Cybersecurity

Learning outcomes on successful completion of the programme will depend on the modules taken but will include some or all of the following.

Knowledge and understanding

• Demonstrate deep knowledge of information security principles and challenges in networks and software systems, protection mechanisms, approaches to assess and mitigate risks, security standards, data protection and cybersecurity regulations

• Demonstrate deep knowledge of network security, secure software systems development, and cryptography

• Understand strengths and limitations of important public key and symmetric/asymmetric cryptographic protocols

• Demonstrate advanced knowledge of security trends and technologies

• Applying knowledge and understanding

• Perform risk assessment, management and mitigations of secure infrastructures and operations

• Track strategic threats and maintain situation awareness

• Identify cybersecurity laws that apply to complex organisations and apply protection measures to comply with these laws

• Apply network security and secure software development concepts to the design, configuration and implementation of networked, software and distributed systems technologies

• Perform vulnerability assessment and penetration testing

• Develop patches to fix vulnerabilities in software projects

• Apply cryptographic techniques to secure software, systems and computer networks

• Apply incident response principles and methodologies to secure infrastructures and operations

• Apply advanced security knowledge to address industry and research problems

Making judgements

• Evaluate trade-offs involving security, regulations, business, economic and management principles

• Apply appropriate (quantitative/qualitative) risk assessment techniques to measure security risks

• Appraise intrusion detection system and security of modern internet protocols (e.g., IPv6)

• Identify effective penetration testing strategies

• Apply appropriate incident response principles and methodologies to secure infrastructures and operations

• Apply appropriate cryptographic protocols to secure networks, software and systems

• Assess the strengths and limitations of modern security trends and technologies

Communication and working skills

• Communicate security risks and mitigation strategies to executives

• Work and engage in discussions in security teams, share work fairly to meet the obligations set by the group

• Explain advantages and disadvantages of cryptographic protocols

• Communicate security research challenges and methodologies adopted to tackle the problem and the results obtained

Learning skills

• Attract and assess security talent

• Lead security teams and influence organisational culture

• Be curious about latest security vulnerabilities and technologies

• Actively promote security practices within the organisation

• Identify novel security research directions

The course will prepare professionals for a rewarding career in cybersecurity; for example, to take a role as a security manager, security engineer, security analyst, or IT security specialist. Career development possibilities are excellent. Organisations of all sizes in all sectors, including both Irish and foreign owned companies, are looking for people with these skills. Many global companies have a base in Ireland, including security software and cyber security companies with a security operations centre (SOC). There is a growing cyber security market globally as cyber security is recognized as critical for national security and the smooth functioning of society.
This holistic and well-rounded course will be of interest to executives and professional/technical staff who:

• need to acquire knowledge and skills to equip themselves better for their current role.
• want to gain a promotion.
• want to open up new career opportunities for themselves in cyber security related roles.
• are interested in doing some research in this field, perhaps in relation to a current work problem.
• want to gain a qualification to add to their standing and credibility within their professional life.

Academic rigour and a focus on the needs of practitioners

When developing the programme we met with industry practitioners to understand which cybersecurity skills are most needed. We have recruited law enforcement and industry practitioners as Adjunct Faculty. To link the academic curriculum to professional practice, we are working with industry to formulate 30-credit Professional Cybersecurity Projects that students can tackle at the end of the programme. These projects will be co-supervised by a practitioner from industry and a member of the academic staff at the UCD School of Computer Science. Projects will be classified depending on application areas (e.g., management, secure software development, IT security operations, research, enterprise architecture). Depending on the student’s chosen career path, they can identify a project in their area of interest. Instead of the Professional Project, students can take additional taught modules and a Case Study. We also offer the option of an academic research project under the supervision of a UCD academic.

Cybersecurity (T380) Part Time
EU          Year 1 - € 7030
nonEU    Year 1 - € 10610
EU          Year 2 - € 6695
nonEU    Year 2 - € 10106

***Fees are subject to change

Tuition fee information is available on the UCD Fees website. Please note that UCD offers a number of graduate scholarships for full-time, self-funding international students, holding an offer of a place on a UCD graduate degree programme. For further information please visit International Scholarships.

• Minimum of a 2.1 honours bachelor’s degree in Computer Science (or a cognate discipline) or
• 2:2 honours bachelor’s degree in Computer Science (or a cognate discipline) and equivalent (> 5 years) industrial experience in software development or software/system security.

Each applicant will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Students are also required to fulfil UCD’s English Language Requirements.

This holistic and well-rounded programme prepares students for a career in cybersecurity. It will be of great interest to executives and professional / technical staff who:

• need to acquire knowledge and skills in cybersecurity;
• want to gain a promotion;
• want to open up new career opportunities for themselves in cyber security related roles;
• are interested in doing some research in this field, perhaps in relation to a current work problem;
• want to gain a qualification to add to their standing and credibility within their professional life.

Part Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes
International (Non EEA) applicants currently residing outside of the EEA Region. Yes

Please note Part Time courses are not eligible for a Study Visa