Texas A&M Cybersecurity Center

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Texas A&M Cybersecurity Center Offering Industry Certification Courses

comptia logosThe Texas A&M Cybersecurity Center is now offering online courses to prepare individuals to pass some key cybersecurity certification exams. The first two courses cover the CompTIA Network+ and Security+ certifications, two fundamental certifications for cybersecurity professionals.

“My colleagues in the workforce are telling me that they are looking for future employees that have cybersecurity industry certifications, as well as the fine academic education that Texas A&M provides,” said John Romero, assistant director of the Cybersecurity Center. “We’re proud to be working with the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) Workforce development team to offer our first release of many more industry certifications to come. CompTIA Network+ and Security+ offer what our workforce partners are demanding.”

These certification prep courses will help Texas A&M students become more attractive to potential employers, but they are also open to staff, faculty, and, most importantly, the general workforce. According to Romero, “With a cost of less than $500, which includes a voucher to take the certification exam, this is a fantastic offer that even small business owners can afford.”

The comprehensive, self-paced courses include videos, assessments to gauge mastery of the material, practice labs, practice exams, and a testing voucher. To develop the content of the courses, the Cybersecurity Center partnered with Jason Dion of Dion training, an accredited and certified trainer with decades of experience. Live practice labs created and hosted by Practice Labs, an industry leader, provide practical virtual experiences with concepts covered in the course. Participants also have direct contact with a mentor from the Cybersecurity Center and receive guidance to help them through the process to certification. Participants who successfully complete the courses earn professional certificates and continuing education credits from the TEES office for Professional and Continuing Education.

More information on these course offerings is available on the Center’s website at https://cybersecurity.tamu.edu/education/online-course-offerings/

Domestic terror expert breaks down militia groups after Michigan arrests

Last week, 13 members of a militia group, the Wolverine Watchmen, were arrested by state officers and FBI agents in Michigan. Federal charges of conspiracy, terrorism, and weapons violations were filed against six men. Seven others have been charged under two counts of Michigan law. Detailed in the arrest warrants for the Wolverine members indicate individuals had been building improvised explosive devices, conducting tactical weapons training, and surveying the homes of law enforcement officers and the Michigan Governor, Gretchen Whitmer. It is alleged that the Wolverine Watchmen’s ultimate goal was to start a civil war.

Mai Gives TEDx Talk on Human-Centric Cybersecurity

Dr. Bin Mai photo
Dr. Bin Mai

Texas A&M Cybersecurity Center Senior Faculty Fellow Dr. Bin Mai recently discussed the emerging stage of human-centric cybersecurity and privacy in a TEDx talk.  In his presentation, Mai presents the three significant stages in the evolution of information security, starting with the purely technological stage, moving through the business-centric stage, and finally bringing us to a new stage of information security in which human behavior becomes a focus of study. In his talk, he gives multiple examples of why it is so crucial that we study how human behavior and human psychology influence our interactions with technology.

Mai is currently a faculty member in the Department of Education Administration and Human Resource Development in the Texas A&M University’s College of Education and Human Development. He is also the Coordinator for the department’s Technology Management degree program. Dr. Mai’s main research interests focus primarily on the analytical, empirical and behavioral investigations of Information Technology Management (ITM) / Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in general, and of information security (InfoSec) and data privacy in particular, and has published widely in these fields. Dr. Mai has recognized the emerging significant trends in IT industry of increasing emphasis on human elements in information security and privacy, and is convinced of the necessary shift to a more human-centric paradigm in studying information security and privacy in both academic research and education curriculum design.

See the talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nbUAVH-0vo

Bin Mai giving TEDx talk
Dr. Bin Mai gives a TEDx Talk on human-centric cybersecurity