Master of Science - Cyber Security

Computing infrastructure is now vital for communication, government, commerce, and control of the physical environment, and is a potential target of terrorist and criminal attacks. Graduates who understand the technologies and practices that underpin secure computer systems are in great and ever-growing demand.

Cyber security is about designing systems that resist attack. As computers become ever more prevalent and ever more connected with each other, the opportunities for attackers become even greater, and the need to resist them becomes more urgent. 

This Cyber Security Masters/MSc programme will give students the skills they need to deal with current and future cyber security threats. It provides a solid foundation for graduates to pursue a career in the software industry or research.

This is a one-year full-time degree programme for graduates in a computing-related discipline. It will allow students to obtain the knowledge and expertise to evaluate, design and build secure computer systems, processes and people that are involved in cyber security. It covers the theory and practice of designing and building secure systems and gives students a firm grounding in cryptography, network security and secure programming, as well as optional modules in topics such as hardware and embedded system security, operating systems and incident management and forensics.

The programme also gives students practical experience with technologies and toolkits for building internet-based software. All students undertake a large, personally supervised project in the final months of the course.

The curriculum has been developed with the involvement of key individuals in the cyber security industry. As well as advising students on the skills they seek when recruiting graduates, they also contribute directly to the MSc programme through guest lectures and project supervision. In recent years, the University of Birmingham has had guest lecturers from Microsoft, Vodafone, Siemens, IBM and Hewlett Packard.