September 19, 2005, Fountain City Focus

Fountainhead College of Technology is among an exclusive group benefiting from formal certification by the National Security Agency (NSA) in that its curriculum maps to the national IA Education & Training Program standards. Recognized at the June 6th Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) Awards Ceremony, Fountainhead graduates are now more equipped to meet the challenges facing our national information assurance infrastructure.

Daniel Wolf, the Information Assurance Director for the National Security Agency, and Dr. Linton Wells, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for National Information Infrastructure, gave formal recognition and certificates to representatives from Fountainhead at the CNSS Awards Ceremony held in Atlanta, Georgia.

Fountainhead College of Technology is one of only 123 colleges nationwide certified by the NSA and the only college in Tennessee to offer four information assurance certificates approved by the CNSS. This means that in addition to obtaining their Bachelor’s degree, graduates of the Network Security & Forensics program will automatically receive the following CNSS certification: Information Assurance Professional, Designated Approving Authority, System Administration in Information Systems Security and Information Systems Security Officer.

“We are dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of technical education and we do so by providing our students with the most beneficial and current curriculum programs available,” said Richard Rackley, president of Fountainhead College of Technology. “The individuals are learning to protect networks and computers from viruses and hackers while also focusing on Cybersecurity.”

In continuing to play an active role in NSA training and certification, Fountainhead’s Center for Information Assurance and Cybersecurity Training (IACT) will host the National Security Agency’s INFOSEC Assessment and Evaluation Methodology September 26-29. These courses, which are open to the general public, offer hands-on, group participation, labs for standardized methodologies and exams for the IAM and IEM certificates. The only way to get the NSA IAM and IEM certificates is to complete these courses. Find out information on fees and prerequisites by calling Fountainhead College of Technology at 688-9422.

About Fountainhead College of Technology's (FCT) Center for Information Assurance & Cybersecurity Training (IACT)

Fountainhead College of Technology, formerly Tennessee Institute of Electronics, was founded in 1947 and is committed to using it resources to significantly contribute to efforts to secure the nation's critical infrastructure. In 1999 the college began offering an associate's degree in Information Technology with curriculum developed to include information security training. In 2002 the college began development of a baccalaureate degree in Network Security and Forensics; and in 2003 Fountainhead College of Technology became the first college in the southeast to offer a computer security focused baccalaureate degree. The mission of the IACT center is to develop and maintain a strong information assurance curriculum that adheres to national standards, and to also address the cybersecurity needs of the community by offering training and support for Fountainhead College of Technology students, staff, and faculty; local law enforcement; government agencies; and information technology professionals.

For more information, please visit the official IACT website at: http://www.iawire.org, or contact Tammy Alexander, Program Coordinator at tam@iawire.org.