In response to:

General Information

1. Are you involved in cybersecurity workforce education or training (e.g., curriculum-based programs)? 

If so, in what capacity?

Secure Programming Logic Aimed at seniors in High School (SPLASH@Towson) offers a college course 

in Secure Programming Logic to prepare high school girls for majors and careers in computing and 

cybersecurity. The goals of SPLASH are to

1) Increase the interest and participation of girls, which are severely underrepresented in computer 

science, to computing and cybersecurity majors and 

2) Improve the preparation of girls for college majors such as computer science, information science, 

cybersecurity, and engineering, and 

3) Introducing girls to secure programming. 

The SPLASH program is an online version of Towson University’s COSC175 - General Computer 

Science, an introductory programming logic course that prepares students to begin programming in any 

language. An important element of SPLASH is secure coding. Software security and secure coding are 

particularly important in the cybersecurity initiative. Software controls critical systems and infrastructure; 

therefore, all code written must be reliable and robust. Towson University has demonstrated success in 

introducing secure coding across the curriculum, particularly in the beginning courses, via the Security 

Injections @Towson project. The modules from the Security Injections project are integral to the 

SPLASH curriculum.

SPLASH students receive 4 college credits upon successful completion. By providing college credit for 

successful completion of the course, the SPLASH model complements the current AP test model.

The class includes over 30 hours of video-recorded classroom lectures, ten C++ labs, seven homework 

assignments that use C++, and four security injections to teach software Security concepts including the 

Secure Development Lifecycle, Integer Error, Input Validation, Buffer Overflow, and the Principles of 

Cybersecurity.

Since 2012, 56 girls from sixteen high schools have completed SPLASH. The large majority of the girls 

performed at or above the level of college students in parallel sections. This class is high impact, 

potentially life changing. Girls are introduced to cybersecurity and computer science curriculum they 

would not see in high school, even if they have the opportunity to take the AP, which most do not. Many 

of the girls choose majors in computer science, engineering, or cybersecurity based on their experience 

with this course. And for those girls who do not choose these majors, they are exposed to important 

information about software security and programming logic. All of the girls have earned four college 

credits, learned fundamental programming concepts and been exposed to cybersecurity and responsible 

coding techniques. 

The SPLASH project enables students at schools which lack computer science courses to gain exposure to 

secure coding skills, enter college with a foundational knowledge in computer science, and earn college 

credit. 

The Security Injections@Towson, SPLASH@Towson, and Cyber4All projects are supported by the 

National Science Foundation under grants NSF DUE-1241738, NSF DUE -0817267, NSF DGE-1516113, 

NSF DGE-1516113, NSF DGE-1241649, the GenCyber program, and the Intel Corporation.

Dr. Sidd Kaza, Towson University

Dr. Cara Tang, Portland Community College

Dr. Blair Taylor, Towson University