The Master of Science in Cyber Security and Privacy program will provide high-quality cybersecurity graduate education, advance cyber security and privacy research, and address the issues of state, national and international cybersecurity. It provides students with an in-depth education geared toward meeting the needs of business and industry in Florida and throughout the United States.
Students successfully completing this program will have exhibited breadth as well as depth of capability involving both theoretical aspects and practical considerations and applications of cyber security issues in software, hardware, operating system, and various networked devices.
This Interdisciplinary Track of the Cyber Security and Privacy MS program is designed for students aiming to become managers or administrative personnel of cybersecurity and privacy operations. They will be required to take fundamental and core courses on cybersecurity and privacy, and can choose electives from fields including management and business, human factors, psychology and criminal justice.
The Cybersecurity and Privacy MS program offers both a thesis and non-thesis option with each option requiring a minimum of 30 credit hours beyond the bachelor's degree. Both options require 9 credit hours of required core courses and 7 electives (21 credits). For this interdisciplinary Track, students can freely choose electives from management and business, human factors, psychology and criminal justice, depending on their interest and professional domains. The thesis option includes completing a thesis that is equivalent to 6 credit course hours of electives.
Total Credit Hours Required: 30 Credit Hours Minimum beyond the Bachelor's Degree
Track Prerequisites
An undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology, or equivalent is desirable but not required. Applicants without a strong undergraduate background in computer science must demonstrate an understanding of the subject matter covered in the following undergraduate courses:
- COP 3502C - Computer Science I
- CIS 3360 - Security in Computing
- CNT 3004 - Computer Network Concepts (or CNT 4704 - Analysis of Computer Communication Networks)
Degree Requirements
Required Courses
9 Total Credits
- Complete the following:
- CAP5150 - Foundations of Computer Security and Privacy (3)
- CNT5410L - Cyber Operations Lab (3)
- CIS6614 - Advanced Software Systems Security (3)
Elective Courses
15 Total Credits
- Earned at least 15 credits from:
- arrow_drop_down College of Business Administration – Management
- ISM6327 - Foundations of Cybersecurity and Privacy (3)
- ISM6328 - Cyber Risk Assessment (3)
- ISM6375 - Cyber Management and Leadership (3)
- arrow_drop_down School of Modeling, Simulation, and Training
- IDC5602 - Cybersecurity: A Multidisciplinary Approach (3)
- IDC6600 - Emerging Cyber Issues (3)
- IDC6601 - Behavioral Aspects of Cybersecurity (3)
- IDC6602 - Usable Cybersecurity and Privacy (3)
- arrow_drop_down College of Sciences– Psychology
- EXP5256 - Human Factors I (3)
- EXP6257 - Human Factors II (3)
- INP6072 - Survey Research Methods and Program Evaluation in Indust. and Org. Psychology (3)
- SOP5059 - Advanced Social Psychology (3)
- arrow_drop_down College of Community Innovation and Education – Criminal Justice
- CCJ6717 - CJ Theories of Crime Analysis and Prevention (3)
- CCJ6074 - Investigative and Intelligence Analysis: Theory and Methods (3)
- CCJ6073 - Data Management Systems for Crime Analysis (3)
- CJE6688 - Cyber Crime and Criminal Justice (3)
- arrow_drop_down College of Sciences- School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs
- INR6938 - ST: Politics of Online Security (3)
- POS6729 - Political Network Analysis (3)
- POS6757 - Survey Design for Political Science Research (3)
- arrow_drop_down Maximum two electives from Technical Track
- CAP5151 - Internet of Things Security and Privacy (3)
- CIS5730 - Blockchains and Smart Distributed Contracts (3)
- CDA6221 - Advanced Topics in Secure Execution Environment (3)
- CNT5410L - Cyber Operations Lab (3)
- CAP6135 - Malware and Software Vulnerability Analysis (3)
- CIS6395 - Incident Response Technologies (3)
- CNT5008 - Computer Communication Networks Architecture (3)
- CNT6707 - Advanced Computer Networks (3)
- CNT5805 - Network Science (3)
- COP5711 - Parallel and Distributed Database Systems (3)
- COP6731 - Advanced Database Systems (3)
- CAP5610 - Machine Learning (3)
- CAP5636 - Advanced Artificial Intelligence (3)
- CAP6640 - Computer Understanding of Natural Language (3)
- COP5611 - Operating Systems Design Principles (3)
- CDA5106 - Advanced Computer Architecture (3)
- COT5405 - Design and Analysis of Algorithms (3)
- COT6410 - Computational Complexity (3)
- CEN5016 - Software Engineering (3)
Excluding:
Thesis/Nonthesis Option
6 Total Credits
- Complete 1 of the following
Thesis Option- Earn at least 6 credits from the following types of courses: XXX 6971 Thesis (prefix determined by disciplinary area of your thesis adviser, e.g., CAP, CDA, CEN, COP or COT 6971) Six credits of thesis are required with the professor who directs the student's thesis. The thesis experience is expected to span two semesters. Thesis students who are full-time must continue to enroll in 3 credit hours of thesis course work until the thesis requirement is satisfied, even if it goes beyond the minimum of 6 credit hours of thesis. Students are required to prepare and defend a formal thesis in accordance with university requirements.
Nonthesis Option- Earn at least 6 credits from the following types of courses: The nonthesis option requires completing 6 credit hours of any electives in both Technical Track and Interdisciplinary Track beyond the 15 credit hours of electives described above.
Grand Total Credits: 30
Financial Information
Graduate students may receive financial assistance through fellowships, assistantships, tuition support, or loans. For more information, see the College of Graduate Studies Funding website, which describes the types of financial assistance available at UCF and provides general guidance in planning your graduate finances. The Financial Information section of the Graduate Catalog is another key resource.
Fellowship Information
Fellowships are awarded based on academic merit to highly qualified students. They are paid to students through the Office of Student Financial Assistance, based on instructions provided by the College of Graduate Studies. Fellowships are given to support a student's graduate study and do not have a work obligation. For more information, see UCF Graduate Fellowships, which includes descriptions of university fellowships and what you should do to be considered for a fellowship.
Independent Learning
The Independent Learning Requirement is met by successful completion of a master's thesis or an approved set of research-based classes for nonthesis students.
