Information Assurance Student Group: How To Turn A Club Into A Valuable Learning Experience For Students

The Information Assurance Student Group (IASG) in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Iowa State University was started in 2003 as a retention and engagement effort for students who were interested in information assurance and computer/network security. However, it quickly grew into a wholly student run organization that not only focuses on educating its own members, but also runs cyber defense competitions, works with corporate sponsors and recruiters, performs security product testing for vendors and provides K-12 outreach programming for the university. The IASG provides weekly active, inquiry-based learning meetings for its membership which focus on developing students' applied and practical security skills. The IASG has not only supported Computer Engineering (CprE) students who are interested in information assurance and computer/network security, but also opened the door for students in Management and Information Systems (MIS), Computer Science (CS), and other degrees to gain hands-on experience and real-life security skills.This paper was written to share the authors' experiences, both successes and failures, in the formation, organization and implementation of the IASG so that other institutions can also harness the power and enthusiasm of undergraduate students with an interest in information assurance and computer/network security. The paper is organized into four sections. The first section details why the club was started, while the second gives a brief history of how the club arrived at its current successful state in just eight short years. The third section compiles lessons learned and the fourth section outlines future directions for the IASG on the Iowa State University campus.