The Arkansas Attorney General’s Office recently published information to inform the state’s citizens of what to do in the event of a data breach or security breach. As one of the most common causes of disclosure of personal information, these breaches can expose personal information of thousands or millions of individuals at once. The Arkansas Personal Information Protection Act requires all entities that collect personal information to use security procedures and practices to protect that information. If a breach occurs, these entities must notify affected individuals in a timely manner. Additionally, the entities must also notify the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office if a breach occurs and affects the personal information of over 1000 Arkansas individuals.
The Attorney General’s Office offers a form in which a data breach can be reported on its website. Also, it advises residents of what to do if they are notified that their data has been breached. Advice includes placing fraud alerts on credit reports, placing security freezes on credit reports, contacting financial institutions to change account information, and keeping a close eye on credit reports from the three major credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax and Experian).
The field of information security and cybersecurity deals with breaches such as the ones described here, and aims to prevent them from happening in the first place. If you would like to work in the field of cybersecurity in Arkansas, you should first obtain a certificate or associate degree. Read on to discover how to set about achieving this goal.
Arkansas Cybersecurity in the News
Arkansas’ public high school system is embarking upon a new cybersecurity curriculum in 2020. These courses are designed to prepare students to study cybersecurity further after graduation, either at an industry-level certification or degree program at a secondary school. The public high school cybersecurity curriculum is based upon a model created by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and already used by the university’s Cyber Gym cloud education and training model. Courses will eventually be offered on-campus and in a virtual setting. Cybersecurity courses were also prepared for high school teachers so that they will be well-informed to teach their students.
Advanced cybersecurity courses are planned in the future, modeled after the University of Central Arkansas’ cyber-range project for educational training. The goal of this program is to create a more cyber-literate population within the state of Arkansas, one that is much better prepared to defend against cyber threats.
The initiative was partially funded through a grant of $94,500 from the Arkansas Department of Education, as well as through grant totaling $50,000 by the Arch Ford Education Service.
Cybersecurity Associate Degree or Certificate Holders Career Opportunities in Arkansas
Many entry-level jobs in the information security field are available to those who hold an associate degree or certificate in a cybersecurity area in Arkansas. These may include:
- Cyber Security Analyst – Arkansas Center for Data Sciences, Little Rock
- NIS- Cyber Risk Analyst – PwC, Bentonville and Springdale
- IT Cyber Security Analyst I – Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Corp., Little Rock
- Cyber Security Analyst I – Mobile Programming, LLC, El Dorado
- Information Systems Security Officer – Stuttgart
- Information Security Analyst – American Express, Little Rock
- Information Security Analyst – General Dynamics, Jacksonville
- Enterprise Security Architect – Virtual Vocations, Little Rock
- Risk Specialist, Cybersecurity – WalMart, Bentonville
- Incident Response Analyst – PayPal, Little Rock
Cybersecurity Associate Degrees in Arkansas
Some of the associate degrees in cybersecurity available in Arkansas include:
- Associate of Applied Science in Computer Information Systems – Cybersecurity
- Associate of Applied Science in Cybersecurity
- Associate of Applied Science in Computer Information Systems – Networking
Associate Degree and Certificate Programs in Cybersecurity in Arkansas
When choosing an associate degree or certificate program in cybersecurity in Arkansas, make sure that the school housing that program is regionally accredited by an agency recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
Cybersecurity Associate Degree and Certificate Programs in Arkansas
Some more undergraduate cybersecurity degrees you can earn in Arkansas include:
- Arkansas State University, Mountain Home – Associate of Applied Science in Computer Information Systems – Cybersecurity
Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
School of Business & Technology
1600 South College St.
Mountain Home, AR 72653
Shawn Dennis, Contact
(870) 508-6174; [email protected]
- Arkansas Tech University – Associate of Applied Science in Cybersecurity
Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
College of Engineering & Applied Sciences
215 West O Street
Russellville, AR 72801
(844) 804-2628
- Northwest Arkansas Community College –
—Associate of Applied Science in Computer Information Systems – Networking
—Technical Certificate in Networking & Cyber Security
Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
Walton College of Business
One College Drive
Bentonville, AR 72712
(479) 986-4000
- Phillips Community College, University of Arkansas – Certificate of Proficiency in Cyber Security
Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
Information Systems Technology Program
1210 Rice Belt Avenue
DeWitt, AR 72042
Tracie Karkur, Advisor
(870) 946-3506, ext. 1615; [email protected]
- Southern Arkansas University Tech – Cybersecurity Certificate of Proficiency
Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
Computer Information Technology
6415 Spellman Road
Camden, AR 71711
Beverly Ellis, Program Advisor
(870) 574-4717; [email protected]
- University of Arkansas, Pulaski Tech – Associate of Applied Science in Cybersecurity
Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
3000 West Scenic Drive
North Little Rock, AR 72118
(501) 812-2200
Cybersecurity Associate Degree Program in Arkansas Courses
Associate degree cybersecurity programs in Arkansas typically require students to complete courses such as:
- Intro to Networking
- Foundations of Computer Programming I & II
- Wireless Security & Cellular Technologies
- Digital Logic Design
- Forensics & Incident Response
- Discrete Structures
- Introduction to Information Systems
- Data Structures
- Virtualization
Cybersecurity Certificates in Arkansas
Other certificates that you can earn pertaining to cybersecurity in Arkansas, besides the ones listed above, include (but are not limited to):
- A+ Certification
- Networking
- Cloud Computing
- Web Development
- Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
- CompTIA Project+
- CompTIA Linux+
Cybersecurity Salaries in Arkansas
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor, the annual mean wage for information security analysts (cybersecurity professionals) working in Arkansas as of May 2019 was $83,930. Those working within various metropolitan areas of Arkansas earned differing annual salaries, as noted below:
- Conway: $78,650
- Fort Smith: $63,240
- Little Rock: $78,650
- North Little Rock: $78,650