In an effort to continue to be a competitive option for students interested in studying computer science, Iona has added a concentration in cyber security to the major.

The concentration, which launches in the 2014 fall semester, will be offered for undergraduate and graduate students.

According to CNN Money, cyber security is one of the top ten fastest growing industries right now.

By offering this concentration, students will have a competitive edge when applying for internships and jobs.

Dr. Robert Schiaffino, chair of the computer science department, knows this, and that’s why he wanted to bring these skills to the students.

“There’s a real market demand,” he said.

Some of the skills that will be taught are in software security, web application security, mobile security, network security and cryptography.

Having a cyber security background is highly beneficial to computer science majors.

With the recent breach in security at Target resulting in millions of stolen credit and debit card numbers, having a strong security system in place is very important.

This concentration will teach computer science majors to incorporate a security system into their programs and hardware.

“Security is one of the things that should be built in from the start,” Schiaffino said. “Everyone should know something about security if they are going to be in this business.”

Businesses, governments and healthcare industries are the top employers of computer security jobs.

“Anyone who is doing this major and is learning about developing software should be aware of the elements of software security and use this knowledge when building their software,” Schiaffino said.

Keeping up to date on the computer needs of industries is important to the field, so by adding this concentration, Iona is preparing its students for the current job market and opening up new careers by having this background.

“The students who are doing this concentration will have career paths open to them that they would not have otherwise if they didn’t do the concentration,” he said.

The department is hoping to draw more students into the computer science major by adding this concentration.

“Hopefully, those who want to go into this career will choose Iona because we have this concentration,” Schiaffino said.

Those who wish to focus in on this concentration will take classes in cyber security, but those who choose not to study this concentration will still be able to take the classes as electives.

Sophomore Sean Campbell, a computer science major, doesn’t want to get into cyber security as a career, but he understands its importance.

“Since we rely on computers more and more, it is important to secure all of this information,” Campbell said.

“Everyone should have a basic understanding of this so that they can work it into their programs.”

Sophomore Eugene Picone, another computer science major, wants to take these classes.

“When I think of computer science, I think of I.T.,” he said. “Having cyber security skills would be good when applying for those jobs.”

The department is hoping to add more concentrations in the future.

“It may be in the future that we’ll add more concentrations,” Schiaffino said. “We’re just beginning.”