Computer hackers beware

The most pressing need of corporate computer users is repair service, according to Karen Lederer.
But as businesses move their storefronts, customer service and billing operations online, the second biggest need has become computer security.
"Security is very much a hot topic," said Lederer, a 20-year computer industry veteran and six-year information technology teacher at Pasco-Hernando Community College. "There's been an incredible increase in those issues."
The demand for computer security expertise drove Lederer to create two new introductory-level IT courses to be offered next year.
The first, "Introduction to Network Security," will become available in January and will teach students some of the methods used to protect computer systems and networks from the prying eyes of hackers.
"It prepares them to understand how people attack networks and how we can harden those networks so we don't have those problems," Lederer said.
A second new IT course, "Computer Forensics," will debut next summer and will cover techniques used in computer investigations. Students will learn to investigate security breaches and prevent future breaches by examining hacked PCs or networks.
The forensics course will also cover methods used to retrace the steps of a computer's former user, including the recovery of deleted files, e-mails, or Internet usage histories.
Such information can often become evidence in a court of law or could be used by employers to check on their employees' computing habits.
"We see in the industry a need for people working in IT to determine what a person has done with their computer," Lederer said.
The courses will offer students theory and hands-on experience in all the material covered.
"This is the kind of training that you can use and it will be presented in a real-world, hands-on environment," said Lederer. "It's not just theory, but we have students working on server boxes and desktop boxes."
Students will be expected to have some prior course experience or work experience in computers.
Though the course material is nothing new in the IT world, the courses represent PHCC's first foray into cyber security.
"This is not anything new," Lederer said. "But it is new for us here at PHCC."