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SUNNY Temp: 86 °F Wind: WNW at 9 mph Thursday, July 24, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend April 21, 2003 SOU program may help emergency services Graduates of the new study track might work on computer security for a variety of businesses By TONY BOOM Mail Tribune ASHLAND — Local first-response emergency services may gain help with computer network security as a result of a new Southern Oregon University program. Security and information assurance is a new study track for students working toward bachelor’s degrees in computer science. Program instructor Lynn Ackler hopes to have students doing senior capstone projects next year with a statewide industry alliance that works with emergency management organizations. Computer security goes well beyond just emergency networks, Ackler said. "It’s getting a lot of attention nationwide, especially with the homeland security effort," said Ackler, who created the option. "There’s a lot of attention to cyber security." Advertisement Ackler works with the Portland-based Regional Alliance for Infrastructure and Network Security. Representatives will give a presentation to local emergency personnel later this month on the alliance’s initiative with first responders. SOU graduates could end up working on computer security for a variety of organizations and businesses. Graduates with the specialty would be in a better position to land network administrator jobs because they could look at network security from both inside and outside perspectives, said Jason Tarrant, sales and marketing manager for Internet CDS. "The more that (smaller or medium-sized businesses) rely on the Internet to do business, the more likely their networks are to exposure," said Tarrant. "You know there’s a lot of determined people out there that would like to subvert these networks, either for recreation or personal gain," said Kevin Talbert, SOU’s chief information officer. Internet probing, viruses, worms, protection of virtual identity and denial of service are among problems computer administrators face, said Talbert. Ackler and the computer science department has worked closely with campus computing services to foster the program. A separate lab was set up. A network isolated from other campus networks was created for students in the program. "One of the concerns is that they not have access to a large campus network because they are learning how to probe networks," said Talbert. Cisco Systems has donated four servers for the lab. Ackler is seeking grants for other equipment. Students began course work in the fall term. The curriculum committee and Faculty Senate gave formal approval for the track in January. About 10 students are working under the option. Ackler doesn’t expect any graduates with the specialty until spring 2004. Three upper division courses that look at security in terms of networks, wireless networking and programming were added to the curriculum. About 15 students have enrolled in each course so far. Besides those courses, students in the new track are required to take statistics, calculus and another math course. Other tracks in the computer science degree are information science, programming and software, and multimedia. SOU will apply for certification as a center of excellence in information security education from the National Security Agency. NSA has certified about 35 institutions so far, said Ackler. A mathematician, Ackler always has been interested in cryptography and security. He formerly worked for Westinghouse in Washington, D.C., on naval intelligence contracts. The programming course explores how to write secure software, said Ackler. "We just can’t go around swatting at flies. We’ve got to get rid of the flies." Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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