1/2 Way To MSIA Degree

After spending so much time and effort on a seminar, I like to pause and review my progress and reasons for pursuing the Masters of Science in Information Assurance degree from Norwich University. Heck, most people don’t know what Information Assurance is so why get a degree in it?

Why a MSIA Degree?

My main reason for pursuing the MSIA degree is I find the subject very interesting and challenging. Information Assurance is the practice of insuring information is kept confidential, available, and that it has integrity. Integrity means that the data doesn’t change while it is stored and that it accurately matches the real world – if your data says you have 100 widgets in the warehouse, you actually have 100 widgets in the warehouse.

Information Assurance involves every aspect of an organization, and that’s what I find the most interesting. How do you get people with competing priorities and goals to work together to protect a company’s most valuable and expensive asset, their data?

Seminar 3 Review

Seminar 3, Prevention: Human Factors, is in the books. I submitted my end of term paper and will enjoy a two week break before the next class begins. The topics covered in this seminar  are the ones that I knew the least about when I entered the program, so I was looking forward to it. As you might expect by the title, this seminar focused on people and their role in IA.

I enjoyed the class topics, I learned a lot from my cohort, and from our instructor. I find that I learn as much from my fellow students as I do from the course materials. All of us work in the industry and we have different experiences and specialities, so at least one person has experience with the topic we are studying and they help the rest of us by sharing their experiences. For example, I have very little experience with audits, but many of my cohort do. They explained what they experienced in past audits and I got real-world perspective on the subject from people who go through them on a regular basis.

What I’ve Learned So Far

It is a good time to spend time in reflection now that I am half way through the degree program. Every week we have a new topic of study and we research that topic using our company as a case study. I’ve learned what we do well, what we do very well and what we can improve. I’ve enjoyed the consultative aspect of the program, and even enjoy writing the final paper. It’s fun to write a paper that analyzes what we do and recommends ways to improve. There is a real sense of accomplishment that comes with that.

Probably the biggest thing I’ve learned is that IA is tough. It’s tough due to the subject matter, but it’s also tough due to the way people react to the information that you share with them. Tact and balance are skills that any IA practitioner must have if they are going to be effective. They also need a thick skin. We have to remember that IA is about identifying and managing risk. We have to understand enough about our businesses to know how to communicate the risk in a way that is balanced. If we don’t do that, we don’t bring much value to our company.

So far so good with the program. I look forward to the next seminar and ultimately the residency week and graduation at Norwich.