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1.INTRODUCTIONThe Bachelor program in Information Technology Security was created in 2011, and it was one of the first programs in the Northeast of Mexico to offer professional formation in this field. The program is offered by the Physics and Math School (Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas - FCFM) of the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL) and, since its creation, has included a solid background in Math and Information Technology1. In 2016, ABET and IEEE established a committee to create ABET program criteria for cybersecurity engineering programs. The criteria for accrediting Cybersecurity programs include subjects and content related to the security of the connections between physical and logical components, which leads to the need to understand how the systems, computers, telecommunications, and emerging technologies related to work from a Physics perspective2. By 2017, the academic program began an update process, and a research project about the students, graduates, employers, and experts was conducted. Among the results, experts and employees mentioned that the technical skills of the graduates of this academic program were good. Still, some of them lacked the ability of problem-solving and critical thinking, and they were not prepared for the evolution of technology or the paradigm changes generated by the Fourth Industrial Revolution 3. With the evolution of technology in the last decade and the arrival of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it is necessary to prepare all the students to adapt to changes and understand emerging technologies easily. In addition, the skills developed to include STEM in the academic curricula are essential for preparing students for their professional paths. Moreover, understanding the technology at a physical level, where the laws and theorems of Physics can be observed and applied, prepare the student to quickly adapt to paradigm changes such as the one we are having with the quantum revolution. On that topic, we included as fundamental the learning of Electrodynamics and Optics to understand the new technologies and to be prepared to protect them (or vulnerate them) in the daily life activities of a professional in Cybersecurity4–17. This work presents the curricular update of the Bachelor program in Information Technology Security of 2019, where a subject related to Electrodynamics and Optics was introduced. It presents the topics covered and academic activities, showing the first outcomes of this change. 2.METHODOLOGYThe first academic program of the Bachelor of Information Technology Security does not include any subject related to Physics, Optics, or similar fields; it only includes subjects related to Math, Programming, Telecommunications, and Cybersecurity. On this subject, for the update of the academic program, two new subjects related to Physics were included: Introductory Physics and Transmission Signals. Introductory Physics is a subject where Mechanics and general introduction vectors, and physics magnitudes are covered. This subject focuses on solving problems and developing critical thinking1. Transmission Signals is the subsequent subject to Introductory Physics, and it is a requirement to approve it for taking the subsequent classes related to Telecommunications. This subject aims to understand the electromagnetic spectrum and waves, including Optics fundamentals, how the signals associated with Information Technology are processed, stored, and transmitted, and the security challenges and related solutions. It is also essential to prepare the student to adapt to new technologies once they graduate; this point was considered primarily for the evolution of Optics, Photonics, and Quantum technologies in the last years. The topics covered on this subject include:
During the semester, the students coursing the Transmission Signals perform the next academic activities:
Due to a change in the Academic Model of our University, a new update of the Bachelor program was performed. Still, Transmission Signals and all related subjects are maintained as part of the curricula, as shown in 1. 3.RESULTSAs seen in Figure 2, the average grade increased by 4.2 points on a scale of 100, and the standard deviation decreased by 1.43 points on a scale of 100. On average, it takes them fewer opportunities to pass the subject. The courses in this study are four telecommunications courses, including laboratory courses where students practice with physical components. Figure 2.The students show better results in telecommunications when studying electromagnetism topics, including optics. In the degree, students have six opportunities to pass a subject; on average, it takes fewer opportunities to pass a telecommunications subject.  The final projects of this course are an opportunity for the students to explore new technology from a physics and IT perspective. They present topics such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 5G communications, fiber optic, and vulnerabilities in the physical layer. The projects will demonstrate how physics and IT can collaborate to create innovative solutions for various challenges and domains. 4.CONCLUSIONSStudents who include optics and physics in their training can better understand the concepts of modulation, line coding, and signaling concepts that apply to this OSI model layer. Thus, they can delve into the rest of the layers of the communication model and understand how the virtual links between the nodes are established. Some students have taken a particular interest in vulnerabilities in the physical layer and have created clubs to investigate the hardware used in this layer. Students who have taken physics subjects have shown better performance in telecommunications-related subjects. According to our results, these students have obtained higher scores and have failed fewer times than those who have not taken physics. Finally, students understand optical phenomena that will serve them in new technological challenges. For example, fiber optic topics are included in this curriculum. These topics were not covered in the previous curriculum and are essential for developing telecommunications and other applications. REFERENCES, “de Ciencias Fisico Matematicas UANL, F., Planes de estudio de la Licenciatura en Seguridad en Tecnologías de Información,”
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