CIS Cyber Security Club featured in the Daily Emerald Online Newspaper
Focusing on the importance of hands-on experience, the University of Oregon Security Club is giving students an opportunity to learn cybersecurity skills – skills that are in very high demand.
With cyber attacks becoming more prevalent and receiving more attention in recent years, Frank Arana, president of the club, says that the lack of focus on teaching security is “both a state and national problem.”
Arana says that Edward Snowden’s uncovering of government surveillance and recent cyber attacks on Sony and Target has highlighted security and brought it to the national spotlight. However, the amount of time that cybersecurity was ignored has been problematic for the state. According to a 2014 survey by the Technology Association of Oregon, there is a “serious cybersecurity skills gap in the state’s workforce” and is suffering from a moderate to a significant shortage of tech talent.
“The biggest issue with security is that a lot of people are intimidated by it and they just don’t get into it,” Arana said. “Now [people] are realizing that they need security people but no one really specializes in security.”
To combat this problem, the UO Security Club is teaching students skills to not only protect themselves but to provide practical skills they can use in security-related jobs.
Click here to continue reading the article, Club Leads Push for Cybersecurity, on the The Daily Emerald website.