Lane launches new cybersecurity degree

Article contributed by Lane Community College

Lane Community College’s Computer Information Technology (CIT) Department is rolling out a new, two-year, scalable cybersecurity degree, making it one of only about a dozen community colleges in the nation with a cybersecurity program. The new program will start in fall 2020, although students are already taking classes in preparation for this exciting degree.

The need for cybersecurity professionals is growing dramatically. As technology continues to saturate virtually every area of society, the harm caused by those who criminally profit from it rapidly multiplies. Cybercrime cost the global economy about $600 billion last year and experts predict that it may soar to $6 trillion annually by 2021. What’s more, the cybersecurity skills gap – as evidenced by the lack of people trained in how to fight cybercrime – continues to widen, so much so that a recent article in Forbes proclaimed that the cyberdefense talent gap is an “industry crisis.” All in all, experts project that there will be a staggering 3.5 million vacant cybersecurity positions by 2021. The need for cybersecurity professionals is thus immense.

Lane’s degree will focus on the biggest gap in cybersecurity hiring: the security analyst. As such, it is highly scalable and is a stepping stone vocation to multiple areas of security. The program will be linked to industry academies and training materials from Cisco, Amazon Web Services, VMWare, and Palo Alto Networks. It will provide students with skills that will not only make them marketable for entry-level security analyst jobs, but will give them the groundwork for advanced cybersecurity education and training. It also is designed to enable them to take and pass some of the high-level industry security certification exams affiliated with the companies mentioned above. Best of all, the program is open to all, including those who have no background in technology.

For information visit online at: https://www.lanecc.edu/cit/cybersecurity

Contacts:
Chris Rehn, Division Dean for Business & CIT, rehnc@lanecc.edu or (541) 463-5305
Joan Aschim, PIO, (541) 463-5591 desk, aschimj@lanecc.edu