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Center for Cybersecurity

The Center for Cybersecurity provides the administrative leadership, support, and infrastructure to facilitate the advancement of cybersecurity education, research, and service at Bradley University. Its efforts also support the local economy by building strong partnerships with public and private institutions.

The Center provides additional opportunities for student and faculty interaction, increasing experiential learning through collaboration with local businesses, and fostering exceptional outcomes by preparing students through cutting-edge cybersecurity education.

Bradley University is a designated Center of Academic Excellence, specifically in the area of Cyber Defense (CAE-CD). This designation is jointly sponsored by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security.

If you wish to report a security concern at Bradley University, or would like to review institutional security policies, plans, and resources, please visit the Office of Information Security.

Services

The Center for Cybersecurity offers consulting and training services to the local community.

Businesses in the Peoria metro area can request a security assessment conducted by the Bradley Red Team, which consists of upper-level students enrolled in the cybersecurity capstone course. Team members plan the assessment, execute tasks, and present results and recommendations to company executives.

The Center for Cybersecurity offers security education and training awareness programs to help area organizations improve their cybersecurity posture. Topics include proper account management, personal privacy and security, and social engineering.

Events

The Center for Cybersecurity has been a Cyber Security Alliance champion of Cybersecurity Awareness Month since 2018. Cybersecurity Awareness Month was established in 2004 by the Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance. Held every October, Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a collaborative effort between government and industry to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity and to ensure that all Americans have the resources they need to be safer and more secure online. The Center for Cybersecurity hosts several events throughout the month of October, such as Cybersecurity Day and the Cybersecurity Film Series.

Previous Speakers

Adam Curry, Caterpillar

Adam was a Security Manager in the Information Security Department at Caterpillar. He led a team responsible for the Governance and Risk Management programs related to cyber security.

Kerstyn Campbell, Caterpillar

Kerstyn was an IT Analyst in the Information Security Department at Caterpillar focused on the execution of cyber risk management. Kerstyn graduated from Bradley University in December 2017 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems.

Kevin Eack, The Brannon Group

Kevin is the Principal of The Brannan Group, LLC, a security consulting company based in Peoria, Illinois. He has over 30 years of experience in law enforcement and security, including serving as a Special Agent of the FBI, as a state prosecutor, and as a State Police Investigative Commander.

Sarah Handler, Senior Product Manager, Netflix

Sarah is a Staff Product Manager leading the identity & access space on Netflix’s security engineering team. She was previously a Senior Manager of Product Management at Microsoft’s Identity Security and Protection team at Microsoft where she was responsible for extensibility features of their identity protection product to enable enterprises the ability to detect, remediate and prevent identity compromise. She received her B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Bradley University and currently resides in Seattle, Washington.

Dr. Ronald Jost, C4ISS

Ron is the president of C4ISS, a corporation that specializes in analytical work for DoD and the intelligence agencies. Prior to this position, he served 15 years as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for C3, Cyber and Business Systems in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Brittany Kaiser, Digital Asset Trade Association

Brittany joined the SCL Group in 2014 and served as the Director of Business Development for Cambridge Analytica from 2015 to 2018. Kaiser’s experience following her time at Cambridge Analytica is shown in the Netflix Documentary The Great Hack. Brittany’s experience deepened her belief that people deserve greater rights over both the use and proceeds of their own data.

Cody Kretsinger, CIAN

Cody was the Director of Information Security for CIAN Center, a local Cyber Security Company with an emphasis in penetration testing and managed Security Operations Center services.

Dan Krueger, Blick Art Materials

Dan is a highly skilled and hands-on IT Technical Director with over 36 years of Enterprise Cybersecurity, Infrastructure, and Application Support experience within Retail, Hospital & Healthcare, Wireless, Education, Not-for-Profits, Pharmaceutical, Financial Services, Insurance, and Manufacturing. Dan manages projects and people in virtual and hybrid IT team environments and effectively communicates with Executive Leadership, vendors, and team members in providing direction that inspires confidence among all levels of IT and Business organizations.

Nick Schroeder, Mandiant

Nick has been in information security for over 12 years. He is a former security operations center analyst and incident response consultant who thoroughly understands advanced adversary methodology and how to effectively counter network intrusions. Prior to joining Mandiant, Nick worked as a penetration tester in the federal space.

