MSc Cyber Security & Human Factors

You will gain plenty of expertise in cyber security to ensure you're ready to take on the growing security challenges faced by enterprise, industry and government in this complex community.

Delivery:
Full time according to Funding Council definitions, Full-time with placement, Part-Time, Part-time

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Why study MSc Cyber Security and Human Factors at BU?

Learn to assess risk, anticipate and manage security incidents; develop and assess security procedures and policies to meet the needs of the computing and security sectors worldwide
Access to cyber security and digital forensics laboratories with state-of-the-art simulation and analytical systems relevant to intrusion detection, incident management, forensic analysis and system penetration testing, where you can see where cyber attacks are happening all over the world, and how they are being stopped at BU
Acquire the skills to be ahead of the game and an become an expert on how to protect information, assets, knowledge and intellect
Gain an understanding of the psychology of cyber security and human factors by investigating threats, vulnerabilities and impact risk, by acknowledging the contagion of fear, uncertainty and doubt and the importance of trust management and information assurance
Benefit from a work placement, which provides an excellent opportunity for you to gain first-hand work experience and apply the learning that you have acquired
Draw on our academics' expert knowledge, their research and recent developments in cyber security to gain awareness of current challenges and how to overcome them.

Find out more about the content of this course.

The critical blend of topics that span from the boardroom through to operations has delivered real value.
Michael Eaton, graduate

Career opportunities

Work in an area of growth within this important subject area with employment opportunities constantly evolving. As an MSc Cyber Security & Human Factors graduate, you will be prepared to work across the areas of cyber security, online behaviours and academic research.

See what it's like to study this course

Next start date:

September 2022, January 2023, September 2023

Location:

Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus

Duration:

September start: 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time or 2 years full-time with a 30-week placement, January start: 16 months full-time, 32 months part-time or 24 months with a 30-week placement

Entry requirements:

A Bachelors Honours degree with 2:2 in any subject, or equivalent.

International entry requirements:

If English is not your first language you'll need IELTS 6.0 (Academic) with a minimum of 5.5 in each component. For more information see our full entry requirements.

Course details

This course is delivered full-time and part-time. Each unit can be taken separately as CPD with or without formal assessment. If you do elect to take the unit with assessment you can accrue academic credits towards a full Master’s.

Download the programme specification (pdf 242kb)

Core units

Cyber Security: Develop skills and knowledge for cyber security. Material, lectures and seminars in this unit capture concepts of cyberspace ecosystems and the security of socio-technical systems. The unit also covers the life cycle of cyber security mechanisms, including the design, development, management and, most importantly, how they’re sustained.
Cyber Psychology: Explore the impact of the internet and social media applications on individuals, groups, organisations and society, and human factors relevant to cyber security and online behaviours. You’ll learn to evaluate the principal features of human factors in current and planned online secure systems and identify means of promoting safer online behaviour.
Human Factors: Soft systems, human factors integration (HFI), training, trust, organisational learning, information and knowledge management will be examined through case study analysis. You’ll also conduct situational awareness and workload measurements in trials, experiments and exercises, and apply user experience (UX) techniques to evaluate interactive systems.
Research Methods & Professional Issues: Research requires a structured and disciplined approach at all stages. We’ll help you to develop key research skills in many areas from project proposals and planning to critical analysis of research findings, academic writing and dissemination. We’ll also teach you about professional standards and ethical issues for research.
Individual Master’s Project: An opportunity to critically investigate and report on a particular issue in depth.

Option units (choose one each semester)

Choose one option unit in semester 1:

Security by Design: Security must be addressed as early as possible when building a system or planning organisational change. However, security never seems to be a driving concern when engaging in innovation. When security is addressed, we discover how hard building security in really is. In this unit, you’ll have an opportunity to build security into the design and specification of secure systems, and the broader socio-technical context that these fall into.
Blockchain & Digital Futures: This unit defines Blockchain technology, its business aspect, issues, objectives, and challenges, covering Blockchain horizontal and vertical scaling, key basics of cryptography required for understanding the Blockchain technology concepts, different cryptocurrencies, and their issues, challenges, and networks.

