Norwich named center of academic excellence in digital forensics

For Immediate Release
Nov. 22, 2011

Contact: Daphne Larkin
802-485-2886 or 595-3613(m)
dlarkin@norwich.edu

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NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Norwich University officials announced it has been named one of eight colleges by the US Department of Defense Cybercrime Center (DC3) as a pilot university of the Center of Digital Forensic Academic Excellence (CDFAE) program.

The program is designed to partner academia with government in an effort to establish industry standards for digital forensic education.

“This designation spotlights Norwich as the home of one of the top cyber forensics academic programs in the United States, and, perhaps, in the world,” said Dr. Peter Stephenson, an associate professor in the information assurance program and director of the Norwich University center for Advanced Computing and Digital Forensics, where activities related to the designations are carried out.

“Our sophisticated virtual computing systems that support information security and digital forensics labs and research are a model for other colleges and universities. They will add materially to our already advanced courses in both disciplines,” he said.

Norwich offers a Bachelor of Science in Computer Security and Information Assurance (BSCSIA) with concentrations in cyber forensics and advanced information assurance.

This academic excellence pilot program is designed to validate the criteria before other schools apply for the designation.

“CDFAE is a team sport where everybody wins: The college and university partners win through sharpened curricula that becomes a differentiator for the schools and their students; industry wins in receiving smart grads with turnkey knowledge and skills; and beyond that, government wins as CDFAE helps deepen our national bench in scarce skills to support law enforcement and national security requirements,” said DC3 Executive Director Steven Shirley. “CDFAE creates an optimal outcome for all partners.”

The other seven colleges in the pilot program are: Anne Arundel Community College; Howard County Community College; Oklahoma State University; Utica College; Stevenson; Johns Hopkins University and Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT).

Norwich was named a Center of Excellence in information assurance education by the US National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security in 2001.

Norwich is one of only four four-year institutions in the US to hold Center of Excellence designations in Digital Forensics and Information Assurance. Each standard meets separate goals and requirements, but coalesce with the Norwich motto "Expect Challenge. Achieve Distinction."

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Norwich University is a diversified academic institution that educates traditional-age students and adults in a Corps of Cadets and as civilians. Norwich offers a broad selection of traditional and distance-learning programs culminating in Baccalaureate and Graduate Degrees. Norwich University was founded in 1819 by Captain Alden Partridge of the U.S. Army. Norwich University is the oldest private military college in the United States of America and the birthplace of our nation's Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). www.norwich.edu