New Changes to Online MS in Information Security Program

When Champlain College Online’s Master of Science in Information Security Operations launched several years ago, the innovative graduate degree program met a critical, and underserved, need in information security education. Rather than focus on information assurance, as many higher education institutions chose to do at the time, CCO opted for a program designed to develop a workforce skilled in both defensive and offensive strategies for securing systems and data in a variety of settings and organizations.

After over a year of planning and preparation, CCO is once again making a bold move with its information security graduate degree program. Renamed the Master of Science in Information Security, the program will now offer two specializations, Operations and Management. The changes reflect CCO’s unwavering commitment to the operations domain, while addressing the needs of today’s enterprise organizations and small- to mid-sized businesses, where managers must not just understand information security, but also how developing a security culture and effective leadership are just as important as vendor/solution selection.

True to its roots, the program still emphasizes hands-on learning, whereby students utilize the tools of the trade throughout their academic experiences. In fact, both operations and management students “learn by doing” early on in the program. Based on CCO’s research and feedback from our truED partners, the best information security managers are those who not only understand group dynamics and negotiation, but also know what it takes to respond to an incident, because they have more than just textbook knowledge of people, processes, and technology. Students in both specializations take courses like Managing Risk in IT Organizations, Security Design & Architecture, Threat and Vulnerability Analysis, and Incident Response and Event Management.

Later in the program, students take courses related to their specializations. Operations students will notice core course and elective updates. Security Testing, for example, is now a required course, so students can utilize the skills acquired from the lab-intensive experience when they engage in team activities in the Wargames Capstone. Operations students will also notice new electives like Security, Intelligence & Automation and Security Regulations and Compliance Management. Management students, in addition to courses like Project Management and Self as Values-Driven Leader, must successfully complete the IS Management Capstone.

Also exciting is the change to the admission requirement that applicants have a minimum of two years of IT-related experience. CCO realized that the solution to the cybersecurity skills gap lies in the development of a diverse workforce comprised of expert problem-solvers, and that career changers are part of that equation. That’s why we introduced Information Technology and Security, to prepare students without IT experience for the MSIS.

Last, but certainly not least, the IS specialization for Master of Business Administration (MBA) students and the graduate Information Security Certificate were also refreshed as part of the program update.

Sound exciting? We think so! If you think the program sounds interesting and you want to know more, let us know!