The College of Computing Continuing Education Program will offer a new continuing education certificate program titled "Managing Information Security" on March 1st at the Georgia Tech Computer Training Facility at Colony Square in Midtown Atlanta. This 15-day program is offered on a recurring two-month cycle and is designed for managers at all levels who are charged with protecting digital data. The program also will be valuable to those who seek professional certification in information security.

"This is the program security leaders in business and government have asked for," said Tom Pilsch, the College's assistant dean for continuing education. "People told us that they are concerned about policy, planning and human engineering challenges as well as the technical issues and they want a program that supports a widely recognized certification exam. This curriculum offers all that."

The certificate in Managing Information Security provides a bridge between a traditional focus on technologies such as firewalls and encryption and the business issues of risk management and policy to assist managers in creating a comprehensive data protection plan consistent with the needs of their organization.

"We built this program especially for technical and non-technical leaders at all levels who finally have heard the wake-up call and are looking for a 'how-to' roadmap in information security," said Pilsch.

The core of the curriculum is based on the 10 elements of the Certificate Body of Knowledge (CBK) covered on the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) examination. This vendor-neutral certification is administered by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, Inc., (ISC)2, and is widely recognized in the information security industry as a mark of professional commitment.

The nine modules in the certificate cover legal issues, policy, planning, implementation, incident response and business continuity. There also is a one-day information technology overview for non-technical managers who may need to refresh their technical understanding. The final module in the certificate is an incident response exercise to provide hands-on application of the principles covered in the classroom.

The College of Computing provides a series of non-credit short courses and certificates in core computing competencies such as databases, Internet, software engineering, networks, computing environments and now information security at the Georgia Tech Computer Training Facility in Midtown Atlanta. Additional information on these programs, including online registration and directions to the facility, is available at http://www.gtcoc.com.