[ISN] SCC class takes a byte out of crime

[InfoSec News]

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=46138

By Victor Allen
Tribune 
August 14, 2005 

Would-be Internet crime fighters are learning how to take on the 
latest computer viruses and worms in a new class offered at Scottsdale 
Community College.

The class, available for the first time this semester, could also help 
computer users protect themselves against Internet hackers and 
attacks. 

"It's like boot camp for security," said Ron Monroig, a business 
professor at the school. 

The demand for students with anti-hacker skills is great, Monroig 
said. 

An entry-level position pays $40,000 to $60,000, depending on 
experience and knowledge, he said. 

"Hackers are providing us with annuity in this particular technology 
because they're never going to go away," Monroig said. 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is funding research and 
course studies for similar classes at colleges throughout the country, 
he said. He was not sure how much money SCC received for its program. 

Computer crime takes a heavy toll on American businesses and families, 
said Pinny Sheoran, executive director of the Business and Industry 
Institute at Mesa Community College. 

Identity theft can cost an individual $1,000 to $20,000 in property 
loss, and a business could lose $5 million to $10 million, depending 
on its size, she said. 

"There is a deep sort of concern," Sheoran said. "Our entire 
infrastructure is dependent on networks. How do you train people who 
are managing them to harden both the infrastructure and the software 
against attack?" 

The true cost and depth of damage from computer crime in the U.S. is 
probably much greater than reports show, said FBI special agent Tom 
Liffiton at the agency's Washington, D.C., office. 

Most computer crime is not detected or reported, he said. 

Companies that have managed network security report only 20 percent of 
attacks to law enforcement, and they report their losses at an equal 
frequency to their own legal staffs, Liffiton said. Most individuals 
and companies, especially smaller firms, have little or no computer 
security, he said. 

"They don't even have a clue as to what their losses are or even that 
they've been attacked," Liffiton said. 

Classes at SCC begin Saturday. For information on the class, call 
(480) 423-6610 or visit www.sc.maricopa.edu/cis.