Ransomeware attacks are up 195 percent in the first quarter of 2019 as compared to the fourth quarter of 2018. Data breaches are another ongoing concern for all businesses, with the 2018 Cost of a Data Breach Study citing the average cost for a data breach in the U.S. at $7.9 million with costs rising into the hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars in the most serious cases.
Due to these risks facing businesses of all sizes, Auburn University’s Harbert College of Business has launched a graduate certificate in cybersecurity management designed with business professionals in mind.
The new program builds upon the university’s cybersecurity policy and engineering research, including extensive work being conducted at the Auburn Cyber Research Center, McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security and its Washington, D.C.-based Center for Cyber and Homeland Security.
The new graduate certificate enables IT professionals and other business managers to evaluate security measures, assess organizational threat exposure and develop effective contingency plans for mitigating risk across all business operations. It is offered online and on campus.
The curriculum is designed to prepare for three critical professional certification exams: the Certified Information Systems Security Professional, the Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control and the Certified Information Systems Auditor. Certificate credits earned through the graduate certificate could be later applied to graduate business degrees at Auburn or other universities. In addition, current full-time, online and executive MBA students can pursue both a concentration and a certificate in cybersecurity management.
“A company’s IT/cyber team should not be in the fight alone,” said Frank Cilluffo, director of the McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security. “Adopting good practices and striving to comply with pertinent regulations is important, but it is crucial to consistently assess the potential risks and adjust those policies and practices accordingly. Genuine security will never be achieved by a ‘check-the-box’ mentality, which loses sight of this bigger picture, and wrongly assumes that fulfillment of a checklist alone will protect you.”
