by April Frost, Assistant Professor in Cybersecurity & Networking
This October marks the 17th year of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM). The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, is the sponsor for this event. Each year has a unique theme, and the 2020 theme is ‘Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart’. As the NCSAM website says: “This theme encourages individuals and organizations to own their role in protecting their part of cyberspace, stressing personal accountability and the importance of taking proactive steps to enhance cybersecurity.”
I assign a project related to CSAM every year, because cybersecurity is much more than just a professional certification. Research-based assignments like this help students become more aware of cybersecurity in all of life, not just as a profession. In the process of becoming cybersecurity professionals, learning everything in a classroom without application of lessons learned can be overwhelming. This project is a chance to identify areas of cybersecurity that may be interesting to individual students. Cybersecurity is something that every person needs to be aware of and know how it affects his or her life. It is my goal that students will complete this project and realize the immediate application of the topics they study in their own personal environment. As students learn new skills and practices, they become willing to share with others. The PPCC EXPO is a great platform to share these topics with the school.
