Earn your Cybersecurity Degree from University of Fairfax
Doctorate of Information Assurance
The University of Fairfax Doctorate of Information Assurance (DIA) is distinguished among cybersecurity leaders. Our doctoral students have diverse professional objectives – such as becoming a cybersecurity leader, policymaker, applied researcher or academic. Your admissions advisor will guide you to pursue the doctoral program that best fits your career goals and interests.
As a doctoral student, all of your courses here will explore relevant cybersecurity policy issues in enterprise management, you’ll complete a cybersecurity project in each, enabling you to make immediate and lasting workplace contributions. You’ll learn from leading, practitioner cybersecurity faculty whose cybersecurity colleagues can become an integral part of your professional network throughout your career.
We have incorporated the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework into our degree programs. The NIST framework provides a structured approach for managing and reducing cybersecurity risks, and our courses align with the framework’s five core functions: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover. By incorporating the NIST framework into our curriculum, we are preparing our students for successful careers in a variety of industries and government agencies that require compliance with the framework.
You can access your project-driven courses online from any location, when it’s convenient for you, and easily communicate with your instructors and classmates. You’ll progress through your coursework in a group, which provides opportunities for collaborative learning and support, as well as more personalized instruction.
Close communication with your advisor and the University’s unique Dissertation Project Plan enable you to complete manageable milestones that ensure you’re making steady progress toward completing your dissertation and reaching your goal.
This program is offered in both a full distance education and a hybrid delivery format which allows students to take a portion of their coursework in a residential setting.
Visit our eLearning page for details on our exciting and innovative course delivery methods.
Doctorate of Information Assurance Courses
IA7020: Information Security Systems and Organizational Awareness
Course Description
In this course, students will explore a set of core IS principles that will prepare students to function more efficiently and effectively as workers, managers, decision makers, and organizational leaders. This course will provide insights into challenges and changing roles of the IS professional so that students can better appreciate the role of this key individual.
IA7030: Legal and Ethical Practices in Information Security
Course Description
In this course, students will explore ethical business decision making as a related to the use of technology by evaluating information security case studies and produce real-life deliverables.
IA7040: Information Security and Organizational Change
Course Description
In this course, students analyze the principles of change management as they apply to the requirements and regulations of information security. Students evaluate the factors which affect corporate decision-making when implementing security programs and the ability of the manager to translate corporate needs into information security projects.
IA8010: Business and Security Risk Analysis
Course Description
This course provides students with an overview of risk management principles. Methods to identify, quantify, and qualify internal and external risks to the organization are examined. Students apply these principles and methods to the current business and risk environment.
IA8110: Certification and Accreditation
Course Description
In this course, students analyze an enterprise-wide view of information systems and the establishment of appropriate, cost-effective information protection programs. Within this context, students examine a set of standard policies, procedures, activities, and a management structure to certify and accredit information systems for the protection of the data as well as the systems.
Specialization Courses:
IA8021: Cloud Cybersecurity
Course Description
In this course students will research and analyze virtualization technology needed in today’s rapidly changing IT workplace. The course will focus on virtualization in software-defined data centers. Students learn to build virtual networks, implement high-availability clusters, enhance performance and security, and manage the virtual data center.
IA8031: Cybersecurity Insurance
Course Description
In this course students will explore advanced security techniques and procedures to effectively secure data network through the use of Cryptography and System Security. Additional areas of research will expand into wireless networks, email, and IP security.
IA8190: Forensic Evaluation and Incident Response Management
Course Description
In this course, students explore the essentials of electronic discovery and analyze issues related to cyber evidence. Using this evidence, students identify and analyze the nature of security incidents, the source of potential threats and the methods used in incident management and mitigation. Students also analyze the technical and business issues which affect the actions of the enterprise in responding to a security incident.
IA9150: Strategic and Technical Trends Information Security
Course Description
In this course, students will focus on the managerial aspects of information security assurance. Topics covered include access control models, information security governance, and information security program assessment and metrics. Coverage on the foundational and technical components of information security is included to reinforce key concepts. The course includes up-to-date information on changes in the field, such as national and international laws and international standards like the ISO 2700 series.
IA9200: Research Topics in Information Security
Course Description
In this course, doctoral students enrolled in the doctoral program must complete two written research papers which demonstrate mastery of the selected CBK domains, literature-based research skills, and APA format and citation requirements
Pre Dissertation:
RM8500: Research Foundations
Course Description
In this course, doctoral students are introduced to the purpose and nature of primary research. Students explore the foundations and concepts of applied field research.
RM9100: Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis
Course Description
(Prerequisite: Program Core Courses completed) In this course, students compare, contrast, and evaluate qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis for solving business problems and conducting business-related field research. In week 4, the Comprehensive and qualifying exam is released as a separate course shell, IA9130. The Exam is expected to be completed concurrently while completing RM9100 and is due in week 8.
IA9130-CX: Comprehensive & Qualifying Examination
Course Description
Students complete the Comprehensive & Qualifying Examination in weeks 4-8 of the RM9100 course. The IA9130 course is administered concurrently with RM9100.
Research Methodologies:
CEX8220: Security Program Strategies and Implementation
Course Description
This course is part of a two-course advanced research methodology sequence CEX8220 and CEX8230 that is designed to assess the student’s ability to conduct independent research under the guidance of an instructor. The CEX8220 is designed to assess the student’s quantitative research skills.
