Masters in Applied Cyber Security Upskilling Existing Employees Origination The Masters in Applied Cyber Security (MACS) emerged from discussions at the Steering Group of ICT Ireland Skillnet where companies expressed the need for a specialised programme to upskill existing employees so they can attain a high level of knowledge and skill to enable them to take on immediate roles in countering the cyber security threat. This aim was supported in subsequent meetings with Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland and with a range of other stakeholders in the sector. There is a serious shortage in the number of suitably qualified professionals in the cyber security field across Irish companies in all sectors. The Steering Group felt that an intensive part-time course at Masters level which focused on developing hands-on skills working on projects within companies backed by theoretical knowledge would better prepare employees to take on new roles in the sector or enhance their capacity to fulfil their current roles. The aim would be to emerge with knowledgeable and adaptable IT professionals who would be independent learners, good problem solvers and experienced researchers. A working session with participants from interested companies took place in November 2015 and following agreement from Skillnets to jointly fund the programme with interested companies a public tendering process was concluded in March 2016 followed by a period of programme design, development and academic validation. This concluded with the appointment of Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB) to deliver the programme starting in September 2016. ITB Expertise in Cyber Security ITB has a long history of involvement in designing and running Information Security, Digital Forensics and Cyber Security degrees at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Currently, we have 100 undergraduate students and 50 postgraduate students taking taught degrees in security. ITB also has a thriving research group in Cyber Security and associated areas with approximately 20 students engaged in masters or PhD research projects. Notable awards of researchers have been best PhD research paper at the 9 th International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security (ICCWS-2014) in Purdue University, Indiana, USA and best research presentation at the DIT Research Symposium in 2015. ITB has been delivering a taught postgraduate programme, the MSc in Computing in Information Security & Digital Forensics degree for several years (since 2006) and there is a high demand from industry for the graduates of this programme. Modules on the masters are Network Security, Cyber Crime Investigation, Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery, Secure Communications & Cryptography, Digital Forensics, Biometrics, Financial Fraud and an MSc Research Project. Students choose six taught modules at 10 credits each and the research project with 30 credits giving a master s degree of 90 credits total Accreditation of the Programme ITB is an accredited Higher Education Institution (HEI) and has Delegated Authority from the Higher Education Authority (HEA) to confer its own awards at all levels from Higher Certificate (level 6) to taught Masters (level 9), subject to the standards set and monitored by the Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI). P a g e 1 5
Proposed Programme The MSc in Applied Cyber Security (MACS) will be a 90 (ECTS) credit degree consisting of two parts: Part 1 is a taught component of 30 credits made up of three different modules worth 10 credits each; Part 2 is a research component of 60 credits consisting of a research project with a dissertation as the deliverable (see figure 1). This programme is unique in that half of the credits for the award of the Masters will come from the practical research project. Figure 1: Structure of MSc in Applied Cyber Security and exit awards. For students who for various reasons can t undertake the research project but successfully complete the three modules, there will be an exit award of a Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Cyber Security. Programme Delivery The programme consists of 4 semesters spread across two years. Semester 1 and 2 are delivered in the first year. In Semester 1 there are two taught modules and in Semester 2 there is one taught module. The second semester will also prepare the student for the research project by covering essential research skills & ethics. The third and fourth semesters are dedicated to the research project and all take place in the second year. Figure 2: Delivery Format of MSc in Applied Cyber Security. P a g e 2 5
Timetable The provisional timetable is given below. Note that this may be liable to change: Classes are held on Saturdays from 9.30am-4.30pm and on Wednesday evenings from 5.30pm- 9.30pm at ITB premises in Blanchardstown. Exams take place in January and May. Year 1: 2016 Timetable Sat 24 September Sat 22 October Sat 26 November Sat 17 December Wednesday Evenings 5-9.30pm October 5, 12, 19, 26; November 9,16,23, 30 December 7, 14 Year 1: 2017 Timetable January: Semester 1 Exams Sat 21 January Sat 25 February Sat 25 March Sat 29 April Wednesday Evenings 5-9.30pm February 1, 8, 15, 22; March 1, 8, 22, 29; April 5, 26; May 3. May: Semester 2 Exams Year 2: 2017-18 Timetable The remainder of 2017 and 2018 up to completion in May 2018 will be spent primarily on the research project in-company. There will be limited attendance at ITB during this year. The dates for such attendance will be agreed with students in May 2017. Participant Eligibility Applicants should have a primary degree (Level 8) in Computer Science or a cognate/science discipline or a degree with a high level of mathematics. Those who do not meet this requirement will be considered on their merits if they can show a particular interest or aptitude for this area of work or if they have industry experience and training which shows evidence that their education and work experience is sufficient to meet the education needs of the programme and recruitment policies of the College. Participant Selection Participants should submit their CV directly to ICT Ireland Skillnet at susan.kelly@ictirelandskillnet.org. Participants will be required to complete registration details both for ICT Ireland Skillnet and for Institute of Technology Blanchardstown. P a g e 3 5
