Cyberpreneurship

The Cyberpreneurship pathway programs will prepare students with the knowledge and skills to establish their own cybersecurity business/practice.Students will learn what it takes to be an entrepreneur and establish and run their own business within the cybersecurity technology space. Students will also acquire the knowledge and skills to assist small to medium sized businesses address cybersecurity risks by performing risk assessments, policy evaluation,security awareness training and solution design along with providing managed services using standard cybersecurity tools and leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning for these organizations.

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisite skills to enter the program.

Program learning outcomes:

Students will:

·       Create a business canvas (plan)

·       Create a Cyber Risk Assessment

·      Evaluate Cyber Threat Intelligence and Automated Response

·      Understand Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence as applied in cybersecurity

·      Apply IT Project Management

It estimated that 20-30 students will complete the certificate/degree program annually.

The Cyberpreneurship certificate program will provide a pathway for students to obtain a certificate of completion and the skills necessary to become entrepreneurs in the cybersecurity field. This coursework will allow students who desire to complete an Associate of Science degree in Cyberpreneurship by completing the same courses in the certificate program and two additional courses, along with the requisite general education courses. Several of the courses in this program articulate to 4-year institutions and some are new courses that will be articulated in the future. The program is designed to align with industry and government agency curriculum standards such as those established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework, the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security(DHS).  The goal of  both the certificate program and the associate degree are to prepare students who complete the program to meet the large gap in cybersecurity professionals for small to medium sized businesses who do not have IT/Cybersecurity staff and will use contract workers to address security risks. This program development is funded by a 3-year NSF-ATE grant awarded to Riverside City College in 2019 and is the culmination of work to research and develop this pathway.Students will acquire skills in:

• Business Skills
• Entrepreneurship Skills
• Cyber Risk Assessment
• Cyber Threat Intelligence and Automated Response
• IT Project Management
• Ethical Hacking (Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing)
• Digital Forensics Investigations and Incident Response
  

The Cyberpreneurship certificate/degree programs are intended to fill the gap for small to medium sized businesses that do not have and do not plan to hire cybersecurity professionals. Cyber-attacks on all businesses, but particularly small to medium sized businesses, are becoming more frequent, targeted, and complex. According to Accenture’s Cost of Cybercrime Study, 43% of cyber-attacks are aimed at small businesses, but only 14% are prepared to defend themselves. This is quite alarming and the is the very purpose of the Cyberpreneurship program. Due tothis national cybersecurity risk, the National Science Foundation for Advanced Technology Education awarded a $300,000.00 grant to Riverside city college to develop a program to train independent contractors called cyberpreneur. After regional discussions with Michael Goss and Susanne Mata, LMI data for cybersecurity was chosen to show projected demand and wages for students who complete this program.

According to the Centers of Excellence, Inland Empire / Desert region (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties combined) June 2022LMI data, occupational growth for cyber defense positions is expected to grow by 8% between 2021 and 2026. In 2021, there were 15,589 total cybersecurity jobs in the region. Employment for the community college-level cybersecurity occupational group is projected to increase by 8% through 2026; 523 job openings are projected annually. Online job ad salary information reveals that employers are willing to pay the bachelor’s degree-level cybersecurity occupational group between $103,000 and $125,000 annually, above the state’s $45,386 annual ($21.82 hourly) living wage standard. Job ad information reveals that employers are willing to pay the community college-level cybersecurity occupational group between $57,000 and $94,000 annually, above the living wage standard. Consider the salary information with caution since only 28% (2,176out of 7,746) of online job ads for these occupations provided salary information. The salary figures are prorated to reflect full-time, annual wage status.