January 11, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Stephen Sattler
410-516-2267
sattler@jhu.edu, or
Phil Sneiderman
443-287-9960
prs@jhu.edu
A new master of science degree in information assurance is now available through The Johns Hopkins University’s Engineering for Professionals (EP), the part-time graduate program of the university’s Whiting School of Engineering.
Information assurance refers to the protection of information systems against unauthorized access or modification of data while it is being stored, processed or transmitted. It also applies to protection against system attacks, such as those that result in a denial of service to authorized users.
Engineering for Professionals’ new 10-course degree program was created to meet a surge in the demand for engineers and scientists with technical expertise in information assurance, also known as IA. “Information is one of our most highly valued assets as a nation,” says Tom Longstaff, vice chair of the IA program and a senior IA scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. “The skills to analyze and assess the risk of threats to our information infrastructure in all aspects of our society and the ability to protect against those threats are of critical importance.”
One of the very few part-time master’s programs of its kind, the information assurance degree is designed for those with undergraduate degrees in technical areas such as electrical engineering, computer science or mathematics. For students transitioning to information assurance from other undergraduate degrees, the program offers undergraduate prerequisite courses to be taken as needed.
The EP program joins a full-time master of science degree in security informatics offered by the Johns Hopkins Information Security Institute, along with IA concentrations in four other Whiting School programs.
EP’s information assurance program offers concentration areas in both networks and systems. The networks area focuses on protecting information assets from network-based intrusions and remote exploitation of systems. The systems area focuses on protecting assets from within system boundaries, emphasizing platform, operating systems and secure software development. There are three foundation courses required as part of the degree: Foundations of Algorithms, Principles of Information Assurance, and Cryptology. The remaining courses can be drawn from a range of state-of-the-art topics, including computer forensics, intrusion detection, information assurance architectures, reverse engineering, and World Wide Web security.
“The technical nature of the program gives students hands-on and deep fundamental knowledge of information assurance,” says Longstaff. So far, student interest in the program has exceeded all estimates.
Taking advantage of EP’s rolling admissions policy, students may begin the program in the fall, spring or summer semesters. A number of courses are also offered online.
For more information on the degree program, go to http://ep.jhu.edu/graduate-degree-programs/information-assurance .
Part of the Johns Hopkins University’s Whiting School of Engineering, Engineering for Professionals offers master’s degrees in 15 distinct disciplines. There are currently more than 3,000 students enrolled in EP programs at eight education centers throughout the Baltimore/Washington area and online. For more information on EP programs and functions, call 410-516-2300, visit http://ep.jhu.edu/ or send e-mail to jhep@jhu.edu .
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