Choose one option unit in semester 2:

Security Event & Incident Management: Incident management capability means managing computer security events and incidents. Lectures and seminars in this unit will capture the concepts of event logging and collection. You’ll learn to define policies, processes, procedures, roles and responsibilities and understand the issues of lead implementation of ISO 27001.
Accessibility & Assistive Technologies: This unit is an introduction to the concepts of accessibility and assistive technology and explores how technology can be used to support people with temporary, situational or lifelong disabilities by helping to overcome challenges to their self-care, educational, vocational and recreational independence.

Please note that option units require minimum numbers in order to run and may only be available on a semester-by-semester basis. They may also change from year to year.

Programme specification

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.

Download the programme specification (pdf 242kb)

Entry requirements

General entry requirements

International entry requirements

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%
China: 学士学位 (Bachelor degree) with a minimum of 65% overall
Nigeria: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution in Nigeria with a minimum classification of 2:2
Thailand: Thai Bachelor's (Honours) degree from a recognised higher education institution.
Vietnam: Bachelor's degree/Bang tot nghiep dai hoc with an average score of at least 7.0, or a Master’s degree/Thac si.
Turkey: Bachelor’s Degree (Lisans Diplomasi -four years) to be considered for a postgraduate course at BU.

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 each component, 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.

Your application

Full-time, part-time

CPD

How and when to apply

There is no application deadline for this course. However, if you will need a visa to come to the UK to study, think carefully about the length of time it will take for your visa application to be processed and make sure your visa will be ready in time for the beginning of your course.

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.

Placements

The optional placement, which you can undertake upon completion of the taught and project units, provides an excellent opportunity for you to gain first-hand industry experience and apply the learning that you have achieved through the course.

The placement can be paid employment but voluntary work can be just as useful.

Find out more about postgraduate placements

International placements

Employment prospects are now truly international and BU encourages students to consider an international work placement or volunteering experience during their degree. One way could be through the EU funded Erasmus mobility programme which supports placements or study exchanges in Europe.

Students can also participate in international placements outside of Europe. There are opportunities to engage with summer schools and volunteering projects. These experiences help students to enhance their global employability skills.

What support is available?

Careers

As the security of data is fundamental to any business, you will possess high marketability in the professional arena and be qualified to enjoy career opportunities in a wide variety of industries.

Potential job roles

Further study

Costs and fees

You can find full information about the deposits required and how to pay your fees in our postgraduate fees and funding section, including details of the Postgraduate Loan (subject to fee status).

All fees are quoted in pounds sterling and are per annum. Fees quoted are for tuition only unless stated otherwise. Your tuition fees will be the same for each year of your course.

Find out more about living expenses for postgraduate students

No hidden extras

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 laboratory and field-based teaching activity.
Support for finding placements (UK or abroad) and fieldwork, and non-financial support whilst on placement if this is part of your course of study.
A range of student services – advisors, help desks, counsellors, placement support and careers service.
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.
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.
IT labs (some open 24/7), wireless network, AV equipment to borrow.
Disability and additional learning support, according to individual circumstances.
The BU Language Centre to help you develop/improve foreign or English language skills.
24 hours a day, 365 days a year security team.

Costs of living and other expenses you need to consider

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.
Textbooks, general stationery and other supplies. Our award-winning library is stocked with a large range of textbooks 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.
Travel costs to and from your placement (both in the UK and overseas) if this is part of your course of study. Placement year funding information can be found on our website.
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.

Repeat units

Deposits

International (not Rep. of Ireland) students need to pay a non-refundable £3,000 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.

Financial help available from BU

Cyber Security lab facilities

Our Cyber Security lab is something special. As the name of our facility suggests, it’s all about security here. From the labs we can see where cyber attacks are happening all over the world, and what attacks are happening and being stopped at BU.

