul.edu.