Pasco County university adds cybersecurity certificate program

Saint Leo University, based in San Antonio, Pasco County, announced it will begin a cybersecurity certificate program starting Oct. 1 — the first day of Cybersecurity Month.

The move comes a few months after the school announced a graduate program for AI studies. The program is funded by Arnie Bellini, a Tampa-based tech entrepreneur and managing partner of Bellini Capital who founded ConnectWise in 1982. 

“The global cost of cybercrime is a staggering $8 trillion,” says Bellini in the statement. “Nation-states must defend their digital borders with the same urgency as their physical ones. We chose Saint Leo for this mission to significantly increase the number of cybersecurity professionals, given the university's strong reputation in cybersecurity training.”

According to the release, the university’s College of Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Data Science (CARDS) is partnering with Bellini and John Strand, owner of Black Hills Information Security, to offer the online, self-paced program.

Bellini also donated software to Saint Leo University to create a cybersecurity lab which features simulation software for practicing digital attack prevention and will support both the cybersecurity certification program and the university's cybersecurity degree programs.

The curriculum will include Security Operations Center Core Skills, Getting Started in Security and Introduction to Cyber Deception courses. 

According to Cybersecurity Ventures, an organization focused on researching the global cyber economy, there will be 3.5 million cyber security job vacancies in 2025. 

Saint Leo University is a Catholic Benedictine university with 60 degree programs and 14,190 students of various backgrounds currently enrolled.