Master of Science in Cybersecurity

Education Facilities for Cybersecurity Classes

Hands-on experience is a core part of the Cybersecurity program at Eastern Illinois University. Students learn by working directly with industry-standard equipment, software, and secure network environments that mirror real-world cybersecurity operations.

Facilities include dedicated classroom and office space, technologies that support online learning, and two specialized telecommunications laboratories.

School of Technology Telecommunications Laboratory

This lab features a wide range of equipment designed to provide practical experience with basic, intermediate, and advanced cyber defense applications. Resources include:

• CISCO routers with 802.11 a/b/g/n (2 ports)
• Diverse servers (IBM, HP, Windows, Linux) for testing cybersecurity configurations
• CISCO ASA firewalls with IPS software (6GE)
• CISCO Series firewalls, fully licensed with maximum cybersecurity software
• Palo Alto firewalls
• CISCO Catalyst switches
• Approximately two dozen high-capability switches for varied cybersecurity setups
• Iris recognition equipment and software
• Face recognition equipment and software
• Thirty modern computers (laptops and desktops) for testing different security environments
• Nexpose/Rapid7 fully licensed vulnerability scanning and monitoring software

Students also have access to a modern, 24/7 remote-access, cloud-based laboratory using VMware and EVE-NG. This platform includes hundreds of virtual images from vendors such as CISCO, Windows, Linux, and Palo Alto. Combined with tools like Wireshark, it allows students to design, implement, and evaluate a wide range of cybersecurity and data telecommunications scenarios.

School of Business Telecommunications Laboratory

The School of Business Telecommunications Lab provides additional hands-on training in computer networking and cybersecurity. Equipment includes:

• One rack server composed of ten Dell PowerEdge servers
• SonicWall firewalls
• Cisco routers
• APC SmartUPS devices
• MGE Pulsar UPS devices
• Dell desktop computers
• Netgear Ethernet switches

This lab operates within a local area network (LAN) environment where students install approved security tools, ethical hacking software, and network defense systems to develop practical offensive and defensive cybersecurity skills.