Daniel Shore, LeTS (Leadership & Effective Teamwork Strategies)

Daniel Shore has a PhD in Workplace Psychology and works as a consultant, researcher, and entrepreneur leading teamwork development initiatives for a wide range of organizations. His cybersecurity teamwork expertise stemmed from a 5-year, DHS-funded research project designed to identify social-behavioral drivers of cybersecurity effectiveness. Daniel applies the insights from this work through LETS (Leadership & Effective Teamwork Strategies), the company he co-founded to bring a human-centered approach to improving cybersecurity multi-team systems.

Jared Vogel, Underwriters Laboratories

Jared was a Principal Security Architect with Underwriters Laboratories Inc. in the Connected Technologies division. Global responsibilities for Cybersecurity, Interoperability and Standards compliance surrounding IoT, Automotive, Transportation and Industrial.

Aaron Wakefield, Vice President of Data & Digital Technology, Kuvare Holdings

With over 17 years of experience, Aaron Wakefield is a seasoned technology executive renowned for his visionary leadership in Fortune 100 companies spanning industries such as insurance, healthcare, manufacturing, and technology. Aaron excels in driving critical technical initiatives, leveraging innovation to streamline processes, and spearheading integration, transformation, and modernization efforts.

In conjunction with Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the Center for Cybersecurity has hosted a Cybersecurity Day in October since 2018.

In 2019, the Center for Cybersecurity began highlighting important cybersecurity issues through documentary films as part of its inaugural Cybersecurity Film Series. Films are shown throughout October in conjunction with Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Students, faculty, staff, and members of the community are welcome to attend any showing. After each film, attendees are encouraged to ask questions and discuss topics from the film in our post-film Q&A session.

Previous Films

2024

The Social Dilemma (2020)

A documentary film that exposes the hidden dangers of social media and search platforms, and how they affect our mental health, democracy, and discrimination.

The Truman Show (1998)

An insurance salesman is oblivious of the fact that his entire life is a TV show and his family members are mere actors. As he starts noticing things and uncovers the truth, he decides to escape.

Coded Bias (2020)

When MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini discovers that facial recognition does not see dark-skinned faces accurately, she embarks on a journey to push for the first-ever U.S. legislation against bias in algorithms that impact us all.

The Net (1995)

When Angela Bennett, a computer programmer, stumbles upon government secrets, she finds herself on the run from an unknown enemy hell-bent on destroying her completely.

Citizenfour (2014)

CITIZENFOUR is a real-life thriller, unfolding by the minute, giving audiences unprecedented access to filmmaker Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald’s encounters with Edward Snowden in Hong Kong, as he hands over classified documents providing evidence of mass indiscriminate and illegal invasions of privacy by the National Security Agency (NSA).

The Codebreaker (2021)

The work of cryptanalyst Elizebeth Smith Friedman brings down Al Capone, breaks up a Nazi spy ring in South America, and lays the foundation for the National Security Agency (NSA).

The Center for Cybersecurity will be hosting the inaugural BSides Peoria. Each BSides is a community-driven framework for building events for and by information security community members. The goal is to expand the spectrum of conversation beyond the traditional confines of space and time. It creates opportunities for individuals to both present and participate in an intimate atmosphere that encourages collaboration. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from participants. It is where conversations for the next-big-thing are happening.

News

By Ben Padgitt

I have always enjoyed learning about computers and information systems, and I want to pursue a career within information systems security. After coming to Bradley in 2019, I majored in Management Information Systems (MIS) with a specialization in cybersecurity, and I’m now pursuing an MBA. MIS majors are the technology experts to business professionals and the business experts to technology professionals. Cybersecurity is what I’m most interested in because it’s critically important to everything. In order to be successful in this field, you have to be passionate and willing to learn continuously because technology changes constantly.

RLI Insurance Company has a highly rated internship program and they had positions in cybersecurity and networking. I chose the networking internship because I have previous cybersecurity experience and wanted to work with information technology (IT) infrastructure. I’m glad I made this choice because it was exactly what I was looking for. IT is a very broad field with many different roles and responsibilities. Internships are the best way to find out what you want to do before committing to a full-time role. After this summer, I believe the perfect job for me is one that combines IT infrastructure with cybersecurity duties.

RLI is an established specialty insurance company with business operations from New York to Hawaii, with significant IT operations in security and infrastructure. Over the summer, I learned about the insurance industry and IT infrastructure duties (data center design, servers, backups, networking, troubleshooting, security, and more), but the most important takeaway was understanding the impact company culture has on the work environment. RLI invests in employees for the long haul so that they stay with the firm to create success. This is something that we learn in MBA classes, but to experience it in practice helped me understand its importance.

