The Cybersecurity Management Capstone course at the University of Montana provides graduate and undergraduate students with hands-on experience conducting cybersecurity risk assessments. This program is designed to help non-profits, schools, small businesses, and government organizations improve their cybersecurity posture while giving students practical experience in cybersecurity consulting, risk management, and compliance frameworks. 

Industry professionals from LMG Security in Missoula support the course by mentoring students on best practices for conducting a comprehensive cybersecurity assessment and risk analysis. 

For the Spring 2025 semester, we are seeking seven organizations to participate in this cybersecurity consulting project.  

This project can be conducted remotely via Zoom, as long as there is a designated point of contact from the organization who can consistently meet with the student team.

Previous participants include:
✅ Non-Profits: Missoula Food Bank, Missoula Aging Services, Habitat for Humanity, United Way, Jeannette Rankin Peace Center, and Open Aid Alliance.
✅ Educational Institutions: Missoula International School, Montana High Tech Business Alliance, Great Falls Schools, and UM College of Business.
✅ Government Entities & Small Businesses: Missoula Chamber of Commerce, Missoula Urban Development Project, and local IT departments.

We are happy to provide references from past participating organizations upon request.

Student teams (three to four students per team) will work directly with participating organizations to: 

This course focuses on teaching advanced networking and cybersecurity principles that include design, setup, operations, and maintenance networks for an organization.  There will be a special emphasis on network security and how it aligns with organizational strategy, directory services for access to organizational information, and cybersecurity management. This course will utilize the lab in GBB 213 as well as will bring in outside experts to speak on cybersecurity topics.  Every class will include a lecture or discussion on cybersecurity topics along with a hands-on lab demonstrating the concepts.  The capstone project will be conducting a NIST Cybersecurity and Risk Assessment audit for an organization.

Benefits for Participating Industry Partners

Participating organizations gain access to a structured, high-value cybersecurity consulting engagement delivered by trained students under faculty and industry expert guidance. This collaboration is designed to create real organizational impact while requiring minimal time investment.

Key Benefits Include:

These project can be remote, so there is no requirement to be in Missoula, MT

Benefits for Participating Organizations 

✅ Free Cybersecurity Consultation – Receive a professional-level risk assessment and recommendations at no cost.
✅ Expert-Guided Analysis – Students receive training from LMG Security and faculty advisors, ensuring a high-quality assessment.
✅ Compliance and Security Enhancements – Improve your organization's cybersecurity using NIST standards and industry best practices.
✅ Minimal Time Commitment – Requires only a few hours of document review, staff interviews, and a final presentation.
✅ Ongoing Support – If this semester does not work, we offer this consulting opportunity every year.  

The estimated time commitment for organizations includes: