Hartford Business Journal

12 Hartford Business Journal • November 11, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Natalie Missakian Special to the Hartford Business Journal W hen UConn cut the ribbon last month on its new $1-million cybersecurity lab, it joined a growing number of Connecticut schools launching new or beefed-up programs to teach students how to fight hackers and keep sensitive data safe. Starting next fall, every UConn freshman majoring in computer science — about 200 students — must take a hands-on course in the cybersecurity lab to graduate, regardless of their concentration. Students only need to turn on their televisions or read a newspaper to discover why, said Laurent Michel, associate head of UConn's computer science and engineering department. "These days, there are security breaches reported almost every other day. Major breaches with huge amounts of information being leaked out," he said. "If you better understand how attacks are being carried out, you can launch a better counter attack," he added. "Everybody needs to do it because that makes everybody a better computer scientist." UConn is not alone in creating new programs for students inter- ested in cybersecurity. Central Connecticut State University launched a cybersecurity bach- elor's degree program in 2018, and Quinnipiac University also began offering its online master's degree program in cybersecurity last year. Quinebaug Valley Community College in Danielson launched its as- sociate degree program last year as well, joining Capital and Naugatuck community colleges, whose pro- grams began a few years prior. The recent additions come amid high demand not only from stu- dents, but employers. By 2021, there are expected to be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity positions worldwide, according to Cybersecurity Ventures, which provides data and analytics for the industry. In Connecticut alone, there are currently 2,645 cybersecurity job openings, ac- cording to in- dustry watchdog Cyberseek; more than 1,000 of those are in the Hartford region. And the jobs pay well: The median annual salary for an information- security analyst is $98,350, ac- cording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Saroj Gaire, 26, of Southington, an immigrant from Nepal, graduated with an associate degree in comput- er networking with a cybersecurity concentration from Capital Com- munity College in Hartford in 2016. He then went on to get his bachelor's in computer networking at Central. (The university had yet to launch its cybersecurity degree program.) Today he is working full time in the information-security depart- ment at Travelers insurance company in downtown Hartford, earning $70,000 a year to start. He credits Capital's immersive courses with giving him a leg up. "I work in the cloud-security department, which is very hot right now," he said. He is looking next to pursue his master's, possibly through Quinnipiac's online program, and said Travelers will help pay the tuition. "Having [more cybersecurity] programs at community colleges and universities is a really good thing for students because every- thing is shifting towards technol- ogy [and the internet]," he said. Diving in Capital became the first commu- nity college in Connecticut to offer cybersecurity courses in 2014, and added a cybersecurity concentration to its computer networking associ- ate degree program in 2015, said Saaid Elhadad, assistant professor and network and cybersecurity coordinator. Using money obtained through a grant, the school built a hands-on lab where students learn how to find vulnerabilities and prevent ma- licious hacking. The program has grown from about a half- dozen students to around 60 this year. UConn's lab, located in its In- formation Tech- nology Engineer- ing Building and part of its School of Engineering, was donated by alumni brothers Samuel and Stephen Altschuler. Building Defense As employers demand more cybersecurity workers, CT colleges rush to catch up UConn students collaborating at the school's recently opened cybersecurity lab located in the Information Technology Engineering Building in Storrs. FOCUS: CYBERSECURITY BY THE NUMBERS 112,300 The number of information-security analyst jobs in the U.S. $98,350 The median annual pay for an information-security analyst job. 32% The projected growth rate of U.S. information-security analyst jobs from 2018 to 2028. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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