Purdue University Global will commemorate Cybersecurity Awareness Month with a variety of activities throughout October.

Purdue Global will host three additions to its ongoing speaker series. Undergraduate cybersecurity professor Laurent Boucard has reached out to his network and provided Purdue Global with individuals who will share their experience and knowledge to support information technology and cybersecurity students in their educational and professional journeys. These events are open to the first 250 attendees:

Oct. 6, 7 p.m. ET – Shelley Westman, enterprise transformation leader, Cree; previously vice president of operations and strategic initiatives, IBM; received Diversity and Human Resources Solutions 2019 Inclusive Excellence Award; 2018 recipient of Triangle Business Journal Leaders in Diversity Award; JD, with honors, University of North Carolina School of Law.

Meeting Link: https://meet.google.com/buv-msmj-nbx

Oct. 13, 7 p.m. ET – Dan Houser, CISSP-ISSAP-ISSMP CISA CISM, senior manager of security engineering and governance, risk and compliance for a global nonprofit (NGO) and cloud services provider; security innovator and architect since 2000; patent and trade secret work in cryptography, identity and access management, third-party trust assurance and banking; founder and provost emeritus of Ohio-based Security MBA and a published author.

Meeting Link: https://meet.google.com/tme-jcrq-zwi 

Oct. 27, 4 p.m. ET – Nicholas Chaillan, First Air Force chief software officer, appointed in 2019; co-lead for Department of Defense Enterprise DevSecOps Initiative with Department of Defense Chief Information Officer; designed new robust, innovative and holistic government cybersecurity architecture (Cyber.gov); recognized as one of France’s youngest entrepreneurs after founding WORLDAKT at age 15; has founded 12 companies, including AFTER-MOUSE.com, Cyber Revolution, Prevent Breach and anyGuest.com.

Meeting Link: https://meet.google.com/yoi-ytwu-rkp

In addition to the speaker series, Purdue Global faculty are actively engaged in cybersecurity events throughout October. Rhonda Chicone, graduate cybersecurity professor, will be the keynote speaker for a town hall at Minot State University. Her topic is “Security Awareness and Becoming a Human Firewall.” In addition, she will be sitting on a panel of four to discuss security awareness. The town hall is from 8-10 p.m. ET on Oct. 27.

Chicone, along with Susan Ferebee, also a graduate cybersecurity professor at Purdue Global, will present at the IACIS conference on Oct. 8. The conference is virtual this year, and registration is still open: https://iacis.org/conference/registration/registration_go.php. Chicone and Ferebee will present “A Comparison Study of Two Cybersecurity Learning Systems: Facebook’s Open Source Capture the Flag and CTFd.” The full paper can be found here: http://www.iacis.org/iis/2020/1_iis_2020_202-212.pdf

Not only is cybersecurity a passion for Chicone, it also is where her daughter and son-in-law have found the focus for their life’s work. Her daughter, Deana, helped create and organize an information security conference because most were being canceled due to COVID-19. The conference supports the community in Pittsburgh. The One Time Pittsburgh Information Security Conference (otpgh.com) is Oct. 9, free to the public, and will include 12 speakers. Chicone and Dr. Ferebee will present “The Better Assessment Tool: Facebook’s Open Source Capture the Flag or CTFd.” Chicone’s son-in-law, Kyle, hosts a podcast called “Moscow Mules and NOP Slides.” Chicone and Ferebee will be featured on the podcast as a part of the speaker series for the OTPgh conference.

Purdue Global maintains a robust Cybersecurity Center that provides articles, resources, program information and more for current and future students, employers and industry partners, as well as the general public. Individuals or small businesses who seek cybersecurity answers to questions or support can find a form on the website to submit such requests.

The Purdue Global Bachelor of Science degree program in cybersecurity has been accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET, the global accreditor of college and university programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering and engineering technology. ABET accreditation assures that programs meet standards to produce graduates ready to enter critical technical fields that are leading the way in innovation and emerging technologies, and anticipating the welfare and safety needs of the public.

In addition, Purdue Global has been designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education through academic year 2025 for its Bachelor of Science degree in cybersecurity. The Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency jointly sponsor the National Centers of Academic Excellence program. The goal of the program is to reduce vulnerability in national information infrastructure by promoting higher education and expertise in cyber defense.