Development Of A Graduate Certificate In Information Assurance

The growing need for information security professionals is well documented. Very few universities offer more than a single cryptography course, and even fewer engineering departments have a presence in this area. The end result is a severe shortage of graduates proficient in the technology and policy issues critical to the security of the information infrastructure. While several universities have started programs to address these needs, this only solves a small part of the problem. According to the National Strategy to Secure CyberSpace released by the president of United States in 2003, “Many cyber vulnerabilities exist because of a lack of cyber security awareness on the part of computer users, systems administrators, technology developers, procurement officials, auditors, chief information officers, chief executive officers, and corporate boards. Such awareness-based vulnerabilities present serious risks to critical infrastructure regardless of whether they exist within the infrastructure itself. A lack of trained personnel and the absence of widely accepted, multi-level certification programs for cyber security professionals complicate the task of addressing cyber vulnerabilities.” In response to the need to for additional education Iowa State University and its Information Assurance faculty created an Information Assurance graduate Certificate Program. Since the creation of the MS degree in Information Assurance there has been a large demand for several of the courses by computer professionals who already had an advanced degree or who are not interested in the MS degree. As part of its land grant mission Iowa State University created a special graduate degree called a certificate which consists of at least 3 graduate courses. Students completing an Iowa State University certificate program receive this indication on their transcripts and receive a paper certificate.