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International Cybersecurity

Purpose:

This concentration will prepare students to engage with the range of issues and techniques employed to study, understand and combat international cyber-security issues.

Description:

Nations, international organizations, corporations and individuals are increasingly concerned about cyber-security and there has been tremendous growth in the employment of people with core knowledge of the topic. Our goal is to provide students with an understanding of fundamental principles in both military intelligence and information technology to be able to understand the operational, political and security concerns emerging from international cyber-security issues now and in the future.

Requirements:

Students wishing to receive attestation certifying the depth of their specialization in this particular area will be required to successfully complete at least four of the courses listed below.

Please note that this list will be reviewed from time to time depending on the available course offerings at any given time. Students should check the availability of these courses with the SIA academic adviser and the individual course instructors. Students should also determine if there are prerequisites for enrolling in a particular course.

Please note that this concentration likely requires programming knowledge or skills and/or the completion of necessary prerequisites at Penn State. For more information, please see the SIA academic adviser.

Courses:

  1. The Role of Intelligence in International Relations — INTAF 812 (3 credits)
  2. U.S. National Security — INTAF 818 (3 credits)
  3. Seminar on Terrorism — PL SC 597* (3 credits)
  4. Politics of Terrorism — PL SC 439 (3 credits)
  5. National Security and Counterterrorism Law — PERSP 997* (3 credits)
  6. Foundations of Information Security and Assurance — IST 815 (3 credits; online course; heavy technical course; see Academic Adviser for registration details)
  7. Network Security — IST 451
  8. Network management and Security — IST 554
  9. Computer and Cyber Forensics — IST 454 (3 credits)
  10. Information Security Management — IST 456 (3 credits)
  11. Network Management and Security — IST 554 (3 credits)
  12. Cybercrime, Cyber-terrorism, and Cyberwar — SRA 450 (3 credits)
  13. Deception and Counter-Deception — SRA 433 (3 credits)
  14. Security Risk and Analysis Capstone — SRA 440W (3 credits; prerequisites can be waived for SIA students)

* Frequency and availability of Special Topics courses will vary each semester.