Cybersecurity

This programme is designed to prepare IT professionals for a managerial or technical career in cybersecurity. It will be of value to people working in project/product/systems management, or as software developers or software engineers, as well as those in incident response, tech support or networking, who are looking to move into cybersecurity.



It will help companies, government and state institutions, defence forces and others to upskill their staff to fill new roles in cyber security so that they can protect their organisations, their customers and the public.



It is designed to facilitate professional learners through flexible blended study options. Lectures are delivered online and complemented by occasional full-day workshops on campus, with a remote option for those who cannot attend in person. The combination of mainly distance but with some on-campus days allows flexible learning but with face-to-face interactions.



In developing the programme we have collaborated with industry and law enforcement practitioners – in particular the Leadership in Security and the Incident Response modules – to ensure that these modules meet the needs of professional learners.



The curriculum is aligned with the ACM/IEEE/AIS SIGSEC/IFIP Cybersecurity Curricular Guidelines so that it will prepare students to take a variety of cyber security roles, including some modules for professionals seeking a managerial role in security.



What Will I Learn?

Learning outcomes on successful completion of the programme will depend on the modules taken but will include some or all of the following:



Knowledge and understanding:

- Demonstrate deep knowledge of information security principles and challenges in networks and software systems, protection mechanisms, approaches to assess and mitigate risks, security standards, data protection and cybersecurity regulations

- Demonstrate deep knowledge of network security, secure software systems development, and cryptography

- Understand strengths and limitations of important public key and symmetric/asymmetric cryptographic protocols



​Applying knowledge and understanding:

- Perform risk assessment, management and mitigations of secure infrastructures and operations

- Track strategic threats and maintain situation awareness

- Identify cybersecurity laws that apply to complex organisations and apply protection measures to comply with these laws

- Apply network security and secure software development concepts to the design, configuration and implementation of networked, software and distributed systems technologies

- Perform vulnerability assessment and penetration testing

- Develop patches to fix vulnerabilities in software projects

- Apply cryptographic techniques to secure software, systems and computer networks

- Apply incident response principles and methodologies to secure infrastructures and operations



Making judgements:

- Evaluate trade-offs involving security, regulations, business, economic and management principles

- Apply appropriate (quantitative/qualitative) risk assessment techniques to measure security risks

- Appraise intrusion detection system and security of modern internet protocols (e.g., IPv6)

- Identify effective penetration testing strategies

- Apply appropriate incident response principles and methodologies to secure infrastructures and operations

- Apply appropriate cryptographic protocols to secure networks, software and systems



Communications and working skills:

- Communicate security risks and mitigation strategies to executives

- Work and engage in discussions in security teams, share work fairly to meet the obligations set by the group

- Explain advantages and disadvantages of cryptographic protocols



Learning skills:

- Attract and assess security talent

- Lead security teams and influence organisational culture

- Be curious about latest security vulnerabilities and technologies

- Actively promote security practices within the organisation

- Identify novel security research directions

Stage 1 Options - A) Min 6 of:

Year 1 students choose all modules

COMP47900 Cyber Risk Assessment and Standards Autumn 5

COMP47920 Information Security Autumn 10

COMP47800 Leadership in Security Spring 5

LAW42160 Cybersecurity Law and Regulation Spring 10

COMP47890 Applied Cryptography Summer 5

COMP47910 Secure Software Engineering Summer 10



Stage 1 Options - B) Min 2 of:

Year 2 students select both modules

COMP47870 Incident Response Autumn 5

COMP47880 Network Security Autumn 10

Minimum a 2.1 honours bachelor’s degree in Computer Science (or a cognate discipline) or

• 2:2 honours bachelor’s degree in Computer Science (or a cognate discipline) and equivalent (>5 years) industrial

experience in software development or software/system security



You may be eligible for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), as UCD recognises formal, informal, and/or experiential learning. RPL may be awarded to gain Admission and/or credit exemptions on a programme. Please visit the UCD Registry RPL web page for further information. Any exceptions are also listed on this webpage. https://tinyurl.com/2ae2ffax

2 years part-time. Delivery: Blended.

Next Intake: September 2025.

Careers & Employability

The programme will help to reduce the cybersecurity skills shortage and prepare professionals for a rewarding career in cybersecurity; for example, to take a role as a security manager, security engineer, security analyst, or IT security specialist. Career development possibilities in this field are excellent. Organizations of all sizes in all sectors, including both Irish and foreign owned companies, are looking for people with these skills. Many global companies have a base in Ireland, including security software and cyber security companies with a security operations centre (SOC). There is a growing cyber security market globally as cyber security is recognized as critical for national security and the smooth functioning of society. Opportunities abound in government, healthcare, critical national infrastructure, ICT, financial services, telecoms, manufacturing and SMEs, which all face growing cyber security threats. Digitization and the move to remote working are increasing the threat surface.