Cybersecurity MS, Computer Science Emphasis
The joint interdisciplinary M.S. in Cybersecurity is designed for graduates to pursue high-demand work roles such as cybersecurity specialist, cyber defense analyst, cyber defense incident responder, information security analyst, vulnerability assessment analyst, or security architect, among a variety of other entry to mid-level cybersecurity and computing-related fields. The Computer Science emphasis focuses on more technical aspects of the field. The program can be taken part-time or full-time and can be completed in the evening or online.
Admission Requirements
Applicants must have at least a bachelor’s degree, preferably in cybersecurity, computer science, information systems, or a related area. Applicants with bachelor’s degrees outside of specified areas must demonstrate significant proficiency by showing competence (proving related academic or professional experience or taking a test) in the following areas. Courses in parenthesis are UMSL courses that can be used to fulfill the requirement.
- Programming skills in C/C++ and Java with at least three college semesters or comparable experience (CMP SCI 2261, or INFSYS 3806 and INFSYS 3816)
- Proficiency with computer organization, architecture, or assembly level programming (CMP SCI 2700)
Students must also have satisfactorily completed mathematics courses equivalent to the following UMSL courses:
- Survey Calculus or Calculus I (MATH 1100 or MATH 1800)
- An elementary course in probability or statistics (MATH 1320)
- A course in discrete mathematics (MATH 3000)
A student missing some of the above requirements may be admitted on restricted status if there is strong supportive evidence in other areas. The student will have to take the missing courses, or otherwise demonstrate proficiency. Special regulations of the Graduate School that apply to students on restricted status are described in the UMSL Bulletin.
Entrance examinations
- The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test is required only to apply for an assistantship.
- International students are required to document English proficiency by providing scores from an internationally accepted standardized examination before a decision is made on admission.
Coursework
Candidates for the M.S. in Cybersecurity with Computer Science emphasis must complete 30 credit-hours of graduate coursework, subject to the Graduate School regulations. Of these, at least 18 hours must be numbered 5000 or above. All courses numbered below 5000 must be completed with grades of at least B-. Outside computer science and information systems, up to 6 hours of related course work is allowed upon permission of the Graduate Director.
| Course Number | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| CMP SCI 4730 | Computer Networks and Communications | 3 |
| CMP SCI 4760 | Operating Systems | 3 |
| or CMP SCI 5710 | Modern Computing | |
| CMP SCI 5702 | Cyber Threats and Defense | 3 |
| CMP SCI 5732 | Cryptography for Computer Security | 3 |
| CMP SCI 5782 | Advanced Information Security | 3 |
| CMP SCI 5888 | 1 | |
| Electives (Choose four courses. At least two must be from Computer Science) | 12 | |
| Computer Forensics | ||
| Cloud Computing | ||
| Mobile Computing, Networking, and Security | ||
| Internet of Things | ||
| Software Assurance | ||
| Management of Information Security | ||
Other electives upon approval of Computer Science department chair | ||
| Total Hours | 27 | |
- 1
A student is allowed to work on three credit-hours of Master's Thesis (CMP SCI 6900) in place of Cybersecurity Capstone (CMP SCI 5888)
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the program, graduates will be able to:
- Understand and Describe the Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability security objectives and key security principles that enable the development of security mechanisms
- Demonstrate an understanding of physical, data link, network, transport, and application layers of data networking and identify potential information security pitfalls at each layer
- Describe important secure software development principles and common web application security vulnerabilities
- Describe common applications of cryptographic, network, application, and systems security defense mechanisms to improve information security
- Understand the role of systematic information security risk management in fostering information security within organizations and the role of management and control frameworks such as NIST Special Publications and ISO 27000 series standards in doing so.