MSc Cyber Security

• Cyber Threat Intelligence: This unit introduces Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) and its role in modern cybersecurity, providing students with the skills to identify, analyse, and respond to cyber threats using various tools and techniques. The unit covers different types of CTI, sources of information and how to use this information to improve an organisation’s security posture. Additionally, the unit addresses legal and ethical considerations of CTI in compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
• Ethical Hacking: This unit covers the fundamentals of penetration testing, focusing on techniques such as attacks, defences, and evasion strategies. Students will learn essential methodologies, tools, and techniques for conducting comprehensive security assessments on different systems and protocols. By the end of the course, students will be equipped to design, secure, and evaluate networks effectively, thereby protecting their organisations from cyber threats by identifying vulnerabilities across a wide spectrum. The curriculum also emphasises ethical and legal responsibilities, stressing the significance of responsibly disclosing vulnerabilities.
• Infrastructure and System Security: This unit aims to develop students' skills and knowledge in applying cyber security techniques to infrastructure systems. Students will gain a deep understanding of cyber security threats and develop effective countermeasures. The unit also aims to develop students' ability to critically evaluate and analyse complex infrastructure systems, including software, networks, and IoT and to reflect on the technical, human, and organizational aspects of these systems. 
• Digital Forensics: This unit aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the digital forensic investigation process, including evidence preservation, analysis and interpretation from various digital devices and platforms. This unit aims to equip students with advanced practical skills in digital forensics, enabling them to identify the root cause of an incident using various tools, techniques, and technologies. Additionally, the unit will develop students' ability to conduct and present professional-standard digital forensic investigations, including adhering to legal and ethical guidelines. 
• Industrial Skills and Professional Issues: This unit aims to provide students with critical understanding of industrial skills and professional issues related to their programme and expected work domains. It is also designed to improve students’ hands on experience and practical skills through a teamwork project-based learning environment.
• IT Governance and Ethics: This unit aims to explore the issues and options associated with managing information systems (IS) and information technology (IT) in modern organisations. This includes the alignment of IT provision to business strategy, stakeholders and governance. Effective governance supports the nature of analysis of both existing systems management and new system acquisition, and classic case studies (London Ambulance Service, Therac-25, Horizon) will be used to understand governance issues from legal, ethical and rights based positions. CyBOK 1.1 KAs Risk Management and Governance, Law and Regulation, Piracy and Online Rights will underpin the nature of the material covered in this unit. In addition, it will encourage consideration of both the personal and professional issues associated with such management. 
• Individual Masters Project

Programme specifications provide definitive records of the University's taught degrees in line with Quality Assurance Agency requirements. Every taught course leading to a BU Award has a programme specification which describes its aims, structure, content and learning outcomes, plus the teaching, learning and assessment methods used.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the programme specification, the information is liable to change to take advantage of exciting new approaches to teaching and learning as well as developments in industry. If you have been unable to locate the programme specification for the course you are interested in, it will be available as soon as the latest version is ready. Alternatively please contact us for assistance.

The normal requirements for embarking upon this course are:

• A Bachelors Honours degree with 2:2 (or equivalent) in a relevant subject.

  Relevant subjects include: Computing, Engineering with a significant computing component; or a similar technical discipline where programming knowledge can be demonstrated.

If you are in doubt if you lack the formal academic qualifications needed to enter a postgraduate or post-experience degree, please get in touch with the Future Students Enquiry team.

You can find details of the international qualifications we accept, and what level of study they apply to, on our entry requirements for non-UK students' page.

Please see below some examples of the qualifications for entry:

• India: Bachelor’s degree (4 years) from a recognised HE institution with a minimum overall result of 55% 
• Nigeria:  Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution with a minimum classification of 2:2 
• China:  Chinese Bachelor's (Honours) degree from a recognised higher education institution with 65% or above 
• Turkey: Bachelor’s degree (Lisans Diplomasi - four years) with a minimum overall GPA of 2.3/4.0 
• Vietnam:  Bachelor's degree/Bang tot nghiep dai hoc with an average score of 6.5/10, or 2.25/4, or a Master’s degree/Thac si. 

All applications will be subject to a minimum grade and your degree may need to be in a relevant subject area.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language, you will need to provide evidence that you understand English to a satisfactory level. English language requirements for this course are normally:

IELTS (Academic) 6.0 with minimum 5.5 in writing, speaking, listening and reading, or equivalent.

View further information about our English language requirements.

Bournemouth University International College offers a number of pre-sessional English and preparatory programmes to prepare international students for postgraduate study at BU. Admission to the degree is guaranteed on successful completion of your course to the required level. 

