University of Essex

MSc Cyber Security

Our MSc Cyber Security course provides you with the essential skills to support cyber security within the private and public sector, with a strong focus on security by design, digital identity, digital forensics and network security. If you’re a computing graduate and are pursuing a career as a cyber security professional - or in other areas that need a systematic and deep understanding of the subject - or you want to carry out further research in the subject, this is the Masters degree for you.

You will develop your ability to critically evaluate the theories, techniques and systems used in your chosen area of specialisation. You will develop research and problem-solving techniques, and undertake research through practical project experience.

On this course, you will gain a practical, real-world embedding of current cyber security-related technologies to allow you the flexibility to deploy them imaginatively within a fast-developing threat-laden world. Alongside a general coverage, you will cast a sharp eye on:

• security by design as an underlying ethos of software design
• a grounding in computer security and cryptography
• an understanding of network security
• the technical side of online digital identity, authentication and biometrics
• a detailed understanding of digital forensics
• the influence of AI on cyber security
• the ability to engineer practical solutions to cyber security problems, both individually and in groups