Computer Security – (M.Sc.)

Computer security is about designing systems that resist attack. As computers become ever more prevalent and ever more connected with each other, the opportunities for attackers become even greater, and the need to resist them becomes more urgent. Computing infrastructure is now vital for communication, government, commerce, and control of our physical environment, and is a potential target of terrorist and criminal attacks. Graduates who understand the computer security technologies that underpin products and practices to secure it will be in great demand.

This is a one-year full-time degree programme for graduates in a computing-related discipline. It covers the theory and practice of designing and building secure systems and gives you a firm grounding in cryptography, network security and secure programming, with optional refresher modules in topics such as operating systems, safety-critical systems, distributed systems and databases.
The programme also gives you practical experience with technologies and toolkits for building internet-based software. All students undertake a large, personally supervised project in the final months of the course.

Graduates of this degree gain the knowledge to become leaders in the field of computer security and to shape the technologies that will be developed in the future. They are equipped to work on secure software development within the software and IT industry, or to become computer security consultants. They may also choose to move on to PhD research.