Practical computer security: a new service course based upon the national strategy to secure cyberspace

ABSTRACT

The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace calls upon IT professionals to help empower all Americans to secure their own connections to cyberspace as part of the National security effort. Specifically, it is a call for training the general population (meaning non-IT professionals). This paper describes a pilot syllabus for a course aimed at teaching non-computing majors the fundamentals of computer security, and so meets this call of the National Strategy. It will be offered as part of the university's General Education program, at the upper division level. We discuss the reason for the course, the selection of topics to include, the educational approach to be taken with non-technical students, and the resulting characteristics desired for our graduates.

REFERENCES

• 1: Chautauqua Field Center Directors and the Regional Centers (University of Pittsburgh). Chautauqua Short Courses for College Teachers. (2005). Retrieved March 1, 2005 from <http://www.engr.pitt.edu/chautauqua/>
• 2: Ciampa, Mark. (2004). Security Awareness: Applying Practical Security in Your World. Boston: Thomson Course Technology.
• 3: Department of Homeland Security. National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. (2003). Retrieved March 1, 2005 from <http://www.whitehouse.gov/pcipb/>
• 4: Easttom, Chuck. (2006). Computer Security Fundamentals. Upper Saddle, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
• 5: Michael Hauben , Ronda Hauben, Netizens: on the history and impact of Usenet and the Internet, IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos, CA, 1997
• 6: Jaques, Robert. vnunet.com 01 Feb 2005, http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2126635/cost-malware-soars-166bn-2004
• 7: McMahon, David. (2000). Cyber Threat: Internet Security for Home and Business. Toronto: Warwick Publishing, Inc.
• 8: Michael G. Solomon , Mike Chapple, Information Security Illuminated, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc., 2005
• 9: United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team, http://www.us-cert.gov.
• 10: Linda Volonino , Stephen R. Robinson, Principles and Practice of Information Security, Pearson Education, 2003

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.3 COMPUTERS AND EDUCATION
      K.3.2 Computer and Information Science Education
          Subjects: Literacy

General Terms:
Security

Keywords:
education, model syllabi, security