- How does your major relate to cybersecurity technology?
- Select four other majors offered by ODU and explain how those majors relate to cybersecurity.
1) Currently I am majoring in Cybersecurity itself and as such my classes will teach me the necessary tools and knowledge to protect computer systems from being compromised or copied by non-authorized users. I hope to gain understanding of the procedures, frameworks, and skills necessary to achieve professional results.
2) Four other majors offered by ODU that relate to the cybersecurity field are Information Systems and Technology, Criminal Justice, Political Science, and Computer engineering.
Information systems and technology is the understanding of how organizations can use computer systems to meet their goals. Information Systems and Technology can relate directly to cybersecurity in multiple ways, for example a firm could choose to purchase the computer software that is older but more secure than a new software that may have unknown vulnerabilities. Another example is a firm choosing computer systems to store data on customers financial or banking information in ways that are compliant with local laws.
A Criminal Justice major seeks to learn laws and law enforcement techniques to deter and prosecute crimes that victimize people or violate their property rights. Criminal justice is related to cybersecurity in that it teaches the understanding of what laws apply to the world of cyberspace and how criminals can use the internet to facilitate crimes. An example of criminal justice major relating to cyber security might be a student learning what laws are violated when a ransomware attack is executed on a company operating an oil pipeline, and a police officer using cyber security techniques to track the criminals back to where they attacked from.
Political science majors learn about the systems of government and groups of people as stakeholders in a country or region and apply that understanding to how to best achieve desired outcomes. Additionally, they learn about laws and can become influencer’s of public policy. A person with a political science degree may become an advisor to a politician helping him draft legislation on cybersecurity issues after an attack on a nation’s infrastructure, that considers international law, Geo-political concerns, and national security issues at home.
Computer engineering majors develop skills ranging from hardware to software to become deeply knowledgeable about the computers as they operate day to day. A computer engineer could relate to cyber security by being a penetration tester and finding flaws in design or protection of machines used in an organizations critical computer system’s. Or a computer engineer could write antivirus software to protect against attacks from malicious unauthorized users.