Need for Cybersecurity Concepts in Software Development
There is a national deficiency in software developers possessing adversarial thinking abilities is evident within
the field of computing. This scarcity has created a disconnect between Career Technical Education (CTE) and
Academic Degrees. On one hand, many IT professionals who come from CTE programs have a strong grasp of
cybersecurity, including areas like forensics, intrusion detection systems, firewalls, and networks, but they lack
essential software development skills. Conversely, computer scientists and developers with academic degrees excel
in software development but often lack crucial adversarial thinking skills. Consequently, there is a pressing
demand for software developers who combine adversarial thinking abilities with the capacity to design, develop,
and implement secure software, thereby fortifying organizational computing systems.
Adversarial Thinking is the Computational Thinking++
In the context of the Cybersecurity Curricular Guidelines (CSEC 2017) [1], Adversarial Thinking is recognized as a
foundational concept that permeates various domains within the cybersecurity curriculum. However, given the
evolving landscape of computer science education, including the integration of emerging fields like cybersecurity
sciences, the appeal of teaching this concept across all computing disciplines varies. One specific course, often
referred to as Fundamentals of Computer Science or CS 1, is offered in both two-year and four-year educational
institutions. This course caters not only to computer science majors but also to students pursuing
computing-related degrees such as data analytics, cybersecurity, data science, or various CS + X programs. The CS
1 has become a cornerstone for many computing disciplines in contemporary education. Given the widespread
popularity of CS 1, there exists a demand to introduce concepts that extend beyond basic computational thinking.
In this paper, we put forth the notion of Adversarial Thinking, a concept that, when coupled with computational
thinking, can equip future programmers with the skills to consider risk analysis at every stage of code
development.
The Contribution
The xAI Institute at El Paso Community College actively is researching the identification of adversarial thinking
concepts within the core fundamentals of computer science. In this paper, we delve into the aspects related to CS
1.
References
[1] Joint Task Force on Cybersecurity Education. Cybersecurity Curricula 2017: Curriculum Guidelines for
Post-Secondary Degree Programs in Cybersecurity. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 2018.
Work presented at the 30th Joint
UTEP/NMSU Workshop on Mathematics, Computer Science, and Computational Sciences University of Texas at El Paso.
El Paso, Texas. Saturday, October 28, 2023