Cyber Security has become big business in recent years. Nearly all new information exists in digital form and as hackers leverage exponentially increasing computing power, Governments and other public and private institutions have now become vulnerable to attacks on their databases.
Crimes that didn’t exist a couple of decades ago, such as ‘ransomware’ attacks, where a computer is infected with malicious software (‘malware’) that threatens to publish the victim’s data, or perpetually block access to it unless a ransom is paid are now common.
Cyber Security Workers are In Demand
Last year, the Australian Computer Society declared we would need 11,000 additional cyber security workers over the next decade [www.acs.org.au/insightsandpublications/reports-publications/digital-pulse-2018.html].
Earlier this year, the Australian federal government announced it would invest A$1.35bn in beefing up the nation’s Cyber Security over the next decade [https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2020/cyber-security—1-35-billion-and-500-jobs.html]. The West Australian government also announced it would be establishing a new whole-of-government cybersecurity operations centre [www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/wa-government-to-establish-whole-of-government-cybersecurity-centre/ar-BB19wdLu].
And one of the largest recruitment agencies, Hays, also revealed that demand for Cyber Security professionals was outstripping supply – and this situation would escalate with the increasing sophistication of threats to Australian businesses [https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2019/demand-outstrips-supply-for-cyber-security-experts.html].
So choosing a career in Cyber Security is to potentially choose a secure job pathway!
Where to study Cyber Security?
Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a public university in Western Australia. Named after the first woman to be elected to an Australian Parliament, ECU has more than 30,000 students, a fifth of whom are international.
It is also the top-ranked university in the country for undergraduate skills development in Computing and Information Systems (according to an independent government survey).
Among its suite of IT degrees, ECU offers a Bachelor of Science (Cyber Security).
Helping Students to Find Work
Associate Dean (Computing and Security) Paul Haskell-Dowland says that computing degrees at ECU primarily aim at establishing employability for students. As such, everything the school does orients around employability, making sure students develop the technical and transferable skills they will need to move into industry, as well as teaching students to develop the professional networks they will need in their subsequent career.
This development often begins early in a student’s life – for instance, at the end of their first year of studies, they may enter an internship, with the aim of developing skills in a real-world setting. Further, in the final phase of studies, students have an opportunity to select from one of many pathways such as Work Integrated Learning. This enables a student to spend a semester ‘embedded’ in an organization in the computing industry, working alongside a team, e.g. developers, systems architects, an investigations unit in a cyber organization, etc.
Professionally-accredited Courses
All of ECU’s Computing courses are accredited by the Australian Computer Society, the professional association and peak body representing the nation’s IT/ICT sector.
If you’re interested in studying a Bachelor of Science in Cyber Security or one of the other disciplines ECU offers – Computer Science, Information Technology or Counter Terrorism and Intelligence, then contact KBA Global today!