I’ve taken an interest in cyber security in recent years when a friend of mine starting acquiring his certifications like CompTIA Security+, and AWS. Whenever we spoke about his job, and what his day-to-day looked like, I found myself engaged, and interested. It wasn’t long before I lost interest in business, which was what I was pursuing before, and applied to transfer to Old Dominion University to be a cybersecurity major.

I have always wanted a job that was related to technology in some way, and I believe this could be in part due to the fact I was raised around technology my whole life. My dad worked intelligence for the Air Force, and was very good with computers, and thus I was constantly around, and working with technology. I ultimately chose to major in cybersecurity due to being able to work with technology constantly, and the satisfaction, and fulfillment I would get from protecting against cyberthreats.

Majors that are offered by ODU which relate to cybersecurity include: Computer Science, Criminal Justice, Cybercrime (Interdisciplinary studies), Information Systems and Technology. Computer science works to utilize software development in order to create further advancements, which can be applied to cybersecurity practices. Having the foundation of programming, and computer systems, computer science provides the necessary tools required for understanding cybersecurity concepts. Criminal Justice focuses on everything to do with the entire criminal justice system, including things such as law enforcement, legal systems, and the justice system’s response to crimes. Cybersecurity detects and mitigates cyber attacks, and criminal justice connects to deliver proper punishment based on the legal system. Cybercrime’s relation to cybersecurity is a lot more straightforward. Cybercrime deals with cybercrime specifically, and cybersecurity helps defend against cybercrime, such as cyber attacks like DDoS. Information Systems and Technology focuses on implementing and maintaining technology for an organization. The skills for this major such as understanding network management, and system analysis are crucial for establishing effective security for the organizations.