Technology is constantly evolving and it can be hard to keep up. As a result of this evolution, the need for individuals who understand the importance of cyber-security—and can translate that importance to a broad audience—increases. The Fox Master of Science in Information Technology Auditing and Cyber-Security (ITACS) prepares students to be key components in mitigating the risk of data breaches and sustaining the company’s information system security.
In an interview with the Fox School, Philip Taddeo, senior IT risk & control manager at Vanguard, discusses the value of earning a degree in IT auditing and cybersecurity from a business school like the Fox School rather than an engineering school and the benefits of participating in this program.
“I think the value from being part of a business school is the students graduating have the foundational business and controls knowledge combined with enough technology acumen that they can really flourish and be versatile leaders,” says Taddeo. “Whereas, if you were purely technical, you may not be familiar with a lot of business concepts.”
Taddeo is also chair of the ITACS Advisory Council at the Fox School. His role consists of working as a liaison between students and practitioners.
Earning this degree from the Fox School gives students the ability to market themselves to employers as workers who have an understanding of the technical aspect of the field, but also how it affects the business industry.
Shaun Moody, the global IT audit director of Internal Audit at Chubb, discussed the importance of IT auditors having the ability to look at IT through a business outlook.
“IT auditors don’t just think of the IT risk, they think of it in a business aspect,” says Moody. “You need to consider things in terms of, what is the impact on the business, what’s the business context? So, making sure that people come out with good IT audit knowledge, the ability to balance that with the business context and assess the business risk is the most important thing.”
Business students have an advantage compared to those with technical backgrounds. In addition to hands-on technical skills, courses in the ITACS program also emphasize the importance of soft skills such as public speaking and group projects.
Gaining an understanding of how business intertwines with IT and cybersecurity is crucial. Programs at the Fox School combine the necessary technical skills with leadership and communication skills to create industry professionals who are set to succeed.
Students who earn degrees in information systems (IS) earn higher starting salaries than fellow business-school counterparts. And they benefit from one of the fastest national placement averages.
These statistics are just some of the findings from the latest edition of the Information Systems Job Index, produced by researchers from Temple University’s Fox School of Business, in partnership with the Association for Information Systems (AIS).
Published and released in January 2018, the third installment of the IS Job Index culled the responses of 2,140 IS graduates of the Class of 2017, from 58 universities nationwide.
Some of the index’s more-interesting findings include:
- Salaries for IS undergraduates ($62,820) are the highest among students who pursue typical business majors ($52,047).
- The percentage of women in IS jobs (39%) is more than double that of women in other STEM fields like computer science (18%).
- Internships double the likelihood of an IS student getting a job offer (39% for those who hold at least one internship vs. 16% for those who do not).
“There are more than 3 million IS jobs in the U.S. alone,” said index co-author Dr. Munir Mandviwalla, associate professor of management information systems (MIS) at Temple University’s Fox School of Business. “This data is critical for parents of college-age children, current and prospective students seeking an accurate job outlook, employers, and policymakers—and it cannot be found anywhere else.”
Mandviwalla conducted research for the latest installment of the IS Job Index and co-authored it with Dr. Crystal Harold, associate professor of human resource management at Temple’s Fox School of Business, and Maria Boggi, a junior MIS major in the Fox School and Temple University Honor’s programs.
The AIS-Temple Fox School Job Index is the only systematic assessment of the IS job market. It is a joint project, with support from AmerisourceBergen and LiquidHub, to produce reliable national-level data on placement, job type, satisfaction, and related factors like career services, knowledge level, preparedness, and search strategies.
More: To read the Information Systems Job Index, visit isjobindex.com.
Interview requests: Please send requests to Christopher A. Vito, associate director of communications & media relations, Temple University’s Fox School of Business, at cvito@temple.edu
Learn more about Fox MIS degrees.
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The Master of Science in IT Auditing and Cyber-Security (MS-ITACS) program at Temple University’s Fox School of Business provides students with the latest practices in the field with the help of an advisory council composed of industry leaders.
The Fox School strengthened that mission with its recent appointment of Kapish Vanvaria, management consultant with Ernst & Young LLP, as the program’s advisory council chair.
