Degree in applied cyber analytics is helping UTSA build a cyber workforce

The only one of its kind in Texas, the ACA degree combines UTSA's world-renowned cybersecurity undergraduate degree with the strong offering of data science courses in the Carlos Alvarez College of Business.

The ACA program officially launched in the fall of 2022; twenty-six students are currently enrolled.

The unique program provides students with a conceptual framework, analytical tools and business intelligence skills. It also helps students gain a foundational understanding of cyber security concepts, threats, risks and operations.

"This degree helps fill the gap between producing data and using cyber tools to understand and interpret data, effectively consolidating the two jobs into one," Thomas said. "I believe the mix of these skills are assets employers look for and will help me find unexplored niche opportunities."

Information security analyst ranked among the highest in-demand cybersecurity jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which predicted a 33% increase for employment in the cybersecurity field between 2020 and 2030 - much faster than the average job growth.

Nicole Beebe, Melvin Lachman Endowed Chair and professor in the UTSA Department of Information Systems and Cyber Security, said students in the program are acquiring an understanding of the cyber domain, which is "inundated with data and with billions of attempted intrusions worldwide."

"There is a desperate need for analysts trained in both cybersecurity and data analytics to make sense of cyber data in a descriptive, predictive and detective manner to properly defend, operate, respond to and investigate in their complex cyber environments," she said. "And that's the training UTSA students are getting with the degree in Applied Cyber Analytics."

Beebe is looking for ways to incorporate the use of artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality into the program - areas, she says, that are already the focus of groundbreaking research at UTSA.

As the program continues to grow, UTSA students who graduate with the ACA degree will be qualified for a wide range of jobs in all three areas - cybersecurity, data analytics and cyber analytics - as well as non-analytical cybersecurity jobs.

In 2023, there were 2,365 cyberattacks with more than 343 million victims in the U.S. That same year saw a 72% increase in data breaches since 2021, which held the previous all-time record, according to Identity Theft Resource Center's 2023 Annual Data Breach Report.

Cybersecurity Ventures reports that globally there are about 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs in 2024, highlighting the critical need for expertise in safeguarding digital assets.

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