Information Technology and Management (ITM) recently co-hosted the national Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) Conference that included more than 1,150 women. WiCyS is an annual gathering of women in cybersecurity for engagement, encouragement, and peer support and includes cyber security experts in industry, education, and government along with college and high school students. This includes representatives from Facebook, Fidelity Investments, Cisco Systems, Aetna, Bank of America, Carnegie Mellon University, CIA, Google, IBM, Intel, Palo Alto Networks, PwC, Raytheon, Rochester Institute of Technology, Symantec, and many others.
Industry Professor Ray Trygstad, associate director, Center for Cyber Security and Forensics Education, stated “we were excited to co-sponsor this highly visible national cybersecurity conference that has been partially underwritten by the National Science Foundation (NSF). This was the biggest WiCyS conference ever, and it shows that there is a huge demand for cybersecurity experts. The demand for additional cybersecurity experts has lead Illinois Tech to offer a new Bachelor of Science in Applied Cybersecurity and Information Technology and a Master of Science in Applied Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics. Both programs will be available fall of 2018 in addition to the currently offered the professional Master of Cyber Forensics and Security.”
Robert Carlson, Ph.D., dean, School of Applied Technology commented “the WiCyS conference was an outstanding event that brought together experts from business, academics, and government with a common interest in cybersecurity. The conference provided an opportunity for our students to interact with leaders in the field. I would especially like to thank our ITM department for all their hard work to make this conference the biggest and best in its five-year history. Contributors included Ray Trygstad (Co-chair WiCyS), ITM staff Amber Chatellier, Angie Jarka (WiCyS logistics and local arrangements), Ryan Nelson, School of Applied Technology staff Louis McHugh, Scott Pfeiffer and Ian Hernandez; and student volunteers. Everyone did a fantastic job increasing the visibility of Illinois Tech.”