Cyber space comprises all the interactions with all the networks of digital devices, used to store, modify and communicate information, across all time. It is global in reach and vast in scale, extending far beyond the Internet.

Course overview

Cyber security seeks to enable the good and prevent the bad in cyber space. For you to contribute to this task, you will learn a broad range of theory and practice. Most things will be viewed from two perspectives: what should happen, and what does happen. Many cyber security challenges lurk in this gap between concept and reality.

You will learn:

• How to construct robust software
• How to store data over time and communicate it over distance
• How computer systems are organised
• The capabilities of cryptographic techniques
• The processes and procedures that provide assurance that things are as they should be
• The mindset, tools, and techniques to discover the shortcomings of cyber systems, duly constrained by ethics and the law

This course has a strong technical focus so that you understand precisely how the digital parts of cyber systems function. However, the role played by people, processes and the physical environment in achieving cyber security is also a critical part of your study. Taken together, you will learn how to harden the security posture of an organisation's cyber systems. You will learn how to think and act coherently in cyber space.

Cyber security professionals are in high demand by businesses worldwide, meaning you will have access to a wealth of potential career routes in a highly mobile profession when you graduate.

Your career

Cyber security professionals are in high demand by businesses worldwide, meaning you’ll have access to a wealth of potential career routes in a highly mobile profession when you graduate.

Career paths could include technical, managerial, and strategic paths in public, private, or charity sectors enabling social services, commerce, healthcare, transportation, environmental protection and more generally, a secure digital society.

Early career roles could include:

• Network Security Administrator
• Forensic Analyst
• Threat Analyst
• Penetration Tester
• Secure Software Developer
• Junior Consultant
• Audit Compliance
• Technical Consultant

Later career roles could include:

• Security Architect
• Security Assessor
• Security Analyst
• Incident Response Coordinator
• Cyber Security Consultant
• Chief Information Security Officer.