Instilling Cybersecurity Professional Skills in Undergraduate Computing Students

Rajendran Swamidurai; Uma Kannan

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Conference: 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Publication Date: June 22, 2025
Start Date: June 22, 2025
End Date: August 15, 2025
Conference Session: Computing and Information Technology Division (CIT) Technical Session 10
Tagged Division: Computing and Information Technology Division (CIT)
Page Count: 8
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/56811

Paper Authors

biography

Rajendran Swamidurai Alabama State University

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Dr. Rajendran Swamidurai is a Professor and Coordinator of Computer Science at Alabama State University. He received his BE in 1992 and ME in 1998 from the University of Madras, and PhD in Computer Science and Software Engineering from Auburn University in 2009.

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biography

Uma Kannan Alabama State University

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Dr. Uma Kannan is Associate Professor of Computer Science at Alabama State University, where she has taught since 2017. She received her Ph.D. degree in cybersecurity from Auburn University in 2017.

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Abstract

Cyberspace and the Internet provide the backbone of any country's modern economy and national security. In 2024, there are approximately 400 million small businesses worldwide, with 33.3 million in the United States and 1.29 million in Canada. This represents over 99.8% of all businesses in both nations. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, all companies had to go online and must now adapt to the "always-on" world in order to stay connected with their customers. These businesses cannot be successful until their customers possess confidence in the security of their web applications.

Cyberattacks are increasing at an alarming rate every year. The U.S. Agency for International Development assessment indicates that the cost of cybercrime is $8 trillion in 2023 and may rise to $23 trillion by 2027. It is crucial to employ the right cybersecurity personnel with knowledge and abilities to protect the nation’s critical infrastructures, such as its energy, communication, water, food, and healthcare. But the public and private sectors are facing a substantial challenge in acquiring a sufficient number of skilled security personnel. The first look at the ISC2 cybersecurity workforce study 2024 reveals that the size of the cybersecurity workforce gap in 2023 was 4 million, and in 2024 it is 4.8 million globally, an increase of 19% every year.

In order to deliver the next generation of cybersecurity professionals for entry-level and junior-level positions, with the support of the US National Science Foundation, we modified our undergraduate computing curriculum by infusing cybersecurity modules from Fall 2020 to Spring 2024 that include those that focus on cybersecurity professional skills. The cybersecurity-infused courses are Networking Fundamentals, Information Security, Data Communication and Networking, Introduction to Operating Systems, Software Engineering, and Special Topics (Digital Forensics). Our external evaluation data on 15 items shows that students were highly confident in their abilities, with all items averaging above 4.0 and overall scales averaging 4.45 in 2022 and 4.51 in 2023. Students demonstrated particular confidence in their ability to solve problems, persevere in seeking solutions, and acquire knowledge in cybersecurity. They also expressed confidence that they will be able to understand what they learn about cybersecurity.

Citation
Format

Swamidurai, R., & Kannan, U. (2025, June), Instilling Cybersecurity Professional Skills in Undergraduate Computing Students Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . https://peer.asee.org/56811

TY - CPAPER
AB - Cyberspace and the Internet provide the backbone of any country&#39;s modern economy and national security. In 2024, there are approximately 400 million small businesses worldwide, with 33.3 million in the United States and 1.29 million in Canada. This represents over 99.8% of all businesses in both nations. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, all companies had to go online and must now adapt to the &quot;always-on&quot; world in order to stay connected with their customers. These businesses cannot be successful until their customers possess confidence in the security of their web applications.

Cyberattacks are increasing at an alarming rate every year. The U.S. Agency for International Development assessment indicates that the cost of cybercrime is $8 trillion in 2023 and may rise to $23 trillion by 2027. It is crucial to employ the right cybersecurity personnel with knowledge and abilities to protect the nation’s critical infrastructures, such as its energy, communication, water, food, and healthcare. But the public and private sectors are facing a substantial challenge in acquiring a sufficient number of skilled security personnel. The first look at the ISC2 cybersecurity workforce study 2024 reveals that the size of the cybersecurity workforce gap in 2023 was 4 million, and in 2024 it is 4.8 million globally, an increase of 19% every year.

In order to deliver the next generation of cybersecurity professionals for entry-level and junior-level positions, with the support of the US National Science Foundation, we modified our undergraduate computing curriculum by infusing cybersecurity modules from Fall 2020 to Spring 2024 that include those that focus on cybersecurity professional skills. The cybersecurity-infused courses are Networking Fundamentals, Information Security, Data Communication and Networking, Introduction to Operating Systems, Software Engineering, and Special Topics (Digital Forensics). Our external evaluation data on 15 items shows that students were highly confident in their abilities, with all items averaging above 4.0 and overall scales averaging 4.45 in 2022 and 4.51 in 2023. Students demonstrated particular confidence in their ability to solve problems, persevere in seeking solutions, and acquire knowledge in cybersecurity. They also expressed confidence that they will be able to understand what they learn about cybersecurity.
AU - Rajendran Swamidurai
AU - Uma Kannan
CY - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
DA - 2025/06/22
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Instilling Cybersecurity Professional Skills in Undergraduate Computing Students
UR - https://peer.asee.org/56811
ER -