MSc in Cyber Security

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.

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.

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.