Cybersecurity Awareness Month and Student Spotlight

10/15/2024

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a global effort to help everyone stay safe and protected when using technology whenever and however they connect. The University of Akron and UA Wayne College are proud to champion this online safety and education initiative.

We are promoting key behaviors to encourage all UA Wayne students, staff and faculty to take control of their online lives. There are all kinds of ways to stay safe and secure online, but even just practicing these cybersecurity basics can make a huge difference:

• Use strong passwords and a password manager
• Turn on multifactor authentication at work, school and on personal accounts
• Recognize and report phishing 
• Update your software

Cyber forensics is a sub-discipline of Cybersecurity and is a critical field that involves collecting, analyzing, and presenting digital evidence to help fight cybercrime. Digital forensics professionals work on devices or networks that have been breached or suspected of being breached. The Bachelor of Science in Cyber Forensics is housed in the School of Disaster Science and Emergency Services at UA.

Carter Ure, a UA Wayne College student majoring in cyber forensics, says about his major, "It's interesting to learn about all the different protocols that are used for investigations and rules that need to be followed." Although the degree is obtained through the Akron campus, Carter decided to start at the Wayne campus because "it made more sense to come to Wayne and get my general education classes out of the way first."

Carter Ure

Carter is also a student employee and works in the Technical Support Services department at Wayne. What does he love most about UA Wayne? "First is the 3D Lab. Second is that everyone here is nice and friendly."

His favorite things about being a Zip are being able to use the 3D Lab for coursework for free and the various clubs and activities on campus that he participates in, such as the "Loud in the Library" Dungeons and Dragons events and Wallyball games with a group that gets together and plays on our racquetball court, usually every two weeks on various evenings, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Carter plans to work in a cyber forensics department in law enforcement after he graduates.