Innovative Legitimate Non-Traditional Doctorate Programs in Cybersecurity, Engineering, and Technology

Introduction

According to the US Federal Bureau of Investigations ([FBI] 2021) the number of complaints about cyberattacks to their Cyber Division is up to as many as 4,000 a day. That represents 400% increase (FBI, 2021). The hack that took down the largest fuel pipeline in the U.S. and led to shortages across the East Coast was the result of a single compromised password, according to a cybersecurity consultant who responded to the attack (FBI, 2021). According to Newman (2016), the cybersecurity threat landscape is continually evolving as malicious cyber actors pursue new vectors to target and capitalize on newly discovered or known vulnerabilities. In 2017 a hacking group known as the Shadow Brokers, claiming to have breached the NSA-linked operation known as the Equation Group. The Shadow Brokers provided samples of the stolen data and attempted to auction off other stolen data (Newman, 2017).

In May of 2017, a strain ransomware virus call WannaCry attacked a series of public and private organizations including temporarily crippling technology-driven operations of several hospitals and medical facilities in the United Kingdom (Newman, 2017). In 2017 there where new revelations about hacking vulnerabilities cell phones, Windows, and the ability to turn some smart TVs into listening devices (Newman, 2017). The top industries targeted by cybercriminals are (1) healthcare, (2) manufacturing, (3) financial services, (4) government, and (5) transportation (Morgan, 2016). These industries are targeted for sensitive information primarily in the healthcare and financial services sectors. Researchers are forecasting the global cost of cybercrime in 2019 to reach over 2 trillion dollars (Morgan, 2016).

The global cybersecurity workforce will have more than 1.5 million unfilled positions by 2020 (Van- Zadelhoff, 2016). Every year in the U.S., 40,000 jobs for information security analysts go unfilled, and employers are struggling to fill 200,000 other cyber-security related roles (Kauflin, 2017). Threats of cyber-attacks have spurred global interest in protecting digital property from external intrusions. The identified risks to American private and public entities were part of an ongoing scenario that placed specific importance on secure, internal, cyber information (Pierce, 2016; Stevenson, 2017). This importance came about because many in the business market had echoed the need for a skilled workforce within cybersecurity, and numerous efforts were made to address those concerns (Pierce, 2016; Stevenson, 2017).

The need for cybersecurity was spearheaded by the rise in cybercrime (Pierce, 2016; Stevenson, 2017). Newman (2017) described cybercrime as the use of communication and information technologies to carry on illegal activity. Cybercrime activity was conducted with the utilization of devices including television, cellular phones, radios, computers, networks, or communication application (Newman, 2017). Newman (2017) noted that cybercrime was widespread and was not limited to petty and small crimes. Morgan (2016) and Newman (2017) indicated that cyber-attacks and malicious hackers have increased with multiple large corporations becoming victims of data breaches. Morgan (2016) noted firms were growing more dependent on cyber connectivity to remain relevant in an increasingly global market, and this has left many of them vulnerable. American organizations made changes to their IT infrastructure to deflect the onset of external threats from cybercriminals as they continued to grow (Van- Zadelhoff, 2016). Newman (2017) identified the cyber-attacks came from multiple sources with a variety of agendas. Newman (2017) noted the cyber threats were distinguished by intent and motivation of the attacker.