background image
WINTER 2015-16
B
O
N
A
V
E
N
T
U
R
E
In its proposal to New York state to get the
major approved, faculty members touted the
"Goldilocks zone" -- the place where the
program fell on the spectrum of academic
cybersecurity programs.
"If you look at most cybersecurity majors
out there, if they grew out of an information
management program, they have a few
token technical courses. If they grew out of
a computer science program, there are a few
token management and social courses," said
Dr. David Levine, professor of computer sci-
ence at St. Bonaventure since 1998.
"But this is the best of both worlds. It's not
too technical and it's not too social, hence,
we're in the middle like Goldilocks."
Levine recognizes the perception that ap-
proach might create.
"It sounds like a compromise," he said,
"but our dream is that our graduates will be
able to speak to both sides -- the technical
and the managerial -- and that they'll be
able to choose, within the field of cybersecu-
rity, which way they want to go after they
graduate, not have to decide when they're
11th-graders."
Those opportunities, in both sectors of the
cybersecurity field, will be plentiful and prof-
itable.
THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
predicts that until 2022, information security
analyst positions will grow at a rate of 37
percent, and U.S. News & World Report
ranked "information security analyst" third
among the best technology jobs, eighth
among the top 100 professions and 15th
among the highest-paying jobs.
"There are more positions available in most
instances than there are qualified applicants,"
said Paul McDonald, '80, senior executive di-
rector of Robert Half, a global staffing firm
specializing in accounting and finance, tech-
nology, legal, creative and administrative
placement.
"This program makes sense for Bonaventure
because the demand for skilled talent is in-
tense and does not show signs of slowing
down."
Predicting significant growth in any specific
job market might seem like a precarious ledge
to walk out on, but good luck finding anyone
who doesn't agree.
"The risk of being wrong about adding this
degree is about as close to zero as you can
get," Meyer said. "Sometimes when you drill
for oil, it's just exploratory and you're hoping
you find something. But we know there's oil
here."
With every high-profile hack, corporate ex-
ecutives, military leaders and government offi-
cials intensify their efforts to protect their
databases.
"That's what I hear when I'm out delivering
speeches and talking to people," said McDon-
ald, a trustee since 2014. "Nothing is sacred,
nothing is safe, and you never know where an
attack is going to come from, whether inter-
nally or externally, within the U.S. or interna-
tionally. Anything you put on the computer is
open to potential hacking."
When Dr. Steve Andrianoff started teaching
at St. Bonaventure in 1979, cybersecurity
wasn't even a word. The first hackers, in-
spired by the classic film "War Games,"
weren't discovered until 1983. The first
worm to infect the world's nascent com-
puter infrastructure wasn't detected until
1988.
In fact, Andrianoff taught math when he
first came to Bonaventure because there
wasn't a computer science department. To-
14
Keep your day-to-day soft-
ware,
such as browsers, Java,
Flash and PDF readers, up to
date at all times. Patch quickly.
Marcin Kleczynski
CEO and Founder of Malwarebytes
Buy a low-cost Chromebook for
everyday browsing
and online
banking. As cloud computers,
they are an order of magnitude
more secure than any PC, no
matter how well defended. Start using
a good online password manager (e.g.
LastPass) to store and generate strong
passwords. Ideally, buy the paid version
for a few dollars and activate two-fac-
tor authentication. Money well spent.
John E. Dunn
Co-founder of Techworld
Be Suspicious.
Online or email scams
are no longer identifiable by
poor grammar and spelling
mistakes. Whenever you see
ads or emails claiming to give
you a free iPhone or iPad, ask yourself,
"Would it happen to me walking down
the street?"
Liviu Arsene
Senior E-Threat Analyst at
Bitdefender
Trust nobody! The Internet is not a
world of Care Bears!
Don't be
afraid to decline or ask more
information. Exactly like we
teach our kids: Do not talk to
strangers.
Xavier Mertens
Security Consultant and
Blogger at TrueSec
Back up. Now.
Back up -- not just your
computer, but also your phone
and your tablet. Back up your
systems so that you can actu-
ally restore them -- even if your
house burns down.
Mikko Hypponen
Chief Research Officer
at F-Secure
Cyber
Tips
Dr. Steve Andrianoff is directing
St. Bonaventure's new cyberse-
curity program. Learn more at
www.sbu.edu/Cybersecurity.