Joe Giordano, director, cyber programs at Utica College.
itors, intelligence or cyber surveillance analysts and data mining specialists. Data fusion, like its name implies, merges data sets from multiple sources. “You can look at it like a military term. (For example) data set A is unclassified and data set B is unclassified, but if you put A together with B, you have a sensitive or classified data set,” Giordano said. Students learn defensive and offensive modes of operation, sources
of surveillance and tracking, web data mining and the legal and ethical issues important to the field. The courses in this specialization include cyber ethics and professional responsibility; open source cyber surveillance; cyber data fusion and advanced topics in cyber data fusion. Leading the Way in Cybersecurity Programs Utica College is no stranger to
cybersecurity. It is home to the Economic Crime and Cybersecurity Institute, the Northeast Cybersecurity Forensic Center and the Center for Identity Management and Information Protection. About five years ago, Utica began offering an M.S. in cybersecurity. This hands-on, technical degree comprises four specialties; computer forensics, intelligence, cyber operations and economic crime investigation. The computer forensics specialty is designed for those students interested in collecting and preparing evidence of computer crimes such as fraud and cyber espionage. The curriculum emphasizes a comprehensive understanding of the forensic tools and techniques used to investigate and analyze network-related incidents and preserve digital evidence. Often the word “forensic” conjures up notions of law enforcement, but the skills associated with this specialty far exceed the realm of law enforcement, Giordano said. “(We’re talking about) gathering evidence on a network, gathering digital evidence of a cyber attack and even gathering evidence in real time as an attack is occurring,” Giordano said. Professionals interested in cyber intelligence and counterintelligence, cyber counterterrorism and cyber countersabotage may want to pursue the intelligence specialization. The curriculum covers analysis of global and national cybersecurity policies, the study and protection of critical infrastructures and operations involving cyber threats and defense. This specialization builds on traditional intelligence functions to determine an adversary’s motive and prevents the adversary from www.HispanicOutlook.com • 13