100% Online: Get started now on a four course Certificate or a Non-thesis Masters Degree. Take up to three courses (nine credit hours!) before formally enrolling in the Masters Program.

Each year American businesses and consumers lose countless billions of dollars to hackers, spammers, scammers, vandals, and assorted other cyber criminals. And now, with health systems, power grids and other critical infrastructure increasingly on line, not just livelihoods but lives themselves are at greater risk. 

According to a recent news story, the Pentagon is developing “a highly classified replica of the Internet of the future” in order to train security personnel to protect both military and civilian assets that might be targeted by adversaries. (“U.S. Steps Up Effort on Digital Defenses,” The New York Times, April 28, 2009)

You don’t have to be a working IT specialist to know how this story ends: it’s only a matter of time before that “highly classified” model Internet is itself hacked and compromised. And if you do work in IT, you know that there are no “foolproof” systems. You know that protecting critical information assets and infrastructure is a job requiring rigorous preparation, perpetual vigilance, and continuous enhancement of skills and knowledge to beat the bad guys at their own game.

We know that at Iowa State as well. But we also know that, as a working IT pro, your time is valuable, and you need programs to develop and improve your skills that are effective and efficient.

Today, Engineering Distance Education at Iowa State can help make the most of your valuable time through certificate and degree programs that provide the tools you need for success without distractions.  For instance, you can get an Iowa State certificate in Information Assurance by taking only four courses. No GREs, TOEFLs, or other alphabet-souped-up barriers to entry. Just the critical components you need for success.

Want to go on to the master’s? Not only will your certificate coursework count in full toward your degree, but now you can opt into a full master’s degree program without a thesis requirement. After all, you’re a practitioner, not a professor. You need tools, not talk. 

Engineering Distance Education at Iowa State is the place to get those tools. We have a national reputation for education in computer security, named by the National Security Agency as one of the seven charter Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education. Our faculty members have more than a decade of experience in distance education, and our courses offer hands-on experience in which you’ll perform experiments and use software systems remotely through the Internet—in short, real-life, real-time training on the same beat you walk every day.

The cyber world’s bad guys don’t slip or sleep. So if you’re ready to rise to their challenge, Engineering Distance Education at Iowa State is ready for you.

More infomation about a Non-thesis Masters Degree in Information Assurance.
More infomation about a four course Certificate in Information Assurance.