Does IT Education Breed Cyber-Crime?

Earning an information technology degree is important to most people who wish to enter the technology industry. But as with any technological advancement, criminals are turning IT education to their own ends, sponsoring students who learn to use legitimate technology for illegitimate ends.

Taking a Byte Out of Crime

Successful cyber-crime depends on the fusion of criminal experience with technical know-how. Cyber-crime gangs are ensuring that they will have the necessary technical skills by paying students to study information technology degrees with a guaranteed career afterwards. The rewards are great--if you can keep out of jail.

On the side of the angels, computer security organizations are working hard not only to make sure that cyber-crime is detected at an early stage, but to recruit talented IT graduates themselves. The security sector offers a number of different computer-related jobs, and looks particularly for talented techies who have graduated with good grades. They also recruit reformed hackers, relying on their experiences of criminal procedures as well as their technical abilities.

Computer Jobs Fight Crime

Increasingly, information technology degrees provide the deep technical knowledge that gruduates need in order to combat cyber-crime. Some universities run specialized courses in subjects related to computer security. Many IT programs include ethics courses to be sure that students understand the implications of computer crime, and the effects that it has on both individuals and on society as a whole.

Of course, there is an upside to all of this if you are a law-abiding techie. There are few qualified graduates at the moment, so jobs in computer security are particularly highly paid. Career opportunities have never been so good; now is definitely the time to get qualified in information technology.

Once you have graduated, you will find that the variety of computer jobs is vast, and you can select a career area that particularly interests you. Computer security is just one of a whole range of possibilities.

Sources

• BBC Technology, "Criminals 'target tech students'"