Selection of Modules Participants will be required to select modules in order of their own preferences. Running modules on any course is subject to the number of students taking the module and the availability of resources (e.g. staff/equipment) to deliver the course to the required standard. It is expected that the programme will be able to run up to six modules at once which should satisfy the demand of most participants. Participants will select from the following range of modules: Digital Forensics: Introduction to the investigation methodology of evidence preservation, acquisition, analysis, documentation and reporting. Coverage of the Criminal / Fraud Legislation and Data Protection Laws. Hands-on practical work using commercial tools such as EnCASE and FTK in analyzing computer, mobile and network systems. Secure Communications & Cryptography: Analyze and evaluate different types of methods used to secure communications systems in private/public networks. Test the limitations of using off-the-shelf technologies by exploiting the vulnerabilities in communications systems. Cyber Crime Malware: Carry out online investigations of criminal activity while remaining anonymous. Study and appraise prevalent malware threats and develop reverse engineering skills to analyze malware. Network Security: Appraise the under lying network / communications protocols and their vulnerabilities. Build IPS/IDS systems and analyze network traffic for intrusion or malicious activity. Business Continuity Management: Evaluate issues to improve assurance and risk management. You'll evaluate human factors relevant to information assurance plans, and understand the roles of accreditation, compliance and governance in information assurance. Security Intelligence: Identify and construct key aspects of intelligent behavior. Critical review of stages in the intelligence process/cycle. Learn to critically evaluate data / information and how to communicate essential information to decision makers. Biometrics: Learn about the components of a generic biometric systems and the limitations of uses of biometrics. Develop skills in pattern recognition and feature extraction tools and test/deploy a biometric system of your design. Research of ethics and legal issues associated in the use of biometric systems. Secure Programming: Evaluate the reasons for vulnerabilities in program code and how to fix them. Investigate the limitations of developing secure code and understand how to test applications for vulnerabilities and how to research solutions. Research Skills & Ethics: 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. MSc Research Project: An opportunity to critically investigate and report on a particular issue in cyber security by developing professional research and reporting skills. Key stages are proposal of project, implementation, analysis of data and dissipation of results. This work will be done on a real-world company problem and take place during the internship part of the course. Key Training Personnel The programme will be delivered by experienced college lecturers and individual subject experts from industry. P a g e 4 5
Programme Leader: Dr Anthony Keane Table 1: List of academic staff in ITB qualified to teach on a master s degree. ITB FT Staff Qualifications Subject Areas Anthony Keane BSc, MSc, PhD Digital Forensics, Network Security, Risk Assessment, Security Intelligence Christina Thorpe BSc, MSc, PhD Business Continuity Management & Cloud Security, Digital Forensics, Network Security, Secure Coding Geraldine Gray BSc, MSc, PhD Business Intelligence & Big Data Markus Hofmann BSc, MSc, PhD Research Skills & Ethics Stephen Sheridan BSc, MSc Application and Web Security Stephen O Shaughnessy BSc, MSc Secure Programming, Web Application Security Mark Cummins BSc, MSc Cyber Crime, Malware Analysis, Secure, Communications & Cryptography Mark Lane BSc, MSc Network Security Michael Hegarty BSc, MSc Digital Forensics, Business Systems Arnold Hensman BSc, MSc Biometrics Terence Sheridan BCom, MA Financial Fraud ITB is committed to recruit suitable candidates working in the industry/business sector to delivery modules on specific elements of the course to bring a fresh, up-to-date and real-world knowledge to the course while at the same time generating a two-way feedback process of ideas and creativity. Some examples of individuals who have participated in training / programming delivery in ITB in recent times: Table 2: List of part-time teaching staff at ITB who are based in companies PT Staff Company Subject Areas Brian Honan BH-Consulting Ltd Business Continuity Management Neha Thethi BH-Consulting Ltd Cyber Crime Investigations, Network Security Jason Flood IBM Network Security, Security Intelligence Brendan Lawless IBM Application & Web Security Rohan Singla Grant Thornton Digital Forensics, Cyber Crime Investigations Vivian Mee Rits Digital Forensics, Business Risk Management Apply now by emailing your CV to susan.kelly@ictirelandskillnet.org This programme is funded by the ICT Ireland Skillnet under the Training Networks Programme of Skillnets and by member companies. Skillnets is funded from the National Training Fund through the Department of Education and Skills. P a g e 5 5