MS Cybersecurity – NSA Center of Excellence Accredited

Ensuring the security of the world’s and our own nation’s computers, systems, and networks is a key national security challenge. Thus, establishing high-quality Cybersecurity educational programs is a top national priority as well as a regional imperative since trained Cybersecurity graduates are of critical importance to several large employer groups in this region.

The University of Delaware’s Cybersecurity master’s program is structured to enable professionals to gain advanced training in this field. Unlike other programs that are solely focused on IT security, this program emphasizes design of secure software and systems, security analytics, and secure business systems. We train individuals that have a traditional background in engineering, computer science, information systems, or related fields to have strong security skills that enable them to develop new secure systems and/or software, to exploit analytics for security purposes, or to develop and manage secure business systems. Graduates of this program are skilled in the latest theories and practices required to address the most challenging cybersecurity issues facing the world today.

The master’s program has two program level outcomes.

• Students will understand the fundamental concepts of cybersecurity and how cybersecurity objectives impact the design, development, and management of computers and networks and the software that those systems depend upon. This acquired knowledge will prepare the graduating student to both practice as a security professional in the security industry, or provide similar functions to enterprises that either need security professionals, or need in depth security knowledge for the safe development of their products and services.
• Students will have hands‐on capabilities in all of these potential applications areas to allow them to make meaningful contributions immediately. Essential acquired knowledge and skills will include cybersecurity fundamentals, best practices, secure design techniques for software and systems, defensive hardening, attack detection, incident response, and remediation. These outcomes are based on the observation that cybersecurity is practiced in a broad range of settings, including team meetings, documenting policy, performing architectural design and reviews, and performing engineering audits, as well as while sitting at the keyboard writing software, securing systems, analyzing traces, and analyzing software.

Program Requirements

The following program is a specific version of the ECE Cybersecurity Master’s that has been accredited by the National Security Agency (NSA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This non­-thesis program requires all 30 credits to be completed through coursework.

Electives/Concentrations (12 credits)

Students must complete 12 credits, or four (4) courses, of electives. Elective courses are to be taken primarily from a single chosen Concentration Area. Of these four (4) elective courses, a maximum of two (2) can be taken outside the single Concentration Area (from one of the other Concentration Areas or from the set of Fundamentals of Cybersecurity courses). The Concentration Areas and courses within each area are listed below.