Program offers rigorous curriculum, fundamentals, practical skills, legal/business perspectives

Cleveland, Ohio (June 21, 2022)— Cleveland State University’s Washkewicz College of Engineering) has established a new Graduate Cybersecurity certificate program, designed for those wishing to expand their knowledge and skills in cybersecurity and future professionals a career jump-start.

The certification program at CSU will begin enrollment with the Fall 2022 semester.

“We are excited to be out front with this life-transforming program, one that will impact our current students, the Northeast Ohio community and beyond,” said Richard Schoephoerster, Ph.D., dean of the Washkewicz College of Engineering.

Cybercrime Magazine estimates damage from ransomware (malicious hijacking software) to businesses and organizations around the world cost $8 billion in 2018. In 2019, their figure rose to $11.5 billion and experts there suggest that by 2025, it will cost the world $10.5 trillion annually.

“As daily online security attacks become increasingly tenacious and destructive, businesses and organizations are being forced to take steps with security defense and countermeasures against them.”

“This certificate program offers a rigorous curriculum that not only covers the cybersecurity fundamentals, but also provides the practical security skills from legal and business perspectives,” said Haodong Wang, Ph.D., director of CSU’s Master of Computer Science program and associate professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department at the university.

“There is a great demand for cybersecurity professionals in the industry and an acute awareness of the persistence and aggressiveness of security attacks,” Dr. Wang added. “The sheer amount of online traffic today alone would be enough reason for CSU to offer this program, but the climate that traffic is dealing with can be incredibly risky without the proper security measures.”

The Graduate Cybersecurity Certificate Program is housed within the department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. existing department resources provides the support needed for students to confidently explore their limitless potential in this area.

Admission to the certificate program requires a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or in a related field. Applicants with a bachelor’s degree in other engineering or science fields will also be considered for admission; they may be required to take pre-requisite courses.

“Current graduate students can also apply for this certificate program and earn the certificate during their graduate studies program,” said Dr. Wang. “This program also provides local IT professionals an opportunity to develop their cybersecurity skills for their future career in the security domain.”

More information can be found by visiting the Washkewicz College of Engineering program page.

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