KSU’s New Ethical Hacker Program Aims to Meet The Job Demand

The College of Continuing and Professional Education at Kennesaw State University has joined forces with the EC-Council to launch a brand-new Ethical Hacker certificate program. The 16-week course is designed to provide individuals concerned about the integrity of their network infrastructure the tools and techniques needed to achieve an optimal information security position.

“Companies are falling victim to data breaches at an alarming rate,” said Rebecca Mattox, Ethical Hacker certificate program manager. “The amount of sensitive data used and stored by organizations continues to grow daily and the threat for cyber-attacks is both damaging and costly.”

The global cost of data breaches will rise to $2.1 trillion by 2019, according to market analysts Juniper Research. The Ethical Hacker program aims to teach students how to identify weaknesses and security vulnerabilities that a hacker could potentially exploit.

“Students will be immersed in a hacker's mindset, evaluating not just logical, but physical security,” Mattox said. “They will use the same methods and tools as a hacker, but in a lawful and ethical manner to evaluate the target system’s security.”

Meenaxi Dave, Ethical Hacker program instructor, is an information security expert. She holds a Masters in Computer Science, is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional and a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH). She also holds CompTIA Security+, Network+ and Linux+ certifications. Dave is an active board member for the Information System Security Association and the Technology Association of Georgia.

“Her background and experience in the industry is invaluable,” Mattox said. “We are thrilled to have such incredible talent join our team.”

The Ethical Hacker program will also help students prepare for the CEH certification exam. The CEH credential certifies individuals in the specific network security discipline of Ethical Hacking from a vendor-neutral perspective. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, The average salary for someone with a CEH certification is between $90,000 and $100,000 per year.

“By training to be an asset in this critical industry, you can become a part of the solution,” Mattox said. “Military or government personnel, information security professionals, analysts, and site administrators will benefit from this program.”

The new Ethical Hacker program is also one of KSU’s VA-approved programs, which allows Post 9/11 veterans to use their GI Bill. KSU’s Continuing Education offers more than 40 certificate programs approved for VA Education Benefits.

For more information, visit ccpe.kennesaw.edu or call 470-578-6765.