Northcentral University, an innovator in 100-percent online higher education, announced that its School of Business and Technology Management (SoBTM), Computer Information Security (CIS), Management of Information Security (MIS), and Applied Computer Science (CS) courses have been certified at the highest national level by National Security Systems (CNSS).

The CNSS is a federal government entity under the U.S. Department of Defense that provides procedures and guidance for the protection of national security systems. This office certified NCU's programs as meeting the 4011 training standard for information security professionals in the federal government.

This comes on the heels of an increasing number of reports of sophisticated robberies of sensitive material from corporate and federal databases. "As NCU is 100-percent online and dependent on technology for course room delivery, we believe the importance of information assurance cannot be over emphasized, and our goal is to continue to enhance the CIS curriculum to meet the needs of both the private and public sectors," asserted University President Dr. Clinton Gardner.

Even before this certification, NCU's School of Business leadership team worked hard to ensure that graduates who completed computer technology curriculum at NCU had the latest information to develop policy and practices to protect technology networks, systems, and databases they managed.

With the new certification, each NCU student who completes the CIS specialization will receive a prestigious CNSS 4011 certificate attesting completion of a CNSS quality specialization. In addition, NCU will be honored for its outstanding program at an awards dinner on June 3, 2009, at 13th Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education (CISSE) in Seattle, Washington.

Dr. Freda Turner, Dean of the School of Business, gives credit to Dr. Efosa Osayamwen, the curriculum lead of CIS curriculum at NCU, and doctoral student, Sandra Fitchett, who worked with staff members Stephen Parker, Sherri Alamillo, Carolyn Salerno and LaToya Johnson, for submitting the NCU curriculum and program standards for certification review. CNSS reviewed the courses, certifying that the Northcentral University courses mapped 100 percent to the security standards/policies and best practices required by CNSS for technology protection and policy development.

NCU has been offering information assurance courses as part of the CIS specialization for five years. NCU offers courses in cyber forensics, cyber terrorism, risk management, information assurance and security, systems certification and accreditation, computer network auditing information and security outsourcing computer systems, to name a few.

About Northcentral University

Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Prescott Valley, Ariz., Northcentral University is a private, 100-percent online higher education institution serving students worldwide. Accredited online university NCU offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees as well as certificates of advanced graduate studies in business and technology management, education, and psychology.

NCU is regionally accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Chicago, Illinois. NCU's School of Business and Technology Management was awarded initial accreditation by the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), the accrediting body for business schools and programs that have a focus on teaching excellence.