I’ve been in the US Navy for quite some time now. We have to take an annual computer-based training called “Cyber Awareness.” If you don’t take this, you lose all access privileges and essentially a pox goes on your house. But I’ll admit that after so many years, I’ve memorized all the answers to the training and I don’t even really pay attention to it anymore. I don’t really know the context behind a lot of the cybersecurity measures endorsed and used on my behalf. So, when I saw this course being offered, I figured I needed to learn about this subject in a more formal – less mandatory and canned – course where I needed to think my way through it.

It is apparent the United States and China seemed to be headed towards some sort of conflict. Unfortunately, I feel it is almost a self-fulfilling prophecy at this point. But as the likelihood of conflict rises, the need to understand the cyber realm only increases. As stated in my previous paragraph, I know very little about this world. Understanding the basics of cybersecurity, the technology involved, and the safeguards surrounding it, will only help me in my current job. I’m not in a cyber job in the Navy, so I won’t ever be moving into the offensive operations, or trying to write code, etc. But if I can see the framework and have a grasp of the proper language used, I can only be a more well-rounded leader. I want to learn more about how the technology actually works and how to build planning and training for the team around cybersecurity. I see training as the most important aspect. If people know the basics, then it can be difficult for intrusions and other cyber events to take place. At the very least, I can learn how to plan to ensure the damage is limited and there’s a path to regaining our full capability.

Four Other Majors at ODU related to cybersecurity:
1. Major in Cybercrime. This major focuses on criminology but within the technology-based and cyber realm. Even though there looks to be a lot of criminal justice, it also has some technical classes such as digital forensics, computer networking, and programming.
2. Major in Electrical Engineering. I saw this one as having a large dose of cybersecurity technology related to it. These students will be building the main electrical infrastructure to power grids, local area networks, and even work in smart cities. All of these main pieces of our lives are vulnerable to cyber attacks.
3. Major in Information Systems and Technology. This major would have a major impact to understand what some anomalies look like in the systems. A person has to understand the systems and how they are supposed to work in order to see if the smallest issue is happening.
4. Major in Modeling and Simulation Engineering. This major would be useful in understanding the analytics behind cybersecurity. Taking the massive amounts of data and trying to find trends and analysis to best protect your organization. This would be very helpful to large organizations with a lot of moving peices.