Cybersecurity program in the works
Utah State University will be the first school in Utah to offer a four-year cybersecurity engineering degree, according to Jacob Gunther, the head of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.
The goal is for the program to begin this fall. The degree is awaiting final approval by USU, but the Utah System of Higher Education, or USHE, supports it. The College of Engineering is in the process of hiring two professors with expertise in the cybersecurity field, Gunther said.
“We’ve had a desire to have a cybersecurity program here in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department for a long time,” Gunther said.
Program development has been in the works for years, but only came about after the Utah Legislature allocated funds towards computer science in 2023. That is when the College of Engineering took a chance and submitted their proposed degree to the state.
“An area of computer science is cybersecurity,” Gunther said. “We applied to that and were rewarded.”
Cybersecurity engineering is a new and somewhat uncommon major — so far, there are only three accredited programs across the country.
Jacob Adams, a computer engineering major, said it seems like security is something missing from the current curriculum.
“We don’t really talk about security in any of our required classes,” he wrote in a text message. “I’m sure it will be a great addition to USU.”
According to Indeed, cybersecurity engineers design, develop and implement highly secure network solutions that prevent cyberattacks and hacking threats. Cybersecurity professionals are invaluable to businesses as data is increasingly vulnerable to expensive attacks. The International Business Machines Corporation found in a study of 500 organizations that data breaches cost $4.24 million per incident on average.
Cybersecurity is a growing field, and it will grow even more so in the next decade. From 2022 to 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates job openings for information security analysts will grow by 33%.
Gunther said this will be a draw for high school students considering college majors.
“I think students will be coming out of the woodworks to join this major,” Gunther said.
In the past, Gunther said, engineers have built systems that can be hacked and imitated. Not only are communications, navigations systems and personal data susceptible to attack, but everyday infrastructure can be vulnerable.
“We like to build things that help people. It’s just unfortunate that we’ve built a lot of systems without thinking very much about security. So rather than helping people, we’ve left people exposed to attack.” Gunther said. “We just need to be thinking about the future and safety and systems that we can trust and that are reliable.”
Gunther said this is why teaching these skills is important. “We are going to work really hard to prepare students to take on current and future challenges,” he said.
If students are interested in this program, they should switch their major to computer engineering, as it will have similar introductory classes.
“I would just speak on behalf of my department that we very much appreciate the support of our university administration. We surely appreciate the support of USHE,” Gunther said.