A Temple alumnus who studied Accounting and Management Information Systems at the Fox School, Vanvaria first established a commitment to the program when he became a member of the ITACS advisory council two years ago. In accepting the chair position, Vanvaria’s role will include leading the program’s strategic growth and curriculum development, and ensuring a strong student placement within the technology and cyber industry.
“I’m passionate about education. It’s one of the few things in life that has no expiration or devaluation, and therefore is one of the best self-investments,” said Vanvaria. “With a strong agenda and vision, we can make ITACS a global program that will elevate the Fox School’s brand and allow others to see Temple as a talent factory for technology and cyber security resources for many of the leading organizations of the world.”
ITACS program director David Lanter, an Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems at the Fox School, sought an advisory council chair with significant industry background who would be able to draw from his or her personal networks and utilize corporate resources. Lanter found that in Vanvaria.
“Kapish has been an enthusiastic and valued contributor to the start of the ITACS program (in 2011) and a key player in the current successes,” said Lanter. “We are optimistic he will do as much and even more to help guide the future evolution and success of the program.”
In addition to ensuring that Fox School students have a seat at the table in the development of the program, Vanvaria said he hopes to reach out to different organizations for insight on what they are looking for in future employees.
“I want to go to these companies and governmental organizations and ask, ‘Does our curriculum match what you’re looking for, and if not, what can we do?’” he said. “We already do that within the advisory council because we have good representation of startup through Fortune 50 companies, but I know we can do more. I’m looking forward to that.”
In light of all the excitement around his appointment, Vanvaria said he wants to make one thing clear: the success of the council boils down to collaboration.
“In becoming the chair, this is not going to change our advisory council from the standpoint of it truly being a team sport,” he said. “The program’s success is dependent on all of us joining together to consistently elevate the brand. Two years from now, I want to look back and say, ‘We made a difference.’”
A team of graduate students from Temple University’s Fox School of Business has advanced to the final round of the National Cyber Analyst Challenge, sponsored by Lockheed Martin.
The students, from Fox’s Master of Science in IT Auditing and Cyber-Security (ITACS) program, will compete against teams from eight other colleges and universities for a $25,000 grand prize. By virtue of having advanced beyond the first round, these teams will receive significant awards ranging from $7,500-$15,000 to support student, faculty, and curriculum development.
Fox’s team includes: Jeta Gjana, Jose Gomez, Kerwing Hy, and Nick Nguyen, from the ITACS program’s security track, and Ibtissam Bazzine, of ITACS’ auditing track.
The first phase of the National Cyber Analyst Challenge consisted of an analysis of a complex real-world case created by Lockheed Martin experts. Participating teams received documents pertaining to a fabricated company and files that were meant to replicate a report issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
“In short, we were asked to find the source of a cyber hack, then answer why it happened and explain how to prevent it from happening again,” Hy said.
The team from Fox, which is coached by ITACS professors Ed Ferrara and Wade Mackey, pored over 75 gigabytes of data to find the cause of the hack, before submitting a 10-slide summary report within which it explained its solution for preventing future cyber attacks. All entries were reviewed by a panel of judges and scored on technical quality, accuracy, and presentation.
In the process, Gjana said, she and her teammates were tasked with learning the fundamentals of computer programs to help in their case analysis.
“We weren’t limited in which tools we could use, which actually required a good deal of self-training in tools we had never used before,” Gjana said.
For the National Cyber Analyst Challenge’s second phase, the team will complete two extensive training sessions with Lockheed Martin officials via web-conferencing platform WebEx, in advance of the final round, Nov. 5-6 in Washington, D.C.
“Because the last phase will have time constraints placed upon it, our team will take the approach of each member concentrating on becoming an expert in separate tools,” Hy said. “This way, when we arrive in Washington, we’ll be prepared to tackle any challenge, knowing we have someone on our team who is incredibly proficient at any particular tool.”
“We couldn’t be more excited to represent Temple and Fox in a competition of this level.”
The National Cyber Analyst Challenge, in its first year, is sponsored by Lockheed Martin, in conjunction with the Institute for Business and Information Technology (IBIT) at Temple University. IBIT provides cutting-edge knowledge and valuable connections to sustain excellence in information technology. IBIT integrates industry perspectives with academic research expertise to create forums for generating and exchanging best practices.