CEX8230: Legal and Ethical Management Issues in Information Security
Course Description
This course is part of a two-course advanced research methodology sequence CEX8220 and CEX8230 that is designed to assess the student’s ability to conduct independent research under the guidance of an instructor. The CEX8220 is designed to assess the student’s qualitative research skills.
Phase I:
RM9150: Feasibility Problem Driven Research
Course Description
(Prerequisite: Program Core, Pre-Dissertation and Research Methodologies completed) In this course, students identify a research site, describe a plan for access to the research site, identify a problem affecting the research site that can be developed into a feasible topic area for field research, and develop a working bibliography of recent and relevant peer-reviewed research that supports the theoretical framework of the proposed topic. Students apply the concept of problem-driven research as the basis for selecting a feasible and non-trivial research topic or problem.
RM9200: Designing Solutions to Information Security Problems
Course Description
In this course, doctoral students enrolled in the DIA program continue to evaluate the feasibility of their proposed research site and the potential solutions to be studied. Students present their proposed project at the Dissertation Bootcamp at the end of this course.
Phase II:
RES8110 : Dissertation Proposal (Chapter 1)
Course Description
This is the first course in Phase II of the doctoral plan. Phase II consists of the Research Preparation courses (RES8110, RES8120, RES8121, and RES8130) in which doctoral students follow a structured approach to designing their dissertation study, refining their research question(s), and developing the operational details for their study. The focus is on clearly specifying the assessment criteria and organizational requirements needed to justify a proposed improvement in professional practice, and on designing and implementing such an assessment. RES8110 is the first course in which students start developing the dissertation proposal (Chapters 1-4.1)
RES8120: Dissertation Proposal (Chapter 2)
Course Description
This is the second course in Phase II of the doctoral plan. Phase II consists of the Research Preparation courses (RES8110, RES8120, RES8121, and RES8130) in which doctoral students follow a structured approach to designing their dissertation study, refining their research question/s, and developing the operational details for their study. The focus is on clearly specifying the assessment criteria and organizational requirements needed to justify a proposed improvement in professional practice, and on designing and implementing such an assessment.
RES8120 is the second course in which students continue developing the dissertation proposal (Chapters 1-4.1).
RES8121: Dissertation Proposal (Chapter 2, Continued)
Course Description
This is the third course in Phase II of the doctoral plan. Phase II consists of the Research Preparation courses (RES8110, RES8120, RES8121, and RES8130) in which doctoral students follow a structured approach to designing their dissertation study, refining their research question/s, and developing the operational details for their study. The focus is on clearly specifying the assessment criteria and organizational requirements needed to justify a proposed improvement in professional practice, and on designing and implementing such an assessment.
RES8121 is the third course in which students continue developing the dissertation proposal (Chapters 1-4.1).
RES8120 is the second course in which students continue developing the dissertation proposal (Chapters 1-4.1).
RES8130: Dissertation Proposal (Chapters 3 and 4.1, IRB)
Course Description
This is the fourth and final course in Phase II of the doctoral plan. Phase II consists of the Research Preparation courses (RES8110, RES8120, RES8121, and RES8130) in which doctoral students follow a structured approach to designing their dissertation study, refining their research question/s, and developing the operational details for their study. The focus is on clearly specifying the assessment criteria and organizational requirements needed to justify a proposed improvement in professional practice, and on designing and implementing such an assessment. RES8130 is the fourth and final course in which students continue developing the dissertation proposal (Chapters 1-4.1).RES8121 is the third course in which students continue developing the dissertation proposal (Chapters 1-4.1).
RES8120 is the second course in which students continue developing the dissertation proposal (Chapters 1-4.1).
Phase III:
DST8110 : Dissertation Manuscript (Chapters 4 & 5)
Course Description
In DST8110, doctoral candidates complete the approved field research and collect and analyze data according to the plan set forth in the approved dissertation proposal (Chapters 1-4.1) that was completed and approved in the RES course sequence during Phase II.RES8120 is the second course in which students continue developing the dissertation proposal (Chapters 1-4.1).
Phase IV:
DST8130X : Final Dissertation Manuscript & Defense
Course Description
(Prerequisite: Approval to Defend) In this course, candidates present their findings to the Dissertation Committee at the defense.
Phase V:
Final Dissertation
Minimum credits required for Doctorate of Information Assurance: 621
1Credit hours may exceed the minimum stated if dissertation deliverables are not completed within expected timeframes.
Potential Careers for Doctorate in Information Assurance graduates:
When you graduate with a DIA at Fairfax, you will be prepared for many exciting careers in this growing industry. Our graduates have gone on to work in high-level positions in the United States Navy, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Lockheed Martin, Cisco Systems, Wells Fargo, and more!
Whether you want to work as a Chief Technology Officer at a major enterprise or teach at a university level, we will help you develop the skills to succeed in your chosen career.
Transfer Credits
A maximum of nine semester credits equivalent to our courses in content, credit and level and taken for graduate credit, as part of a degree or graduate certificate program, from an accredited institution may be transferred.
Cybersecurity Education Path
Distinguish yourself and advance your cybersecurity career by following the University of Fairfax Online Cybersecurity Education Path. No matter which graduate program you pursue, all of your courses will explore relevant cybersecurity policy and management issues, and you will complete a cybersecurity project in each course. You can apply what you learn and make significant contributions in your workplace right away.