SUNY Canton Adds Cybersecurity to its Tech-Focused Four-Year Programs

Canton, NY (11/16/2017) — SUNY Canton continues its career-driven academic expansion by creating a new Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity.

"Our newest program leverages our strength in Information Technology," said SUNY Canton President Zvi Szafran. "The field of Cybersecurity continues to grow as we continually adopt an omnipresent digital lifestyle and become more aware of digital security concerns. SUNY Canton will now be the college to train new students for placement in these much-needed areas."

The increased demand for professionals who are able to prevent or overcome cyber-attacks follows the rise of cyber threats in both private organizations and to national security. Such threats are a major concern for financial institutions, medical services providers, and government agencies.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook through 2026 is about 28 percent, or much faster than average for all occupations. The median pay for an information security analyst, a position obtainable with a bachelor's degree, is $92,600.

"We saw a need for qualified professionals who can help combat cybercrime, and we made a program to fill that need," said SUNY Canton Provost Douglas M. Scheidt. "In addition to providing another career path for incoming students, Cybersecurity will enhance the college's reputation and educational capabilities in computing technologies."

SUNY Canton's program prepares students to assess security needs within computer and network systems, recommend safeguard solutions and manage the implementation and maintenance of security devices. The program will be taught by qualified faculty from the Canino School of Engineering Technology, including Associate Professor Yu Chin "Eric" Cheng and Lecturer Minhua Wang. Wang is the college's authority on cybercrime and teaches a course on ethical hacking.

"To create an effective defense, we need to understand how people could exploit security weaknesses," Wang said. "Hackers try to find all of the holes in a security system. We try to block those holes."

The program runs parallel to the college's Information Technology curriculum, and works well with SUNY Canton's established Criminal Justice, Health Care Management, Homeland Security and Legal Studies offerings, among others.

Cybersecurity is the college's 26th bachelor's degree and one of nine available bachelor of science programs. Both the State University of New York and the New York State Education Department have approved the four-year offering. The program will be available for both freshmen and transfer students for the Fall 2018 semester.

The college's other newest four-year programs include Technological Communications, Game Design and Development and Agribusiness Management. To apply for admission into any of these programs, contact the SUNY Canton Office of Admissions by phone at 315-386-7123 or email admissions@canton.edu.

About SUNY Canton

SUNY Canton is Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and professional certificate programs. The college delivers quality hands-on programs in engineering technology, health, management and public service and recently received number one rankings in library resources, library services and tutoring services in the SUNY Student Opinion Survey. The college's faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses as well as 13 exclusively online degrees. The college's 15 athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division III level and are conference members of the newly formed American Collegiate Athletic Association. For more information, visit www.canton.edu.

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