Relevant cybersecurity: curriculum guidance for the South African context

Robin Brink; Jacques Ophoff; Zainab Ruhwanya

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-21076-1_1

Relevant cybersecurity: curriculum guidance for the South African context

Robin Brink, Jacques Ophoff^*, Zainab Ruhwanya

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Cybersecurity and Computing

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

1 Citation (Scopus)

104 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Cybersecurity is vital to most organisations, and it is important that Higher Education institutions ensure the relevance of degrees to meet industry needs. It is desirable to minimise any gap in the skills graduates obtain compared to what organisations expect when hiring a cybersecurity professional. This research examines the cybersecurity tasks, knowledge, and skills that are sought by South African organisations. Content analysis was used to compare job advertisements from five well-known online job portals with the knowledge areas, units, and topics from the Cybersecurity Curricula 2017. The results indicate that knowledge in organisational security is most needed, specifically relating to identifying and protecting organisations against risk. Some areas are shown to be less relevant in the sample of advertisements, such as component security. The results of the analysis can be used by Higher Education institutions, as well as other training providers, to ensure an industry-relevant cybersecurity curricula in the South African context. The research also demonstrates a replicable approach that can be used to ensure cybersecurity education-industry alignment in the future.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	ICT Education
Subtitle of host publication	51st Annual Conference of the Southern African Computer Lecturers' Association, SACLA 2022, Cape Town, South Africa, July 21–22, 2022, Revised Selected Papers
Editors	Richard J. Barnett, Daniel B. le Roux, Douglas A. Parry, Bruce W. Watson
Place of Publication	Cham
Publisher	Springer
Pages	3-19
Number of pages	17
ISBN (Electronic)	9783031210761
ISBN (Print)	9783031210754, 9783031210778
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21076-1_1
Publication status	Published - 8 Dec 2022
Event	51st Annual Conference of the Southern African Computer Lecturers’ Association - Cape Town, South Africa Duration: 21 Jul 2022 → 22 Jul 2022 Conference number: 51st https://www.sacla2022.org/

Publication series

Name	Communications in Computer and Information Science (CCIS)
Publisher	Springer
Volume	1664
ISSN (Print)	1865-0929
ISSN (Electronic)	1865-0937

Conference

Conference	51st Annual Conference of the Southern African Computer Lecturers’ Association
Abbreviated title	SACLA 2022
Country/Territory	South Africa
City	Cape Town
Period	21/07/22 → 22/07/22
Internet address	https://www.sacla2022.org/

Keywords

Cybersecurity curricula
Knowledge areas
Content analysis
South Africa

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-031-21076-1_1

Ophoff_RelevantCybersecurity_Accepted_2022Accepted author manuscript, 477 KB

Cite this

Brink, R., Ophoff, J., & Ruhwanya, Z. (2022). Relevant cybersecurity: curriculum guidance for the South African context. In R. J. Barnett, D. B. le Roux, D. A. Parry, & B. W. Watson (Eds.), ICT Education: 51st Annual Conference of the Southern African Computer Lecturers' Association, SACLA 2022, Cape Town, South Africa, July 21–22, 2022, Revised Selected Papers (pp. 3-19). (Communications in Computer and Information Science (CCIS); Vol. 1664). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21076-1_1

Brink, Robin ; Ophoff, Jacques ; Ruhwanya, Zainab. / Relevant cybersecurity : curriculum guidance for the South African context. ICT Education: 51st Annual Conference of the Southern African Computer Lecturers' Association, SACLA 2022, Cape Town, South Africa, July 21–22, 2022, Revised Selected Papers. editor / Richard J. Barnett ; Daniel B. le Roux ; Douglas A. Parry ; Bruce W. Watson. Cham : Springer, 2022. pp. 3-19 (Communications in Computer and Information Science (CCIS)).

