MSc in Cyber Security
Online, United Kingdom
MSc
DURATION
6 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
TUITION FEES
GBP 9,960 *
STUDY FORMAT
* total cost
Key Summary
About: The MSc in Cyber Security from The Open University is a distance learning programme, provisionally certified by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC, part of GCHQ). It covers information security, digital forensics and core cyber concepts, blends theory and practice, and ends with a substantial independent project. It develops transferable skills and provides a platform for further research. You can complete it within two years; most study over three years, maximum six years.
Career Outcomes: The programme suits security and computer specialists, engineers, technical managers and scientists who need updated skills and recognized qualification; supports CPD. Career opportunities include security analyst, digital forensics investigator, incident responder, security consultant, security engineer.
Cybersecurity is a growing concern - there’s a significant skills gap and global demand for cybersecurity professionals. Our MSc in Cyber Security, provisionally certified by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a part of GCHQ, develops the skills you need to pursue a career in the industry. The course covers various topics, including information security, digital forensics and other fundamental concepts. It also incorporates transferable skills applicable to professional development and finishes with a substantial independent project.
Key features
- Bring together theory and practice and draw on your background and experience.
- Provides a platform for further research studies.
- Enables you to study a broad range of cyber security topics relevant to career needs and professional interests.
How long it takes
This qualification can be completed within two years. Most students will study this qualification over three years, completing 60 credits each year. The maximum time to complete this is six years.
Accreditation
Provisionally certified by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a part of GCHQ.
To gain this qualification, you need 180 credits as follows:
Stage 1 (120 credits)
120 credits from:
- Information Security (M811)
- Digital Forensics (M812)
- Systems Security (M817)
- Network Security (T828)
Stage 2 (60 credits)
You’ll choose either:
- A Research route
- A Professional route
Research route
60 credits from:
- Research project (T802)
Professional route
30 credits from:
- MSc project: researching in context (T803)
Or, subject to the rules about excluded combinations, the discontinued module T847.
30 credits from:
- Data management (M816)
- Project management (M815)
- Software development (M813)
- Software engineering (M814)
- Strategic capabilities for technological innovation (T849)
- Technology and innovation management (TB801)
Or, subject to the rules about excluded combinations, the discontinued modules T848 and U810.
You should note that the University’s unique study rule applies to this qualification. This means that you must include at least 60 credits from OU modules that have not been counted in any other OU qualification that has previously been awarded to you. Note, in particular, you can count the credit from the following modules towards only a single qualification: Research project (T802); MSc project: Research in context (T803).
Teaching, Learning and Assessment Methods
You’ll learn independently, using online teaching texts; multi-media packages on CD, DVD and online; directed reading from textbooks and academic and industry papers; and specialised software tools.
We’ll support your learning with:
- Self-assessment questions and exercises
- Computer-based investigations, tasks and activities
- Project work
- Feedback and guidance from tutors and other subject specialists
- Computer conferences and other online forums
- Study guides, information and guidance packs.
We’ll assess your learning using some or all of the following:
- Interactive computer-marked assignments (iCMAs)
- Tutor-marked assessments (TMAs)
- Formal examinations
- End-of-module assessments (EMAs)
- Progress and project reports.
There will be opportunities for you to:
- Apply your learning in practical contexts, for example by reflecting on your own engagement with computing systems in a home, work or social setting
- Engage with fellow students, tutors, subject practitioners and academic specialists in online groups
- Engage with research papers and industry white papers at the forefront of the discipline
- Gain exposure to the professional and employability discussions that are shaping the computing profession.
Knowledge and understanding
On completion of this qualification, you’ll have knowledge and understanding of:
- A range of cyber security tools, techniques, and systems and their application to business, societal and personal requirements
- The use of theory, practice and practical constraints to solve cybersecurity problems
- Cyber security systems, their development, specification and use, allowing their evaluation against a range of criteria such as related standards, codes of practice, quality and evaluation frameworks.
Cognitive skills
On completion of this qualification, you’ll be able to:
- Integrate knowledge and skills from various sources into a coherent whole, making appropriate abstractions
- Deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, using appropriate tools and techniques, notations and formalisms
- Pursue an original, independent, practical project involving an appropriate balance of research, development, evaluation and review and communicate effectively the project aims, processes and outcomes.
Practical and/or professional skills
When you complete this qualification, you’ll be able to:
- Recognise and respond to opportunities for innovation in cybersecurity
- Recognise social, legal, professional and ethical responsibilities and their appropriate application
- Critically evaluate developments in cyber security including the identification of limitations and risks, legal issues, cultural and ethical impact and societal and business needs
- Identify needs, articulate goals, locate and employ resources and follow action plans in support of independent learning and professional development.
Key skills
When you complete this qualification, you’ll be able to:
- Communicate effectively with technical and non-technical audiences, using appropriate channels and media and where appropriate incorporating research and practice from the forefront of the cyber security discipline and professional practice
- Make and articulate decisions, including collating appropriate evidence and opinions, even in the presence of incomplete information
- Independently apply problem solving principles; using appropriate underpinning knowledge and skills
- Review, evaluate, reflect on and critique your own work and the work of others, engaging in peer review processes that lead to innovation and improvement.
The modules in the postgraduate cyber security programme are for professional security specialists, computer specialists, engineers, technical managers and scientists who need to develop or update their skills and knowledge in the area of cyber security and gain a recognised qualification to develop their careers. They have been developed to combine theoretical and practical aspects of cyber security, to enable you to become an effective professional in the industry.
In addition, they aim to encourage you, through the provision of appropriate educational activities, to develop study and transferable skills applicable to your employment and your continuing professional development.