To create a team of world class professionals from within, exceptional company culture should be a priority. Throughout the summer, there were companywide events to celebrate employee ownership and success. Every person was kind and they were willing to teach or show me how things work. This is a culture that retains employees, creates operational excellence and makes the “9 to 5” fly by. It was a very fun experience. My recommendation for students in an internship program is do as much as you can on the job because it goes by very quickly. Also, don’t forget to build your professional network.

Bradley University was and still is my choice because of potential and opportunity. I chose Bradley because it seemed like a good fit. Students have opportunities that you can’t get anywhere else such as the small class sizes, advanced ethical hacking class, and the chance to discover your passion. Bradley can deliver students the practical skills necessary today for solving tomorrow’s problems. From the classrooms to the clubs, there’s always been a chance to find my passion, to continue learning, and to stay involved. I’m glad to be part of the community helping make this a success for others.

The National Security Agency (NSA) and Department of Homeland Security have designated the university’s Center for Cybersecurity as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense through the 2028 academic year.

Being awarded with the prestigious designation means that Bradley’s curriculum meets the rigorous standards put forth by the NSA and Department of Defense in formulating effective cybersecurity education. Specifically, the Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems with a concentration in Cybersecurity at Bradley aligns with, and meets criteria related to knowledge units developed as part of the U.S. government’s focus areas. These knowledge units are derived from or mapped to components of the NICE framework. The institution-wide designation increases scholarship opportunities for students and allows academic programs at Bradley to obtain additional funding to support cybersecurity education.

According to Dr. Jacob Young, director of the Center for Cybersecurity, “Obtaining the CAE designation has been my highest priority since arriving at Bradley in 2015. While Bradley has provided premier cybersecurity education for years, receiving such prestigious recognition from the National Security Agency demonstrates the quality and impact of our innovative cybersecurity education and community outreach efforts. The designation not only provides external validation for prospective students interested in studying cybersecurity at Bradley, but it also elevates the value of our alumni in the workforce.”

Obtaining the CAE designation is the result of a process that began in 2017 with the establishment of the Center for Cybersecurity, followed by the creation of the cybersecurity concentration within the Management Information Systems major in 2018, and the addition of a multidisciplinary Cybersecurity major in 2022. Both programs are offered by the Department of Entrepreneurship, Technology and Law in the Foster College of Business. The initial phase of the designation application process involved having the MIS cybersecurity concentration validated by the National Security Agency, which was completed in April 2023. The Center for Cybersecurity will now offer assistance with the validation process to other cybersecurity related programs available at Bradley.

– Libby Derry

Research

The Center for Cybersecurity helps coordinate and catalog Bradley University’s research on various cybersecurity-related topics, such as behavioral security research, ethics, privacy, and anonymity.

Current research that falls under the scope of the Center for Cybersecurity consist of:

  • Security assessment methodology, performance, and findings
  • Use of technology to enhance security, privacy, and anonymity
  • Development of pedagogy for cybersecurity education
  • Examining laws related to security, privacy, and anonymity
  • Development of a best practices guide for cybersecurity

Young, J.A., & Farshadkhah, S. (2022) “Teaching Cybersecurity Incident Response Using the Backdoors & Breaches Tabletop Exercise Game,” Cybersecurity Pedagogy and Practice Journal (1)1, 4-17.

Young, J.A., Courtney, J.F., Bennett, R.J., Ellis, T.S., & Posey, M.C. (2021) “The Impact of Anonymous, Two-Way, Computer-Mediated Communication on Perceived Whistleblower Credibility,” Information Technology & People (34)3, 1119-1151.

Young, J.A., Smith, T.J., & Zheng, S.H. (2020) “Call Me BIG PAPA: Extending Mason’s Information Ethics Framework to Big Data,” Journal of the Midwest Association for Information Systems (2020)2.

Young, J.A. (2020) “The Development of a Red-Teaming Course,” Journal of Information Systems Education (31)3.

Smith, T. J. (2020). Haystack in a Hurricane: Mandated Disclosure and the Sectoral Approach to the Right to Privacy. Yale Journal on Regulation, 37, 25.

Young, J.A., Biros, D.P., Schuetzler, R.M., Smith, T.J., Stephens, P.R., Syler, R.A., & Zheng, S.H. (2020) “When Programs Collide – A Panel Report on the Competing Interests of Analytics and Security,” Communications of the Association for Information Systems (46)5, 584-602.

Marcum, T.M. & Young, J.A. (2020) “Defining the Whistleblower: The Digital Realty Case and Proposed Legislation,” Richmond Journal of Law & Technology (26)3.