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title = "Relevant cybersecurity: curriculum guidance for the South African context",

abstract = "Cybersecurity is vital to most organisations, and it is important that Higher Education institutions ensure the relevance of degrees to meet industry needs. It is desirable to minimise any gap in the skills graduates obtain compared to what organisations expect when hiring a cybersecurity professional. This research examines the cybersecurity tasks, knowledge, and skills that are sought by South African organisations. Content analysis was used to compare job advertisements from five well-known online job portals with the knowledge areas, units, and topics from the Cybersecurity Curricula 2017. The results indicate that knowledge in organisational security is most needed, specifically relating to identifying and protecting organisations against risk. Some areas are shown to be less relevant in the sample of advertisements, such as component security. The results of the analysis can be used by Higher Education institutions, as well as other training providers, to ensure an industry-relevant cybersecurity curricula in the South African context. The research also demonstrates a replicable approach that can be used to ensure cybersecurity education-industry alignment in the future.",

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Brink, R, Ophoff, J & Ruhwanya, Z 2022, Relevant cybersecurity: curriculum guidance for the South African context. in RJ Barnett, DB le Roux, DA Parry & BW Watson (eds), ICT Education: 51st Annual Conference of the Southern African Computer Lecturers' Association, SACLA 2022, Cape Town, South Africa, July 21–22, 2022, Revised Selected Papers. Communications in Computer and Information Science (CCIS), vol. 1664, Springer, Cham, pp. 3-19, 51st Annual Conference of the Southern African Computer Lecturers’ Association, Cape Town, South Africa, 21/07/22. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21076-1_1

Relevant cybersecurity: curriculum guidance for the South African context. / Brink, Robin; Ophoff, Jacques; Ruhwanya, Zainab.
ICT Education: 51st Annual Conference of the Southern African Computer Lecturers' Association, SACLA 2022, Cape Town, South Africa, July 21–22, 2022, Revised Selected Papers. ed. / Richard J. Barnett; Daniel B. le Roux; Douglas A. Parry; Bruce W. Watson. Cham: Springer, 2022. p. 3-19 (Communications in Computer and Information Science (CCIS); Vol. 1664).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

TY - GEN

T1 - Relevant cybersecurity

T2 - 51st Annual Conference of the Southern African Computer Lecturers’ Association

AU - Brink, Robin

AU - Ophoff, Jacques

AU - Ruhwanya, Zainab

N1 - Conference code: 51st

PY - 2022/12/8

Y1 - 2022/12/8

N2 - Cybersecurity is vital to most organisations, and it is important that Higher Education institutions ensure the relevance of degrees to meet industry needs. It is desirable to minimise any gap in the skills graduates obtain compared to what organisations expect when hiring a cybersecurity professional. This research examines the cybersecurity tasks, knowledge, and skills that are sought by South African organisations. Content analysis was used to compare job advertisements from five well-known online job portals with the knowledge areas, units, and topics from the Cybersecurity Curricula 2017. The results indicate that knowledge in organisational security is most needed, specifically relating to identifying and protecting organisations against risk. Some areas are shown to be less relevant in the sample of advertisements, such as component security. The results of the analysis can be used by Higher Education institutions, as well as other training providers, to ensure an industry-relevant cybersecurity curricula in the South African context. The research also demonstrates a replicable approach that can be used to ensure cybersecurity education-industry alignment in the future.

AB - Cybersecurity is vital to most organisations, and it is important that Higher Education institutions ensure the relevance of degrees to meet industry needs. It is desirable to minimise any gap in the skills graduates obtain compared to what organisations expect when hiring a cybersecurity professional. This research examines the cybersecurity tasks, knowledge, and skills that are sought by South African organisations. Content analysis was used to compare job advertisements from five well-known online job portals with the knowledge areas, units, and topics from the Cybersecurity Curricula 2017. The results indicate that knowledge in organisational security is most needed, specifically relating to identifying and protecting organisations against risk. Some areas are shown to be less relevant in the sample of advertisements, such as component security. The results of the analysis can be used by Higher Education institutions, as well as other training providers, to ensure an industry-relevant cybersecurity curricula in the South African context. The research also demonstrates a replicable approach that can be used to ensure cybersecurity education-industry alignment in the future.

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-031-21076-1_1

DO - 10.1007/978-3-031-21076-1_1

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SN - 9783031210778

T3 - Communications in Computer and Information Science (CCIS)

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A2 - Barnett, Richard J.

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PB - Springer

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Y2 - 21 July 2022 through 22 July 2022

ER -

Brink R, Ophoff J, Ruhwanya Z. Relevant cybersecurity: curriculum guidance for the South African context. In Barnett RJ, le Roux DB, Parry DA, Watson BW, editors, ICT Education: 51st Annual Conference of the Southern African Computer Lecturers' Association, SACLA 2022, Cape Town, South Africa, July 21–22, 2022, Revised Selected Papers. Cham: Springer. 2022. p. 3-19. (Communications in Computer and Information Science (CCIS)). Epub 2022 Dec 8. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-21076-1_1

Relevant cybersecurity: curriculum guidance for the South African context

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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