{"id":96815,"date":"2025-10-27T15:48:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T19:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/?p=96815"},"modified":"2025-10-27T15:48:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T19:48:19","slug":"growing-cybercrime-risk-makes-bu-met-cybersecurity-programs-essential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/news\/growing-cybercrime-risk-makes-bu-met-cybersecurity-programs-essential\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing Cybercrime Risk Makes BU MET Cybersecurity Programs Essential"},"content":{"rendered":"

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, an event born out of a collaborative effort led by the US Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity.<\/p>\n

The month-long campaign reminds us to adopt safe online practices, stay informed about cyber threats, and take proactive steps to protect their digital information against increasing cyber risks.<\/p>\n

Did you know that the FBI\u2019s Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3, received an average of 836,000 complaints per year from 2020 through 2024? That totals 4.2 million complaints, and more than $50 billion in losses. The problem isn\u2019t getting smaller, either. According to Statistica, cybercrime could cost businesses as much as $15.6 trillion by 2029.<\/p>\n

At Boston University\u2019s Metropolitan College (MET), National Cybersecurity Awareness Month is the perfect opportunity to draw focus on the opportunities available to those in the field.<\/p>\n

Ian Hill, a graduate of the MS in Computer Information Systems at BU MET, completed his concentration in cybersecurity. \u201cMy job is extremely diverse, it involves risk management, security policy and procedure development, vendor reviews, network security, and enterprise security as a whole,\u201d he says. \u201cThese are all subjects that I took directly at BU MET with professors who are experienced and elevated within their fields. I was not only able to gain more knowledge, but my security insight matured to a level that I thought unachievable prior to entering my master\u2019s program. All of the topics covered in my program I used in my job interviews, and in my job. Best choice I made.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Leader in Cybersecurity Education<\/h2>\n

BU MET has offered criminal justice education since 1973 and has been a leader in the cross-disciplinary field of information security since 2004. Our trailblazing graduate programs in these areas range from Cybercrime Investigation & Cybersecurity to Digital Forensics, to Cybersecurity and Information Security.<\/p>\n

Explore Metropolitan College Cybersecurity Programs<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

An Intellectual Hub of Cybersecurity<\/h2>\n

BU MET is the host of the International White Hat Conference, an annual gathering of law enforcement, academia, and industry practitioners dedicated to addressing an emerging cyber-threat. This year\u2019s White Hat Conference, held in Le\u00f3n, Spain, focused on the impact of artificial intelligence and cybercrime.<\/a><\/p>\n

BU MET also has fielded teams for the annual Cyber Games Competition, put on by the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity.<\/a> This education-oriented competition entails both a capture the flag-style exercise, which is customary to cybersecurity events, and a second exercise that involves defending an infrastructure from an invading team. These events reflect the career opportunities in the cybersecurity field, most of which fall into \u201cdefend\u201d categories. In 2025, BU MET\u2019s team placed second in their region.<\/p>\n

A National Center of Academic Excellence<\/h2>\n

Boston University is a National Security Agency (NSA)-designated Center of Academic Excellence (CAE) in Cyber Defense and Research for its MS in Computer Information Systems concentration in Cybersecurity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Grant-Supported Curriculum<\/h2>\n

BU MET\u2019s Cybercrime Investigation & Cybersecurity program is the recipient of a grant<\/a> from the US Department of Justice\u2019s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) supporting the Student Computer Forensics and Digital Evidence Educational Opportunities Program\u2014designed to enhance current capacities of law enforcement agencies in the areas of computer forensics and digital evidence.<\/p>\n

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\"U.S.<\/a>\r\n

#5 in 2026, and top 6 since 2015<\/strong><\/span>\r\nMET\u2019s online master\u2019s degree in criminal justice is ranked #5 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report<\/em>.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"U.S.<\/a>\r\n

#12, Best Online Master's in Computer Information Technology Programs<\/strong><\/span>\r\nMET\u2019s online master\u2019s degrees in computer information technology are ranked #12 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report<\/em>.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As National Cybersecurity Month rolls on, learn about our array of cybersecurity-focused programs, which can help you develop in your career whether you seek to protect the organizations or individuals, or hope to investigate and successfully prosecute cybercriminals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19676,"featured_media":96818,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[103,59,241,185,37],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96815"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96815"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96820,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96815\/revisions\/96820"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}