Center for Cybersecurity Education

With ever increasing threats and risks to organizations’ information and data, the need for employees who can identify, prevent, mitigate, and address the threats to their network is at an all-time high.

MassBay has responded to the growing regional and national need for well-trained cybersecurity professionals by creating a Center for Cybersecurity Education.

The Center is built around MassBay’s Cybersecurity programs (certificates and the first A.S. degree in MA) which align with national frameworks and educational guidelines.

Education Goals

Share curriculum and best practices with community colleges
Engage students in the field through workshops and competitions
Offer educational resources and event promoting security awareness
Collaborate with regional high schools and other organizations to recruit students to maximize the diversity of the field
Collaborate with other community colleges and 4-year institutions (both public and private) on projects as well as creating pathways for graduates with associate degree
Collaborate with regional industry, professional organizations (ISC2, CompTIA), state and local municipality IT/security departments, and others (chambers of commerce) to facilitate resources and fill the gap in the Cybersecurity workforce

Institutional Security Resources and Awareness

https://www.massbay.edu/help/massbay-computer-use-policy →

https://www.massbay.edu/website-policy →

Contact Cybersecurity Center for Education

cybersecuritycenter@massbay.edu

The Team

Shamsi Moussavi, POC

Director of Center for Cybersecurity Education

Shamsi Moussavi, Director of the Center for Cybersecurity Education and Professor of Computer Science and Cybersecurity, has been with MassBay Community College since 2004.

ACADEMICS: Shamsi Moussavi developed MassBay’s Cybersecurity program curricula: two certificates and an Associate in Science degree in Cybersecurity. The Associate in Science degree in Cybersecurity is the first (and only) degree of its kind approved by the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education.

GRANTS: Shamsi Moussavi was the Principal Investigator (PI) for NSF ATE grants iCREAT and iTEST as well as Co-PI on other NSF grants (iTEST and Transform), advised scholars of S-STEM grant, and collaborated on the BATEC grant. She is the PI for MassBay’s new NSF ATE grant ACT: Attracting the Next Generation Cybersecurity Workforce.

COMMUNITY: Shamsi represents MassBay at the state level effort on Cybersecurity initiative, articulations and/or pathways for Computer Science and Cybersecurity as well as outreach, specifically for underrepresented high school students. She has collaborated on and presented papers and posters and conducted workshops on CS and Cybersecurity topics at multiple conferences.

INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Shamsi worked as software engineer and Principal Member of Technical Staff in industry before joining academia. She received her M.S. in Computer Science from Brown University and sits on the advisory board for the Computer Science department at Rhode Island College, where she earned her B.A. in Computer Science.

Contact Shamsi Moussavi:
smoussavi@massbay.edu

Tony Sena

Professor and Chair of the Computer Science department

ACADEMICS: Tony Sena is a Professor and Chair of the Computer Science department at MassBay in the areas of computer networks, IT, Linux OS, and databases. He has been an instructor and Academy Leader for MassBay’s Cisco Networking Academy since 2015. He is also an Associated External Collaborator at the CMINDS center at UMass Lowell.

GRANTS: Tony was a Co-PI on two NSF ITEST & ATE grants to provide an integrated approach for creating STEM career pathways for high school and community college students, and pathways to middle-skill positions through the introduction to coding, robotics, electronics, and technology. He is now the Co-PI for MassBay’s new NSF ATE grant ACT: Attracting the Next Generation Cybersecurity Workforce.

INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Previously, Tony worked as a consultant in the area of networking, and LDAP (Directory Services). He has also worked in industry as a Software Developer, Network Engineer & Consultant, and Network & System Administrator.

Kara Lucciola, J.D.

Professor, Legal Studies and Criminal Justice

ACADEMICS: Kara Lucciola, J.D. is a Professor of Legal Studies and Criminal Justice. She is the Coordinator of MassBay’s Cyber Innovation Initiative, and is a member of the MassCyberCenter’s Working and Education Group. Kara designed the Cybercrime course for the Cybersecurity A.S. Degree Program, and she holds Certificates in both Data Privacy Law (2021) and Cybersecurity Strategy (2020) from Boston College Continuing Education, in collaboration with Boston College Law School and the Woods College of Advancing Studies. Kara is a recipient of MassBay’s Distinguished Faculty Scholarship Award, its Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching, and is also a Faculty Criminal Justice Content Reviewer for Oxford University Press.

INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Kara’s legal experience spans over 25 years working as both a civil and criminal prosecutor. She practiced civil litigation in a Boston law firm and was counsel to the Boston Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee. Kara also served as an Assistant Attorney General in the MA Office of the Attorney General’s Government Bureau (Trial Division), and as an Assistant District Attorney in the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office where she was a Special Victims Unit Prosecutor. Kara received her B.A. magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School.

Ryan Fried

Adjunct Professor of Cybersecurity/Computer Science

ACADEMICS: Ryan Fried, Adjunct Professor of Computer Science, has been teaching at MassBay Community College for 3+ years, and taught at Middlesex Community College for 2 years, in the areas of computer networks, IT and security.

INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Ryan works as a Security Engineer for industries in the Boston area, and has worked in Cybersecurity for 8+ years. Ryan is one of the senior personnel for MassBay’s new NSF ATE grant ACT: Attracting the Next Generation Cybersecurity Workforce. He received a M.S. in Cybersecurity from UMass Lowell, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems. Ryan is CISSP and Microsoft Azure Security Engineer certified.