Cyber crimes are on the rise, so those who fight them are in hot demand, says Ayat Jafari, chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at New York Institute of Technology.
“There is and will be a big demand for qualified computer scientists. Computer security in particular is important as cyber terrorism, information theft, identity theft and other cyber crimes increase,” Jafari explains.
To fill that need, New York Institute of Technology offers a Master of Science in Information, Network and Computer Security. The program is designed for those with an undergrad degree in computer science or engineering — or for those in a closely related field, like physics or math. Classes cover everything from “intrusion detection” and cryptography to cyber law and ethics.
The health care and financial industries in particular — both depend heavily on computer network-based applications — need computer-security experts capable of keeping their systems safe, Jafari says.
“Any business has a network, and any network needs protection,” adds Nada Anid, dean of NYIT’s School of Engineering and Computing Sciences. “Even the simplest operation in an ATM can be subject to cyber attack. And in the health sector, patient information and hospital files need to be protected. All of these are job opportunities for our students.”
Why this is a great job market
Employment of computer network, systems and database administrators (computer security specialists fall into that group) is expected to increase 30 percent from 2008 to 2018, which is “much faster than the average for all occupations,” according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A need for workers with security skills will fuel some of that growth, the BLS says.
