The Security Topic of the Week (STOW) assignment is designed to allow each student to lead a discussion on a cybersecurity-related topic. There will be STOW discussions during module weeks 2-8 of the course.

The Security Topic of the Week (STOW) assignment is designed to allow each student to lead a discussion on a cybersecurity-related topic. There will be STOW discussions during module weeks 2-8 of the course. Each student in the class will be assigned a STOW module week to lead during module week 1 so that everyone can plan accordingly.
The STOW assignment is to be a one to one and one-half pages, single-spaced essay regarding some cybersecurity topic that you have recently read about or otherwise become aware of. Please don’t just point to an article or a URL; instead, describe the issue, tell us why you chose that particular topic, and explain why you think it important and relevant to the practice and/or management of information security. Include documented references to justify your position, if pertinent (each essay should strive to have at least one cited reference in proper APA format (Purdue University).
The information for your essay can come from anywhere: a mailing list that you monitor, a security-related Web site or blog, a colleague, the New York Times or other mainstream newspaper, a journal article, your workplace, etc. Use your imagination and get used to thinking with an ‘information security mindset.’
And critically think about what you’re writing about! As Charles McCabe of the San Francisco Chronicle once wrote, “Any clod can have the facts, but having opinions is an art.” We are all interested in facts, of course, but how you form opinions based on them is really interesting!