Personal Summary

Dianne Burke is a cybersecurity expert specializing in digital forensic analysis. Her firm, Burke Consulting, LLC, provides services to legal entities seeking analysis of digital communications. Dianne has developed and taught a number of cybersecurity and system administration courses at Missoula College. Her role has been instrumental in positioning Missoula College as the leader in cybersecurity education and expertise for higher education in the State of Montana.

In addition to her cybersecurity expertise, Dianne leads the Montana Quality Education Coalition, an orgainzation which advocates for k-12 education issues. She is currently finishing work on a doctoral degree in Education Leadership.

Education

Ed.D Student, Education Leadership, The University of Montana

M.Ed. Education Leadership, The University of Montana

M.S. Chemistry, The University of Houston

B. A. Biochemistry, Rice University

Courses Taught

CSCI 215E Social and Ethical Issues in CS, 3 cr. Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., WRIT 101. Exploration of ethical issues in the field of computing. Skills needed to identify and analyze various ethical concerns. Standard ethical concepts and theories, methods of ethical analysis. Strong emphasis on practical application of the ethical process.

ITS 222 Enterprise Security, 3 cr. Offered spring. Prereq., ITS 210. Examination of general information technology security concepts. Topics include access control, authentication, attack methods, remote access, web security, wireless networks, cryptography, internal infrastructure security, and external attacks. Security procedures, organizational policies, risk management and disaster recovery addressed.

ITS 271 - Securing Desktop/Mobile Devivces 4 cr. Course provides advanced technical information and relevant skills to successfully secure end-user devices, including desktop and laptop systems, tablets, cellular phones, and other portable computing equipment. Building on existing knowledge and skills in the areas of server management, network management, and security, students will gain mastery-level knowledge of security issues and best practices. Course content covers client/server exposures and protections (authentication options, packet signing and encryption of network traffic, appropriate implementation of permissions and rights); malware threats and treatments; transmission choices and precautions (wired, wireless, remote desktop access, virtual private networking (VPN)); cloud computing considerations; and corporate mobile device best practices. Hardening of the operating system and application software is also covered. Course content will focus on business-focused security practices to prepare students for Security+, CISSP, and Security Pro industry certifications. Prerequisite Skills: Course builds upon established skills in security, server management, and network management. Students should be working as a network manager or have completed appropriate skills-based coursework using MS Server 2008/2012 & Mware.

ITS 273 - Securing Networks 4 cr. Course provides advanced technical information and relevant skills to secure servers and business information. Building on existing knowledge and skills in the areas of server management, network management, and security, students will gain mastery-level knowledge of security issues and best practices. Students will examine and apply hardening techniques to operating systems and infrastructure-based applications. Strategies to ensure business continuity and data security are emphasized, including policy, data preservation, disaster preparedness, and disaster recovery. Legal guidelines and requirements, both domestic and international, are examined in the context of responsible and ethical computer use. Course content will focus on business-focused security practices to prepare students for the Security+, CISSP, and Security Pro industry certifications. Prerequisite Skills: Course builds upon established skills in security, server management, and network management. Students should be working as a network manager or have completed appropriate skills-based coursework using MS Server 2008/2012 & Mware.

ITS 275 - Border/Perimeter Network Security 4 cr. Course provides advanced technical information and relevant skills to successfully secure computer networks at the public/private interface. Material focuses on hardware- and software-based techniques to prevent and monitor unauthorized or malicious access to corporate networks and servers. Building on existing knowledge of border and perimeter security, students will develop and implement best practices guidelines for boundary-related devices and software. Students will establish baseline assessments of network security from public access points and identify known and/or potential security vulnerabilities. Course content will focus on business-focused security practices to prepare students for the Security+, CISSP, and Security Pro industry certifications. Prerequisite Skills: Course builds upon established skills in security, server management, and network management. Students should be working as a network manager or have completed appropriate skills-based coursework using MS Server 2008/2012 & Mware.

ITS 277 - Software Assurance and File Systems 4 cr. Course provides advanced technical information and relevant skills to methodically secure software, including operating systems, custom application software, and commercially-available packages. Students will classify application software (including, but not limited to customer-facing, employee/partner, mobile/endpoint, database, and cloud-based), and perform risk analyses and common weakness assessments against these programs. Students will research various commercial, professional, and governmental security organizations and create a personalized repository of security-related checklists, toolkits, reference material, and resources. Students will investigate low-level file system structures such as master file tables, allocation tables, free space tables, file table entries, and metadata fields. Using common file signatures and checksums, students will verify internal content against external and metadata indicators. Students will examine ‘hidden’ disk space areas, including file, volume, and/or partition slack. Course content will focus on business-focused security practices to prepare students for Security+, CISSP, and Security Pro industry certifications. Prerequisite Skills: Course builds upon established skills in security, server management, and network management. Students should be working as a network manager or have completed appropriate skills-based coursework using MS Server 2008/2012 & Mware.