Cybersecurity majors stack up with best in Midwest

The Southeast Missouri State University cybersecurity team recently took third place among 12 teams in a competitive Midwest Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition.

In February, the Southeast Team took first place among 20 teams from six states.

The more recent third place means the team cam up just short of advancing to the nationals.

Still, Southeast has something good brewing with its cybersecurity major on campus.

The students who graduate with a degree in cybersecurity are having no troubles finding employment, university officials have said.

In October, a Southeast cybersecurity major interned with Homeland Security and was invited to the White House.

According to a release by the university, the job field of cybersecurity is growing by 20 percent annually with starting salaries of $55,000 to $60,000.

It's no wonder. It seems every day we're seeing stories of major hacks into private and public systems. Last spring, a university official said cybersecurity students were in such high demand that they were landing jobs several months before graduation.

Southeast launched its cybersecurity program in the fall of 2011, at which time there were only five other existing cybersecurity programs being offered across the country.

Indeed the university has a good thing going with the new wave of cyber sleuths. It's important that our society trains people to help prevent theft of information and data.

But clearly the students are putting a lot of effort into their studies as the recent competitions show.

Congratulations to the students who participated in the recent competition.