Marcum, T.M. & Young, J.A. (2019) “Blowing the Whistle in the Digital Age: Are You Really Anonymous? The Perils and Pitfalls of Anonymity in Whistleblowing Laws,” DePaul University Business & Commercial Law Journal (17)1, 1-38.

Resources

Organizations

Curriculum and Course Activities

RING

RING (Regions Investing in the Next Generation) is an online high school cybersecurity course that offers interesting and engaging content specifically for students and schools without an existing cybersecurity program.

NCyTE Cybersecurity Curriculum

Free cybersecurity curriculum, lessons, and modules designed to help students learn the concepts and skills that employers are seeking. Teachers and cybersecurity experts designed many to align with various portions of curricular frameworks. These teaching resources are intended to be facilitated by an instructor over time.

CLARK

CLARK is the largest platform that provides FREE cybersecurity curriculum. It is home to high-value, high-impact cyber curriculum created by top educators and reviewed for relevance and quality. Whether you’re looking to teach something new tomorrow, align with curriculum guidelines and standards, or refine your current course, CLARK has free resources ready for you to use!

Competitions

National Cyber League

The NCL, powered by Cyber Skyline, enables students to prepare and test themselves against practical cybersecurity challenges that they will likely face in the workforce, such as identifying hackers from forensic data, pentesting and auditing vulnerable websites, recovering from ransomware attacks, and much more! Open to U.S. high school and college students, the NCL is a community and virtual training ground that allows students to develop and demonstrate their technical cybersecurity skills, helping students bridge the gap from curriculum to career!

CyberPatriot

CyberPatriot is the National Youth Cyber Education Program created by the Air & Space Forces Association to inspire K-12 students toward careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation’s future. ​At the core of the program is the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition, the nation’s largest cyber defense competition that puts high school and middle school students in charge of securing virtual networks.

Hack the Box

Hack The Box is a leading gamified cybersecurity upskilling, certification, and talent assessment software platform enabling individuals, businesses, government institutions, and universities to sharpen their offensive and defensive security expertise.

TryHackMe

TryHackMe is a browser-based cyber security training platform, with learning content covering all skill levels from the complete beginner to the seasoned hacker.

Conferences

NICE (National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education) K12 Cybersecurity Education Conference

Cybersecurity Student Guide

The purpose of the Cybersecurity Student Guide is to aid cybersecurity students in their academic, career, and personal endeavors. The site is currently maintained by Bradley University faculty and students. We welcome suggestions and corrections.

Career Services

In addition to reviewing the resources shared in the Cybersecurity Student Guide, the Center for Cybersecurity encourages Bradley students to leverage the resources offered by the Smith Career Center.

Student Organizations

Cybersecurity Club

The Bradley Cybersecurity Club provides students with a dedicated student organization focused solely on cybersecurity. Participants learn how to use command terminals to practice penetration testing via red and blue teaming (offensive and defensive hacking) and develop real world cybersecurity skills for all levels, beginner to expert. Club members have quickly demonstrated their skill on a global stage. In November 2022, Bradley University was ranked seventh in the world on Hack The Box.

Bradley Information Technology Students (BITS)

After the national Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) organization was acquired by CompTIA, leadership of the Bradley student chapter decided to rebrand their organization as Bradley Information Technology Students. This organization caters to students in all technology-related majors, but has recently placed a higher emphasis on analytics and cybersecurity.

Contact

Information coming soon!

The Council of Advisors is comprised of industry professionals who provide guidance to the Center for Cybersecurity.

Kenneth Adams, Chief Strategic Growth Officer, NewWave Telecom & Technologies, Inc.

Steve Bergstrom, Deputy Chief Information Security Officer, Caterpillar

Elliott Brink, Security Engineer

Kerstyn Campbell, IT Analyst III, Caterpillar

Adam Curry, Security Manager, Caterpillar

Eric English, Partner Success Manager, Galactic Advisors

Brian Ford, President, Facet Technologies

Lynsi Frederick, IT Analyst II, Pekin Insurance

Sarah Handler, Senior Product Manager, Netflix

Darin Hurd, Chief Information Security Officer, Guaranteed Rate

Cody Kretsinger, Security Advisor, Galactic Advisors

Dan Krueger, Senior Manager Information Security, Grainger

Brian Olson, Chief Business Development Officer, i3 Broadband

Chris Pfoutz, Product Security, Humana

Nick Schroeder, Senior Principal Analyst – Threat Intelligence, Mandiant

Aaron Wakefield, Vice President of Data & Digital Technology, Kuvare Holdings

Grant Yost, Senior Director of Security Architecture, VillageMD