Take a 360° tour

Through our outreach programmes, we invite schools and businesses to use our labs, and we have a 10-week summer school for BU students. Our previous guests include the Police Volunteer Service.

We have some remarkable software that’s used for protecting and testing systems. This includes:

CISCO FlexPod – this connects all the PCs in our labs together. Combined with a Blade server, it allows us to run all our machines and store up to 50G of RAM.
OPNET – improves network strengths, and helps us turn 50 PCs into 50 million.
NetBrain – this configures networks automatically.
FireEye – we use this to check for intruder activity and to analyse cyber attacks on BU’s system.

Our staff

On this course you will be taught by staff with relevant expertise and knowledge appropriate to the content of the unit. This could include senior academic staff, qualified professional practitioners and research students, many of whom are actively engaged in research and/or professional practice which is integrated into the teaching of this course. Read more about the expertise of other members of the Department of Computing & Informatics, and book on to an Open Day. Please note that teaching staff can change.

Dr Duncan Ki-Aries – Programme Leader

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.

View Duncan Ki-Aries' staff profile

Professor Vasilis Katos – Professor of Computing

Dr Huseyin Dogan – Deputy Head of Department in Computing and Informatics

Dr Huseyin Dogan is a Principal Academic in Computing. His research focuses on Human Factors, Assistive Technologies and Systems Engineering. He is the Co-Chair of the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research group.

Dr Dogan received his Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in Systems Engineering from Loughborough University, MSc in Human Computer Interaction with Ergonomics from University College London, and BSc in Computer Science from Queen Mary University of London. He was the General Co-Chair for the 30th International British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Conference (BCS HCI 2016).

Dr Dogan has over 100 publications which include journal papers, conference papers, and technical reports. His research on Assistive Technologies (with Dr Paul Whittington) featured on the BBC South, BBC Radio Solent, The Ergonomist, Auto Express, Bournemouth Echo and The Sunday Times magazine.

View Dr Huseyin Dogan's staff profile

Dr Abir Awad – Principal Academic in Cyber Security

Dr Hasan Tahir – Lecturer in Computer Science (Cyber Security)

Dr Hasan Tahir has a bachelors and MS in Software Engineering. His PhD is from the University of Essex, UK in the field of Security. He actively researches the security of cyber physical system like IoT, Industry 4, healthcare systems, etc. His teaching interests also include information security management, cloud computing security, network security, computer security, human computer interaction.

Course changes

Changes for 2022 entry

Date	Changes to this course
03/01/2022	Where the change was made: Course details programme specification, Placements Change: Optional minimum 30-week placement is now available after completion of the taught units and individual masters project Previous text: A placement can be taken with a minimum of 30 weeks after completing all stage 1 units
16/02/2022	Where the change was made: Course details optional units Change: Optional units Psychology of Software Development and Enterprise Digital Forensics have been removed

Changes in 2019

Date	Changes to this course
28/06/2019	Where the change was made: Entry Requirements When the change applies: September 2020 onwards Change: Subject requirement removed Previous text: Required subjects: computer science/IT, Electronics, Law, Psychology, Business, Forensic Science/Investigation or MSc in any subject.
05/06/2019	Where the change was made: Course content When the change applies: September 2019 onwards Change: Changes to core and option units Previous text: See previous Programme Specification for details

Changes in 2018

Date	Changes to this course
17/07/2018	Where the change was made: Course details content When the change applies: From September 2018 onwards Changes: 1 new option unit: Psychology of Software Development

Changes in 2016

Date	Changes to this course
15/06/2016	Where the change was made: Course details content Changes: 2 core units are now option choices Previous text: Core units: Cyber Psychology/Information Assurance
26/05/2016	Where the change was made: Duration Changes: Only offered part-time Previous text: 1 year full-time, 18-36 months part-time

Statistics shown throughout this page are taken from Unistats and BU institutional data unless otherwise stated.