Find out more about studying MSc Cyber Security (Professional Placement) at Birmingham City University? We've gathered all the key details, entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
MSc - Master of Science
City Centre Campus (Millennium Point)
Full Time
Jan 2027
18 Month
The MSc Cyber Security course provides a broad foundation for Cyber Security concepts while delivering advanced knowledge and skills in key technical areas. Designed to meet the growing demand from global business and industry for robust cyber security systems, this course underpins the principles and practical professional skills you’ll need to meet the future challenges faced by organisations, particularly when it comes to strategic security planning. What's covered in this course? This course provides future Cyber Security professionals with the knowledge and skills needed by the employers. Our strong links with industry enable us to teach the most demanding topics. You will develop state of the art technical knowledge, intellectual know-how, management capabilities and hands-on practical skills to succeed in meeting the Cyber Security challenges faced by modern organisations. Our academic staff members are actively engaged with government and industry to help solve their complex problems. These strong links provide you with plenty of professional opportunities that will help you to acquire valuable exposure to the real life challenges of Cyber Security. Professional Placement option This course offers an optional professional placement. This allows you to spend 20 weeks with an employer, following completion of your taught modules, and is a great way to enhance your employability. The experience you gain through your placement will allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. If you choose the placement option, you will be responsible for finding and securing a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will be able to draw on the University’s extensive network of local, regional and national employers, and the support of our Careers teams. If you do not secure a suitable placement, you will automatically be transferred back to the standard, non-placement version of the course.
The module provides you with an opportunity to learn and critically reflect on the skills of Advanced Ethical Hacking and information security within a global context. This module builds on the knowledge and underpinning theory from the networking modules and reviews the requirements for a secure network communication system.
Digital forensic investigation techniques are an essential part of the body of knowledge of every cyber security specialist. They facilitate informed timely management of cyber security breaches. Their understanding is important to develop and deploy effective controls for monitoring, detecting and responding to information security incidents within the scope of criminal, civil and enterprise investigations.
The purpose of the module is to enable you to undertake a sustained, in-depth and research-informed Level 7 project exploring an area that is of personal interest to you. In agreement with your supervisor, you will decide upon your topic which will take the form of a practical outcome (artefact) with accompanying contextual material. The main consideration when choosing your topic is that it must be aligned to the programme you are studying and informed by the research strategy of your school, and you should consider the relevance of this topic to your future academic or professional development.
This module provides guidance on how to secure Operational Technologies of which Industrial Control Systems (ICS) take a central position. It covers includes Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, Distributed Control Systems (DCS), Internet-of-Things, and otherwise Embedded-devices especially those used in Critical Systems. The module addresses their unique performance, reliability and safety requirements. The module provides an overview of OT and typical system topologies, identifies typical threats and vulnerabilities to these systems, and provides recommended security countermeasures to mitigate the associated risks, along with codes of practice and standards used in different industries such as Manufacturing, Power, Automotive or Medical.
Security measures for adequate protection of valuable information assets are essential not only to guard business success and reputation but also because it is an obligation to comply with legal requirements, appropriate standards and relevant domain regulations. This module provides students with in-depth knowledge and understanding of the concepts, methods, processes, tools and practices underlying good information security management.
This module prepares you for the research project that you will undertake towards the end of your masters course. It equips you with knowledge and transferable skills that will also help you in your subsequent career, for example, when you are asked to write a report or to carry out an IT project. You will become familiar with the research literature in your discipline, research methodology and research ethics, as well as project management tools, methods and techniques.
Coding bugs and design flaws make software (such as web applications and services) vulnerable to attack. Vulnerability management addresses software defects discovered after deployment. To avoid the introduction of vulnerabilities in the first place, however, requires the adoption of secure software development practices, such as threat modelling, automated code review and fuzz testing.
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