Keeping computers and information systems secure is a major challenge. Business, industry, and government need well-prepared technicians who can prevent, detect, and investigate cybersecurity breaches, and the growth of cyber-threats has created a need for many more workers who have appropriate, specific knowledge and skills. In this project, the investigators will enhance the cybersecurity curriculum at Hagerstown Community College (HCC), offer more opportunities for students to engage in hands-on learning, and recruit more students (especially women and minorities) into the program. In particular, the college will launch an innovative partnership with the Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute to offer extended research opportunities to community college students in cybersecurity. These students will gain hands-on training in the context of real research problems and will work with graduate students and faculty at the university. Topics to be emphasized in both the research experiences and the related curricular changes include cloud computing and mobile-device security.
Four goals guide the project: 1) Create new and updated curricula that optimize the use of NetLab and address emerging needs in cybersecurity; 2) Develop and offer new mentorship and technician-level research opportunities, producing a model for other associate degree programs; 3) Ensure that HCC graduates enter the workforce or transfer to four-year institutions, increasing the diversity of the regional and national cybersecurity workforce; and 4) Build upon and develop sustainability strategies. Towards the first goal, the investigators will develop new courses in "Security in the Cloud" and "Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Security," provide professional development for instructional staff to complete VCA-Cloud and VCP-Cloud training through VMWare, mentor students as they create new BYOD security policies and procedures, and put into place a new cybersecurity course as part of the Summer Bridge program for secondary school students and teachers (which enables students to make a smooth transition from high school to the college). To reach goal two, the project will incorporate research experiences into the new courses described above, provide research opportunities for students in partnership with the Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute, and create a detailed "lessons learned" guide for community colleges that want to implement similar initiatives with university partners. To achieve the third goal, the research team will create new training scenarios (using the existing penetration testing lab) that enable the assessment of cybersecurity skills, strive to increase the number of women and minorities enrolled in cybersecurity and information systems courses by 50%, and add at least five new internship sites for students. Finally, towards the fourth goal, the investigators will build relationships with new business and industry partners and increase the use of the penetration testing lab for research, coursework, contests, and activities with those business/industry partners. The project will study factors such as students' performance in and satisfaction with the new and revised courses; the effects of the research experiences on students' persistence in cybersecurity; enrollment and completion rates in courses and the program; the mapping of the new training scenarios to defined cybersecurity Knowledge Units; the number of students placed in internships; the growth and engagement of business/industry partners; and utilization of the penetration testing lab by individuals and organizations outside the college. Findings are expected to broaden the knowledge base regarding the effectiveness of expanding access to research environments for community college students and the circumstances under which such access translates into increased learning and workforce development opportunities for the students.
