CNSS Certifications for UNT courses

The computer science and security courses offered by the University of North Texas have been certified as a 100% mapping to the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) National Standards 4011 and 4013. This certification is made by the Information Assurance Courseware Evaluation (IACE) Program, part of the National INFOSEC (Information Security) Education and Training Program administered by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA).

Students who have obtained these certifications have demonstrated a solid grasp of a wide variety of computer security topics, ranging from purely technical issues to an awareness of legal and business issues. The two certifications are as described below.

CNSS 4011:
National Training Standard for Information Systems Security (INFOSEC) Professionals
CNSS 4013:
National Training Standard for System Administrators in Information Systems Security (INFOSEC)
UNT is the only university in Texas to offer the 4013 certification, and is one of only 12 universities and institutions nationwide to do so.

In order to obtain the 4011 and 4013 certificates, students must complete a sequence of courses that cover basic software development and system life cycle issues, computer organization, computer networks, and specific security issues. For undergraduate students majoring in Computer Science, many of these courses are already required or are popular electives taken by many of our students. The specific courses required are shown below.

Standard, required Computer Science courses:

Required electives for obtaining the CNSS certificates:
  • CSCI 3780 -- Introduction to Computer Networks
  • CSCI 4220 (course number pending final approval) -- Introduction to Computer Security
  • CSCI 4230 (course number pending final approval) -- Secure Electronic Commerce

Graduate students who have a background in Computer Science which includes the basic Computer Science courses listed above (the required courses plus the Computer Networks course) can obtain the certificates by completing two graduate-level security courses:

  • CSCI 5220 (course number pending final approval) -- Introduction to Computer Security
  • CSCI 5230 (course number pending final approval) -- Secure Electronic Commerce

Center for Information and Computer Security University of North Texas P.O. Box 311366 Denton, TX 76203
940-565-2767 (voice) 940-565-2799 (fax)