This project, at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS), will develop a security-integrated computer science curriculum in order to increase the number of students who are exposed to cybersecurity concepts and skills, and who understand the interplay between cybersecurity and other areas of computer science. A total of 12 courses will have relevant security topics integrated into them. This set includes 9 core courses and 3 electives. Existing courses will be enhanced through the use of course content modules, lab exercises, course projects, and guest lectures. In addition to making project materials publicly available, the project team will organize both a regional and a national workshop. The regional workshop will include faculty from other schools in Colorado such as UC Boulder, Colorado State, University of Denver, Colorado College, and Metropolitan State University of Denver. They will also collaborate with a number of institutions with which they have educational collaborations and institutional Memoranda of Understanding, including Otero Junior College, Lamar Community College, and Pikes Peak Community College. These schools do not currently have sufficient cybersecurity education capacity, and their programs will be significantly enhanced through the materials made available to them through this project. This project will be funded by the Division of Graduate Education through the SFS program.
The course infusions involved in this project will focus on topics related to web, cloud, system, network, and biometrics cybersecurity research. Topics addressed will include drive-by-download attacks, single-sign-on system security, biometrics-based user authentication methods, cross-site scripting, security policies, malware analysis, privacy leakage detection and prevention, and trusted platform module chips. Project evaluation will be done using a combination of mechanisms: student and instructor surveys; focus group studies; cybersecurity knowledge and skill measurements; cybersecurity course and program enrollment data; cybersecurity student club and competition team participation; cybersecurity projects, theses, dissertations, and research papers; and student placements into cybersecurity positions or cybersecurity graduate programs upon graduation.
