CEHC Course Featured in NSA’s National Cybersecurity Curriculum Program

Course Resources are Publicly Available to Educators Nationwide

ALBANY, N.Y. (Aug. 6, 2019) – Unal Tatar is proving the University at Albany to be a national model for cybersecurity education and training.

Tatar, an assistant professor in the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity (CEHC), is the lead author of a course featured in the National Security Agency’s (NSA) National Cybersecurity Curriculum Program.

Through the program, Tatar, along with 53 other grant recipients, were selected in 2017 to build courses and modules that focus on high need cybersecurity areas. The courses are now publicly available to educators across the country who are preparing students for careers in the field.

Tatar’s course offers an introduction to the structure and mechanisms behind blockchain and bitcoin technologies, including how they can help build more secure and resilient cybersecurity systems. The 12-week, three module course was created by Tatar, along with several colleagues at Old Dominion University.

Tatar’s course offers an introduction to the structure and mechanisms behind blockchain and bitcoin technologies, including how they can help build more secure and resilient cybersecurity systems. The 12-week, three module course was created by Tatar, along with several colleagues at Old Dominion University.

CEHC Assistant Professor Unal Tatar

“Curriculum developed by Dr. Tatar has been released nationally in this unique and transformative effort as we work to secure our nation by strengthening the cyber workforce,” said Maureen Turney, program director of the NSA’s National Cybersecurity Curriculum Program. “We congratulate him and appreciate the institutional support provided for his hard work in developing this curriculum.”

“It is our mission at CEHC to provide high quality programs that bring together people, technology and knowledge to address today’s societal challenges. Professor Tatar’s selection as a featured author by the NSA is a great example of this,” said CEHC Dean Bob Griffin. “His curriculum will now serve as an educational tool that will help to shape our nation’s cybersecurity professionals for years to come.”

According to World Economic Forum’s Regional Risks for Doing Business report, which surveyed more than 12,000 executives in 140 economies last year, cyberattacks are the number one risk in Europe, East Asia and the Pacific and North America regions. As of July, the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) database estimated 313,735 active cybersecurity job openings in the United States and 14,698 active cybersecurity job openings in New York.

Tatar has published the only full-length course on blockchain in the NSA’s national curriculum repository. It includes a syllabus, lecture notes, presentation slides, videos and various other resources that are readily available to assist instructors.

Some of the course’s modules also will be used in Tatar’s new “Economics of Cybersecurity” undergraduate class, which will be offered at UAlbany for the first time next spring.

“National trends show that the need for cybersecurity professionals is only continuing to grow,” said Tatar. “Currently there’s not enough course material available to meet educational demand. Through the NSA, we can help to meet this need and fill the workforce gap. It is an honor to be included as one of the program’s featured authors.”

You can visit the CEHC website to learn more about the college’s program offerings in cybersecurity.

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