Capstone Course Trains Students for Cyber Threats in the Financial Industry

By Mike Nolan

ALBANY, N.Y. (Oct. 29, 2024) — Students at the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity (CEHC) are putting their classroom learning to the test through a partnership with TIAA.

Ariel Pinto, professor and chair of CEHC’s cybersecurity department, teamed up this fall with TIAA, a leading provider of secure retirements and outcome-focused investment solutions to millions of people and thousands of institutions, on a senior capstone course (CYBR 465).

Throughout the semester, students in the course have been working directly with Pinto and TIAA’s cybersecurity team to explore how the financial services institution may best protect its data and respond to emerging threats.

“This is a capstone class with students at the tail end of their undergraduate degree,” said Pinto. “It is designed to bring together all the skills and knowledge they’ve acquired through their course work and bring it into a real-world scenario. It’s as close to being a professional in the field as they’ll get before graduating.”

“With cyber crime at all-time highs throughout our nation, this is a valuable experience for students to see what it takes to put together a data incident response plan,” said TIAA Director of Tech Partnerships Laurie Brown-Goodwine. “With how highly engaged these students are in cyber areas, we saw this as a great opportunity to not only bring fresh ideas to our organization but also to recruit the next generation of TIAA’s fraud protectors.”

Not Your Typical Cyber Course

Pinto set up the capstone course to be a mixed asynchronous/synchronous format, meaning there are only a few scheduled class times (via Zoom) throughout the semester.

Instead of traditional class time, the students set their own hours researching and interacting with TIAA representatives. The idea is to empower them to work with an industry partner. 

“This class is entirely remote with most of our communication is via email or phone,” said Pinto. “The format allows students to work directly with organization professionals, just like they would as a true cyber professional. It also expands access for students who may be far away from the university or have other commitments that do not allow them to be on campus for long periods.”

Jackson McCormick, a senior cyber major at CEHC in the capstone class, met in person with leaders from TIAA for the first time earlier this month during CEHC’s annual State of Grace event, which celebrates women in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics).

“I’ve always been interested in technology and how it can be used for good,” said McCormick. “This experience is not something you would get through a regular class. It’s been valuable already to work directly with TIAA and get an inside look at what they do to keep their organization safe from cyber crimes.”

“As a speaker at State of Grace, I shared my journey into STEAM, emphasizing how diversity and inclusion propel our field forward,” added Shriya Desai, fraud program manager at TIAA. “It's inspiring to see students engaging with real-world cybersecurity challenges, pushing innovation in ways that will shape the future of cybersecurity.”  

Looking Ahead to Showcase

The students will log a total of 120 hours of project hours before presenting a loss prevention and incident response plan to TIAA leaders and Pinto at the end of the semester.

They will then join hundreds of their peers at CEHC’s Fall 2024 Showcase in December. The full-day event includes interactive displays and poster presentations from students across the college’s disciplines including cybersecurity, emergency preparedness, homeland security, informatics and school library.

Nahid Mahmud, a senior informatics major, will be among the capstone students showcasing his findings.

“This experience has been great so far,” Mahmud said. “There’s no better way to learn how to respond to cyber incidents than from those actually doing it. Working with TIAA has been very informative and beneficial as I prepare to graduate and enter the workforce.”