{"id":74,"date":"2019-03-28T16:09:19","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T16:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/staying-safe-in-the-digital-age\/"},"modified":"2019-03-28T21:00:43","modified_gmt":"2019-03-28T21:00:43","slug":"staying-safe-in-the-digital-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/staying-safe-in-the-digital-age\/","title":{"rendered":"Staying Safe In The Digital Age"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cyber Security. The name drips with mystery, coolness and a geeky image of digital detective work. And that\u2019s even if you don\u2019t watch TV shows where evil, tech-savvy villains steal data and finances on a massive scale while crimefighting computer wizards track them with their own keyboard gymnastics.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Away from the silver screen, students at NCTC are training for cyber security jobs in North Texas, with some employed locally by a host of data protection companies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Susan Svane, Information Technology division chair at NCTC, acknowledges the air of intrigue that surrounds cyber security given cinema\u2019s obsession with the idea of good guys and bad guys duking it out in the digital realm. But, she says a better reason to like NCTC\u2019s Cyber Security program is the job outlook it represents. In DFW alone, industry insiders estimate that some 6,000 cyber security positions are unfilled, and it\u2019s a trend that\u2019s expected to continue.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In today\u2019s digitized world, Svane says, \u201cEveryone\u2019s at risk of suffering security breaches,\u201d and keeping data and systems safe is a global business priority that\u2019s sure to grow. She notes that students who excel at cyber security tend to be driven and excel at solving puzzles and staying one step ahead of \u201cthe black hats.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Keith Barthold, CEO of DKBinnovative in Frisco, makes his living in this field and is an industry partner with NCTC\u2019s Cyber Security department. He agrees that maintaining \u201ca full spectrum of cyber defense strategies\u201d is particularly crucial for companies in industries like financial services and healthcare and those with U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) contracts, and he notes that security and compliance go hand-in-hand.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA common misconception about this field is that it\u2019s all about ethical hacking,\u201d Barthold says. \u201cBut it\u2019s not always that sexy. Mostly, it\u2019s about \u2018best practices\u2019 and compliance. \u2026 The real goal is to make sure our clients have cyber defense strategies in place, and that they maintain them and make sure they are followed. \u2026 Compliance is very straightforward. You either are or you aren\u2019t. And if you\u2019re not, then your security is compromised.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Svane says NCTC\u2019s Cyber Security program, which opened in 2014, was \u201cbuilt from the ground up,\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>and prepares <\/span>students for careers in information security with training that includes monitoring firewalls and intrusion prevention<\/span>\u00a0systems, and overseeing security operations center management. A grant from the U.S. Department of Labor enabled the college to upgrade its labs and develop an <\/span>instructional model with a priority of \u201chands-on skill-building,\u201d which she believes is critical to helping students stay on top of the dynamic field.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, a university program puts an emphasis on theoretical knowledge, she explains. \u201cThat\u2019s certainly <\/span>helpful, but graduates might not have the real-world skills to get a job, or excel at it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

NCTC\u2019s Cyber Security program offers a certificate in addition to an Associate of Applied Science degree.<\/span><\/p>\n

Opportunity Knocks<\/span><\/h4>\n

Keith Barthold, CEO of Frisco-based DKBinnovative, has a long history with NCTC. He was a dual credit student at Valley View High School in the late 1990s and says one of his first jobs was with NCTC\u2019s IT Help Desk.\u00a0 <\/span>Now he\u2019s a member of the college\u2019s Information Technology Advisory Committee and a partner in the TechHire Grant.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Last semester, DKBinnovative employed NCTC student Calvin Fuller via TechHire, then hired him in December as a Virtual Security Information Manager (VSIM).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur timing was perfect on that,\u201d Barthold says. \u201cCalvin got to throw himself into a project and prove himself. It worked out well for both of us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This semester, the company has a second NCTC intern.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jobs of the Future<\/span><\/h4>\n

The field of cyber security is still evolving right along with technology, generating jobs at a faster pace than the national average, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a growth by 40 percent during the next decade. Wages in this dynamic industry are ahead of the national average as well, with cyber security agents earning a median wage of nearly $90,000 a year.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond the appeal of good salaries and a promising job market, Susan Svane of NCTC\u2019s Information Technology division says cyber security represents \u201cjobs with diversity \u2014 with different challenges and puzzles every day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Cyber Specialties<\/span><\/h4>\n

NCTC offers hands-on classes in areas like intrusion detection, operation system security and advanced network defense.\u00a0 <\/span>Potential jobs include:<\/span><\/p>\n

Vulnerability Assessment Analyst: Works internally to identify security problems and correct them before someone can break in from the outside.<\/span><\/p>\n

Security Engineer: Serving on the front line of managing servers and firewalls in addition to the day-to-day issues with corporate networks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Penetration Testing Specialist: A \u201cwhite hat hacker,\u201d often an outside contractor, who attempts to break into networks in order to search out security flaws.<\/span><\/p>\n

Digital Forensic Specialist: Trained in the magic of recovering information that was deleted from drives and phones.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cyber Security. The name drips with mystery, coolness and a geeky image of digital detective work. And that\u2019s even if you don\u2019t watch TV shows where evil, tech-savvy villains steal data and finances on a massive scale while crimefighting computer wizards track them with their own keyboard gymnastics.\u00a0 Away from the silver screen, students at… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,1],"tags":[],"article_type":[],"class_list":["post-74","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cybersecurity","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75,"href":"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74\/revisions\/75"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2019-volume-4-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=74"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}