Please see our website for the application deadlines. You should apply as early as possible to be considered for your course of choice. If you require a student visa, apply for the visa as soon as you have an unconditional offer and receive your CAS. There may be delays in visa processing in your country and you need to be in Bournemouth ready to study for the start of term.

December and January is one of our busiest application periods and therefore it may take us a little longer to process incoming applications. For courses with a January start date, we recommend submitting your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Click the green ‘Apply now’ button to submit your application free of charge online through myHub, our application portal. You will create your own myHub account so that you can track the progress of your application. Don’t forget to save your application as you go; you can return to it at as many times as you want before you submit it. For more information visit our How to apply section.

As an MSc Cyber Security graduate, you will be prepared to work across the areas of cyber security, online behaviours and academic research, undertaking roles such as:

• Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst
• Penetration Tester (Ethical Hacker)
• Security Architect
• Digital Forensics Investigator
• Incident Response Manager,
• Cybersecurity Consultant
• IT Security Manager
• Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
• Cybersecurity Trainer/Educator
• Security Operations Center (SOC) Manager
• Cybersecurity Engineer
• Cybersecurity Sales Engineer
• Cyber Security Auditor
• Risk Manager
• Product Manager

If you want to continue your studies after achieving your Master’s, you can look into our range of doctoral programmes.

What's included in your tuition fee?

Your tuition fee covers expenses associated with your course including tuition materials, access to facilities, mandatory field trips and the following:

• Materials for any mandatory field-based teaching activity
• A range of student services – advisors, help desks, counsellors, placement support and careers service.
• Access to Brightspace, our virtual learning environment, which offers a responsive and personalised learning experience with powerful learning analytics capabilities, integrated social media and advanced video features.
• The Library – access to a wide range of electronic resources (databases, e-journals and e-books), print and multimedia collections, subject librarians and study spaces.
• IT labs (some open 24/7), wireless network, AV equipment to borrow.
• Disability and additional learning support.
• 24 hours a day, 365 days a year security team.

Additional costs

We are committed to offering you value for money and ensuring there are no hidden costs while you are studying with us, therefore we have listed below any additional costs you may incur that are not covered by your tuition fee:

• Laptops, Tablets and mobile devices and any software used on personal devices. Access to a personal computer is strongly recommended for your study. If you are experiencing financial difficulty, visit our website for information regarding hardship funds.
• Text books, general stationery and other supplies. Our award-winning library is stocked with a large range of text books and online resources, free of charge. The Students’ Union shops stock a wide range of stationery supplies on both campuses.
• Accommodation and living costs. Please visit our website for more information.
• Travel costs for optional field trips, outdoor wear and footwear for mandatory and optional field trips (if applicable).
• Travel costs to and from the University campus. An annual bus pass can be purchased alongside your rent if you are living in halls of residence/Unilet accommodation or may be purchased separately.
• Clothing or equipment costs required for your placement if this is part of your course of study.
• SportBU membership.

While all aspects of the programme, including required field trips, are included in the fee, additional, optional or extra curricula activities may be available for which a student contribution is required.

If you need to repeat one or more units during the course of your studies (with or without attendance) the pricing will be pro-rata of the full time fee.

We offer a range of scholarships and bursaries to eligible students who are beginning their studies at BU. Please visit www.bournemouth.ac.uk/funding for details on living costs, budgeting and paying your tuition fees.

International (not Rep. of Ireland) students need to pay a non-refundable deposit to secure their place on a postgraduate course. You will need to pay your deposit by the date stated in your offer letter. The remainder of your fee will be payable on registration/enrolment. There are two exceptions to the non-refundable rule on the deposit:

• You fail to meet the academic or English requirements of your offer

• You are refused a visa to enter the UK, provided the reason for the refusal is not a fraudulent application.

Duncan is a Lecturer in Computer Science and Security in the Department of Computing & Informatics at Bournemouth University. Previous research completed in his PhD was specifically focused towards Security Risk Assessment in Systems of Systems (SoS), whilst integrating the use of tool-support with CAIRIS. Duncan’s work has appeared in leading security and system engineering venues such as Computers & Security and the IEEE SoSE, in addition to ESPRE 2017 and ESPRE 2018.

Fudong is a Principal Academic in cyber security. Fudong has over 15 years of teaching and research experiences, covering various security related topics, including digital forensics, biometric authentication and ethical hacking. He has 12 PhD completions and published over 60 conference papers and journal articles. He is an EC-Council certified Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) and CCNA (ITN).

Dr Nan Jiang is Head of Department and a Senior Lecturer in Sofware Quality and Testing.

Dr Abir is a Principal Academic in Cyber Security at Bournemouth University.