Building Trust with Cybersecurity Minor

More than 5.4 million people worked in cybersecurity last year, according to estimates from the 2024 Cybersecurity Workforce Study compiled by nonprofit membership association ISC2. That number is an increase from 2023, but despite the rise, many respondents felt their company still does not have the necessary amount of cybersecurity support.

ISC2 estimates another nearly 5 million cybersecurity professionals are needed to help organizations feel secure.

Northwestern Engineering's Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT) program is doing what it can to help fill that workforce gap. The program launched a minor in cybersecurity for the 2023-24 school year. A new program video explains just why the offering is so important.

"Everybody is trying to protect their data," MSIT adjunct lecturer Jibran Ilyas (MSIT '09) said in the video. "That's where the trust is built between the business and the consumers, between the business and the business partners."

Ilyas, who also serves on the MSIT Industry Advisory Board, is managing director at Mandiant (part of Google Cloud), where he helps companies improve their threat, incident, and exposure management.

In MSIT, Ilyas teaches Cyber Forensics for Data Breaches, one of five required courses for the minor. The other courses are:

• Law and Information Technology
• Information Security and Assurance
• Cybersecurity Leadership
• IT Risk Management

"This minor will make an impact in training the next generation of cybersecurity leaders and equipping them with a broad perspective to address future cybersecurity challenges," MSIT director Randall Berry said in the video.

Joseph Cruise (MSIT '25) explained in the video how experienced MSIT faculty are in the cybersecurity field and how students benefit from that expertise.

"Seeing their excitement and passion for the subject is contagious," Cruise said.

In addition to Ilyas, MSIT faculty who teach the cybersecurity minor include:

• Daniel Linna, senior lecturer and director of law and technology initiatives at Northwestern Engineering and Northwestern's Pritzker School of Law.
• Yan Chen, who leads the Northwestern Lab for Internet and Security Technology
• Todd Fitzgerald, author of CISO Compass: Navigating Cybersecurity Leadership With Insights from Pioneers (Auerbach Publications, 2019) and member of the MSIT Industry Advisory Board.

"The quality of professors really sets apart this program," Ilyas said in the video. "Ever since I was a student, I enjoyed the professors, who are very interactive (and) who have years and years of experience in cybersecurity."

One of the hallmarks of the courses — and of the entire MSIT curriculum — is a focus not just on theory, but on practice. The goal is to provide students with hands-on learning opportunities, so they apply a breadth of knowledge and experiences to their organizations.

"It's not just teaching the technical skills," Ilyas said, but learning about how this actually applies to the real world."