Computer Security and Forensics: A.A.S.

Associate in Applied Science

CIP Code: 43.0116

Mission

The mission of the Computer Security and Forensics program is to prepare students to work in the field as a skilled computer security expert to meet the growing need in our society to keep information safe and accessible through focused study on hardware, software, networking, remote access, and cryptographic systems. Students will obtain the ability to analyze and investigate security breaches, perform forensic analysis, identify and prevent potential weaknesses in network configurations, respond to computer and network incidents and establish policies and procedures within legal guidelines to protect companies. By providing students with small class sizes, attentive faculty, and dynamic courses, students will be equipped with the analytic and investigative tools and the legal and ethical knowledge necessary to be employed to help any business prevent security breaches or recover from criminal activity.

Program Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate knowledge, techniques, skills, and modern tools of modern programmers.
2. Apply current knowledge and adapt to emerging applications of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
3. Analyze a computer system using appropriate software tools to discover and remove malicious code or spyware and perform a forensic analysis of a computer system or storage media in accordance with established law enforcement guidelines.
4. Establish and maintain safe and secure methods of protecting digital data and communications.
5. Respond in a systematic and coordinated manner in the event of a computer or network incident.
6. Demonstrate ability to communicate effectively.

Program Supervisor

Rachel E. Hinton, Chairperson
Office: Applied Technology Building, Room 011A
Telephone: +1 (607) 778-5277
E-mail:  hintonre@sunybroome.edu

Does your business have a disaster recovery and business continuity plan?  Do you have a cold, warm, or hot site ready to take over during an emergency?  Do your employees know about and use strong passwords?  Can they recognize attempts at Social Engineering?  Do you run regular backups of your systems?  Are the backups tested?  Are your computers protected from malicious code?  Are you able to detect and prevent intrusions on your network?  Does your business have an Incident Response team in place and ready to respond to a critical event on your network or site?  Are you able to establish secure, encrypted connections across the Internet for your clients?  Do you regularly apply security patches to your operating systems and applications?  Is your network able to continue running during a power outage or in the event of a hardware failure?

As a graduate of the Computer Security and Forensics degree, you will be able to provide answers to all of these questions and implement solutions for businesses that rely on computers, digital information, or the Internet.  It doesn’t matter if you are a large corporation or Mom’n Pop small business, digital data security is vital to your professional success!