Assuring a Cybersecurity Perspective within Engineering Technology and Computer Science and the Economies they Uphold

Abstract

Online, connected and mobile systems are creating the foundation of a digitally-enabled economy. However, the cybersecurity risks inherent to this economy are currently shouldered by an overburdened cybersecurity profession, labouring under a well-known skills gap in the field. In response, (ISC)2 has joined forces with the Council for Professors and Heads of Computing (CPHC) – and more than 30 universities – to publish and support a new set of Curriculum Guidelines on Cybersecurity for UK undergraduate computing courses, covering five themes: information and risk; threats and attacks; cybersecurity architecture and operations; secure systems and products; and cybersecurity management. Incorporation of these themes will, it is hoped, develop graduates committed to more robust design and computing practices, while also exposing students to cybersecurity as a career. The initiative was developed with the support of both the UK Cabinet Office and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. It is referenced within revised accreditation guidelines published in June by the BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT. In this study, the authors establish the guiding principles that defined the authors’ approach to this joint initiative, including some of the key governmental and industrial drivers.