Susan Cole PhD

Dr. Susan Cole is a 2008 graduate of the University of Fairfax with a PhD in Information Assurance (Cybersecurity). She received her MBA from Salem International University (2007), her MA from American University in International Politics (1995), a BA from Wilson College in Foreign Languages (1994) and an AA in Mandarin Chinese (1997). For her PhD, she studied what influences the decision making process for IT and Cybersecurity managers in their recommendations to adopt and implement new security technology in their organizations. The specific technology she researched was Biometrics. She has achieved and maintains certification as both a Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP) and a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH). She also obtained her Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge (CCSK). She’s held numerous positions from Cybersecurity Policy writer for an enterprise to a member of an Incident Response Team. Much of her career has focused on certification and accreditation (C&A) activities, now assessment and authorization (A&A) under NIST’s Risk Management Framework. She provided consulting support to small companies and now works as an Information System Security Officer (ISSO). Dr. Cole has been teaching since 2012 and has been involved with Colorado Technical University (CTU), Concordia University, Baker College, University of Maryland (UMUC), and Thomas Edison State University (TESU).