Nowadays, the world is flooded with cybercrime, and organizations have to keep one step ahead of cybercriminals to protect themselves.
St. Mary’s University offers a Master of Science in Cybersecurity program that teaches students the best practices and techniques for monitoring, securing, and safeguarding digital assets.
In addition to technical rigor, the Master of Science in Cybersecurity emphasizes ethics and legal implications in a unique format.
The program will introduce students to risk management, wireless security, computer forensics, mathematical cryptanalysis, and cyber law to get a taste of how networks, computers, and programs are protected from unauthorized attack, damage, or loss.
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St. Mary’s University Master’s Program Benefits:
- Univesity’s Master’s program provides strong collaborative partnerships, blended learning, and interdepartmental research between departments, ranging from computer units to networking and industrial control protection.
- Professors are among the world’s leading authorities on all areas of Cybersecurity and privacy, including cryptography, forensics, encryption, cloud computing, and biometrics.
Courses Offered and the Duration:
The Master’s in Cybersecurity program is 30 credit hours long. Depending on their interests, students can choose a thesis or a project.
Students enrolled in a non-thesis program must complete 30 hours of course work and three credit hours of a capstone master project that culminates in an oral presentation in front of the project committee.
Students who opt for the thesis option must complete 27 hours of course credit and 6 hours of thesis direction. A student must defend their thesis orally.
Students appearing for the thesis defense may be asked course-related questions. The courses are as follows:
- Advanced Computer Networks
- Computer Network Security 3
- Computer Security and Privacy
- Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime
- Cybersecurity Policy and Law
- Cryptography Principles and Practice
- Software Security
Elective Courses:
- Cloud Computing Security
- Preparation for Security Certification
- Cybersecurity Risk Management
- Wireless Security
- Internship
Entry Requirements:
- Candidates must possess a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or a closely related discipline such as Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, or Physics to be considered for admission to the Master’s program.
- If their application is evaluated, the program may admit candidates with a bachelor’s degree in a related field.
- Bachelor’s degree candidates must have a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.00.
- Must have a minimum quantitative GRE score of 148 and a minimum analytical writing score of 2.5.
- Students from abroad must submit the TOEFL scores and score a minimum of 80 on an Internet-based placement test. International students can take the IELTS test and achieve a minimum score of 6.0.
- Each applicant must complete an application form, submit a written statement of purpose detailing their interests and objectives, submit two letters of recommendation indicating their potential for success in the graduate program, and submit official transcripts of all college coursework.
Please Note: In those cases where an applicant fails to meet either of the above qualifications, they may be admitted on a conditional basis. These cases are evaluated on an individual basis by the Program Director.
Prerequisites:
Candidates who do not have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or a closely related field are required to demonstrate proficiency in Object-Oriented Programming, Data Structures and Algorithms, and Discrete Math.
The program director can choose the prerequisite courses for applicants from other disciplines or without specific courses.
They can also accept applicants without specific classes as long as they take the prerequisite courses selected by the program director. Depending on previous work experience or work certifications, some of these requirements may be met.
The Cybersecurity Certificate:
A certificate program in Cybersecurity aims to give students an understanding of basic principles and practical experience in securing networks, computers, programs, institutional data, and data stored on electronic devices from attack, damage, or unauthorized access.
Individuals interested in gaining knowledge and skills in the field of Cybersecurity within a short timeframe can benefit from this program.
After successfully completing the certificate program, certificate holders are strongly encouraged to enroll in five additional courses and complete a capstone project, or four additional courses and a thesis to obtain their Master’s degree in Cybersecurity.
Conclusion:
The affliction of security breaches is not limited to the small, local business community. Even large and well-resourced organizations have been compromised.
Cybersecurity talent shortages pose an even greater challenge for organizations with little or no cybersecurity expertise.
Having a larger pool of highly qualified cybersecurity workers would be beneficial to the nation.
Therefore, it’s best if the right people handle them. Each organization must identify its cybersecurity issues and understand its threat environment and the risks they face.
