We use technology every day, but just how safe is our personal information online? At what cost do we use the convenience of the internet? You don’t have to read the news long to see that as a society we are losing the battle in cyberspace. Malicious cyber activity costs our national economy billions of dollars each year. So, how do we protect our citizens? And how do we stop the attacks while protecting the rights of individuals?
The answer: Cybersecurity.
The Cedarville University Center for the Advancement of Cybersecurity was created to advance the study of cybersecurity. Cybersecurity, which seeks to protect the rights of individuals and organizations in cyberspace, is now a crucial component to the proper functioning of the U.S. economy and to the safeguarding of our freedoms. Cedarville University’s cyber-trained faculty members; strong cyber academic programs; close proximity to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, a major hub of cybersecurity activity; and our positive reputation among cybersecurity communities in academia, industry, and government position us well to provide leadership in this growing field.
The Center for the Advancement of Cybersecurity and Dr. Seth Hamman hosted a panel discussion, “Cybersecurity: Our Generation’s Cold War,” with guests Dr. Richard Harknett from the University of Cincinnati and Klon Kitchen from the American Enterprise Institute.
Speaking at TEDxDaytonSalon, Dr. Seth Hamman, Director of the Center for the Advancement of Cybersecurity and Associate Professor of Computer Science, shares some unique insights about the differences between physical space and cyber space and their implications for security. He then explains how this impacts the way we need to educate the next generation of cybersecurity leaders.
In a lecture titled “Introduction to Adversarial Thinking for Cybersecurity,” Dr. Seth Hamman explains adversarial thinking, why it is important for cybersecurity, and how to improve adversarial thinking skills.
The Center for the Advancement of Cybersecurity at Cedarville University will advance cybersecurity in our nation by developing tomorrow’s cyber leaders in the classroom, shaping cyber education in the academy, and promoting cyber awareness in society.
Thank you to our sponsors for their generous financial support of our mission to advance cybersecurity.
Cedarville University’s Center for the Advancement of Cybersecurity is advancing the study of cybersecurity by developing future leaders in the field, shaping cyber education, and promoting cyber awareness in society.
The National Security Agency (NSA) has named Cedarville University a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations. This is a designation which only 20 other schools in the United States currently have.
Dr. Seth Hamman is the inaugural Director of the Center for the Advancement of Cybersecurity and serves as Associate Professor of Computer Science. Dr. Hamman joined the faculty of Cedarville University’s School of Engineering and Computer Science in 2012, bringing real-world experience to the classroom from having worked in the tech industry, both as an employee of a startup dotcom and as a consultant. As a researcher he is interested in helping shape the young-and-growing discipline of cybersecurity education and integrating the Christian faith and computer science. Dr. Hamman holds a B.A. in religion from Duke University, a M.S. in computer science from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in computer science with an emphasis in cybersecurity from The Air Force Institute of Technology.
Cedarville is pleased to welcome our first Hacker-in-Residence, Mr. Ben Sprague (aka “realmadsci”). He graduated with the first Cedarville Computer Engineering class of ’06. For the past 14 years, Mr. Sprague has worked in the government and defense contracting industry, with experiences ranging from embedded Linux system design, building user interfaces for bomb squad robots, high-speed FPGA implementations of wireless signal processing, to vulnerability research and advancing the state of the art in modern fuzzing technology. He is currently on loan from Cryptic Vector, a local Cincinnati engineering and contracting company which employs several other Cedarville graduates. With his company team, Mr. Sprague has qualified and competed in the first two annual worldwide Hack-A-Sat satellite hacking competitions sponsored by the AFRL and US Space Force. He earned an M.S. in Accelerator and Astrophysics from the NIU Center for Accelerator and Detector Development prior to resuming a career in technology.
Dr. Keith Shomper earned his PhD in Computer Science from the Ohio State University in 1993. In 2003, after his retirement from the United States Air Force and teaching assignments at the Air Force Institute of Technology and the Air Force Academy, he joined the Cedarville University faculty in the School of Engineering and Computer Science. He continues to serve that School as a Professor of Computer Science and as a Fellow in the Center for the Advancement of Cybersecurity. In these roles Dr Shomper assists in the curricular design of Cedarville’s Computer Science (CS) and Cyber Operations (CY) majors. Dr Shomper also teaches a mix of courses for both the CS and CY majors in C++, algorithms, low-level programming, Linux system administration, and software engineering.
Patrick Dudenhofer joined the faculty at Cedarville University in 2014 after spending a decade at the Air Force Research Laboratory researching human-computer interfaces for effective supervision of autonomous systems. When not instructing computer science and cyber operation students at Cedarville, Patrick works on his PhD dissertation focused on software reverse engineering automation and spends his summers at a cybersecurity defense contractor in the Miami Valley. His academic interests and research include software reverse engineering, human-computer interaction, cognitive modeling, and cybersecurity.
Aaron Campbell is a Computer Science major from Overland Park, KS. His stint at Cedarville has included four National Cyber League Competitions, three National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competitions, and he helped to start the Cyber Awareness events group. Aaron is pursuing the Cyber Operations specialization while also participating in the Honors program. As a recipient of the Department of Defense Cyber Scholars Program scholarship he will be contributing to the Navy’s cyber mission at the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic as a civilian after graduation. As the Student Fellow, Aaron is excited to help advance Cedarville’s growing cyber program by creating a fun space for students to learn from one another and glorifying God through various competitions. Some leisurely distractions he enjoys include playing volleyball, spike-ball, and soccer with friends and reading philosophy, theology, and historical fiction.
View past student fellows »
The School of Engineering and Computer Science Advisory Council provides valuable industry and government insights and recommendations for our Cybersecurity Program.
Alumnus and attorney Dino Tsibouris speaks to cybersecurity students about recent trends in information security and privacy laws.
The Cedarville Cyber Team website provides information about competitions available to students, including the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition and the National Cyber League.
Cedarville’s Information Technology department provides resources and general awareness of cyber security related topics.
Cedarville University offers several strong cyber-related academic programs, equipping our students for career success.