Cybersecurity Concerns? IUP’s Information Assurance Institute Has It Covered

I don’t know about you, but I still hesitate just a little bit when I enter my credit card number and click “Enter,” even if I’m completely sure of my shopping choices.

Whether you like it or not and whether or not you are a computer user, information on almost everyone is stored in some kind of computer system, be it your health records, bank records or even your grocery shopping choices (Use your Advantage Card at Giant Eagle?).

So, the point is, everyone needs to be concerned about cybersecurity.

Rose Shumba, computer science professor, and studentsFor almost a decade, IUP has been one of the leading universities in the nation focusing on the issue of cybersecurity, or information assurance. Information assurance addresses all of those issues surrounding security of computers and data. IUP is one of fewer than one hundred universities in the nation recognized by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security as a national Center for Academic Excellence in Information Assurance. One of the things that sets IUP’s program apart is that it combines the disciplines of criminology and computer science, offering a unique perspective on this fascinating field of study.

IUP is also very proud to have an Institute of Information Assurance, directed by Rose Shumba, professor of computer science. One of the projects of the institute is an annual Information Assurance Day. Top-level speakers come to IUP to talk with students, faculty members, and the community about issues in the field. This year, the event is Thursday, November 10.

For this fourth annual event, speakers from nationally known firms and from the FBI will discuss topics as diverse as “Four Essential Requirements for Securing Your Enterprise” to “What Keeps Me Up At Night,” a discussion about botnets, malware, cybercrime, and the criminal underground. This second program is copresented by two FBI agents, both special investigators of national security and criminal cybercrime. The final program of the day will be given by IUP graduate Douglas Brown, senior vice president and IT audit senior manager for First Commonwealth Financial Corporation, who will present “Information Assurance, an IT Audit Perspective.”

All of these programs are free and open to the community.

When I know that IUP students are learning how to keep my information safe, it makes me feel a lot better about the state of our nation’s computer information.

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