Kayli Miller
In Motion Staff Writer
Daytona State College is now one of only 12 schools nationwide to be recognized by a branch of the Department of Defense for its quality curriculum in cyberforensics and cybersecurity.
As computer hackers become increasingly more prevalent, businesses, the government and individuals are looking to hire those who know how protect their information or recover lost materials. DSC offers a nationally recognized digital forensics and security program that aims to equip students with the tools they need to be successful in the job market.
Patrick Vilkinofsky, DSC Alumni and Senior Technical Specialist, expressed appreciation for the teaching methods used in the digital forensics program. The hands-on assignments were highly educational, memorable and useful for him. Instead of the often encountered traditional coursework, where students read a chapter and take a test, Vilkinofsky explained that the digital forensics syllabus consists of assignments that resemble real-life scenarios. It made him feel like he was accomplishing a mission.
“They have assignments that look like real world stuff, Students appreciate that in my courses,” said DSC professor Dr. Phillip Craiger.
Digital forensics is a young, blossoming field and DSC is now at the forefront, as evidenced by the government’s seal of approval. Daytona State was designated by the Defense Cyber Crime Center, also known as DC3, as a Center of Digital Forensics Academic Excellence, a designation that applies to the Advanced Technical Certificate in Cybersecurity and Cyberforensics program, offered fully online. This designation sets the college apart from the crowd.
“There is no other accreditation involving digital forensics, so it was good to get on board as quickly as possible with it,” said Craiger.
Dr. Craiger, who teaches six online courses and heads a $1.8 million National Science Foundation grant worked with Vilkinofsky to qualify DSC for the CDFAE designation. These DSC superstars had to jump through many hoops and worked for several months to ensure that the program met the long list of standards required by the DC3.
“There are 700 criteria in all these different domains that we had to map our curriculum to. We had to show that we have the resources here in order to teach these classes appropriately,” Craiger said.
Vilkinofsky was instrumental in the mapping of the criteria because there were some courses that he had taken which Craiger had never taught, therefore he knew what DC3 standards and criteria we being met.
“It was a lot of correlating things and review processes. We bid out this big huge spreadsheet of all the knowledge points they want you to have and tried to map them to our courses. It was just pages and pages of that. It was absolutely crazy,” said Vilkinofsky.
Students who finish the certificate program will be given the chance to take a proficiency test developed by DC3. These tests will start being administered to students at the end of the fall semester.
“Its making yourself look good on paper, enough to get your foot in the door so someone will talk you.” said Vilkinofsky.
For enrollment information on the Advanced Technical Certificate Cybersecurity and Cyberforensics visit admissions Frequently Asked Questions page at https://www.daytonastate.edu/recreg/faq.html.