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Annual Conference of the Southern African Computer Lecturers' Association

SACLA 2022: ICT Education pp 3–19Cite as

Relevant Cybersecurity: Curriculum Guidance for the South African Context

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Part of the Communications in Computer and Information Science book series (CCIS,volume 1664)

Abstract

Cybersecurity is vital to most organisations, and it is important that Higher Education institutions ensure the relevance of degrees to meet industry needs. It is desirable to minimise any gap in the skills graduates obtain compared to what organisations expect when hiring a cybersecurity professional. This research examines the cybersecurity tasks, knowledge, and skills that are sought by South African organisations. Content analysis was used to compare job advertisements from five well-known online job portals with the knowledge areas, units, and topics from the Cybersecurity Curricula 2017. The results indicate that knowledge in organisational security is most needed, specifically relating to identifying and protecting organisations against risk. Some areas are shown to be less relevant in the sample of advertisements, such as component security. The results of the analysis can be used by Higher Education institutions, as well as other training providers, to ensure an industry-relevant cybersecurity curricula in the South African context. The research also demonstrates a replicable approach that can be used to ensure cybersecurity education-industry alignment in the future.

Keywords

  • Cybersecurity curricula
  • Knowledge areas
  • Content analysis
  • South Africa

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  • DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-21076-1_1
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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Robin Brink, Jacques Ophoff & Zainab Ruhwanya

  2. Abertay University, Dundee, UK

    Jacques Ophoff

Authors
  1. Robin Brink
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  2. Jacques Ophoff
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  3. Zainab Ruhwanya
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jacques Ophoff .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Richard J. Barnett

  2. Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Daniel B. le Roux

  3. Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Douglas A. Parry

  4. Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Bruce W. Watson

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Brink, R., Ophoff, J., Ruhwanya, Z. (2022). Relevant Cybersecurity: Curriculum Guidance for the South African Context. In: Barnett, R.J., le Roux, D.B., Parry, D.A., Watson, B.W. (eds) ICT Education. SACLA 2022. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1664. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21076-1_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21076-1_1

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