The University of San Diego announced Tuesday the creation of a center that will address cyber-security issues and offer graduate degree programs.
The USD Center for Cyber Security Engineering and Technology, which will begin operating this summer, will become part of San Diego's growing technology security cluster, which includes the Navy's Space and Naval Warfare System Command Center and anti-virus software maker ESET, among other companies and organizations.
The cluster employs 3,500 people in 100 firms in San Diego, according to a report released last year. Jason Lemon, the dean of professional and continuing education at USD, said the center will provide "a comprehensive focus" on a problem that threatens the security, prosperity and privacy of the United States and its citizens.
"The center's activities will encompass education and training through a full range of educational opportunities," Lemon said. "The community can access USD's cyber-security expertise through degree and certificate programs, inviting USD's cyber experts to participate in projects focusing on the evaluation and development of their own systems and strategies to mitigate cyber threats, and developing internal leadership on cyber security IT, cyber security law, forensics and incident response. There simply is no other university bringing together this kind of expertise and offering so many different degrees, programs and access points like USD's center does."
Among the center's plans are supporting a Master of Science in Cyber Security Engineering that will be offered by USD's School of Engineering and an online Master of Science in Cyber Security Information Technology Leadership. Program websites will be available when campus and accreditation approvals are received, according to the school.
Several certificate programs for public enrollment will address subjects like risk management, cyber intelligence, cyber security assessment and testing, and cyber-security policy and the law.
According to USD, the degree programs will be designed for working professionals, and will be taught by USD faculty and cyber professionals who bring decades of current and real-world experience to their students.
The center will also conduct research, discovery and development of the tools to assist consumers, corporations, nonprofits, utilities and the military find the solutions needed to solve challenges presented by cyber attacks.
Winnie Callahan, executive director of The Peter Kiewit Institute at the University of Nebraska — a collaboration of engineering, information technology and business — will lead the new USD center.
