Cyber Security Major
The Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity program is designed to provide students the critical knowledge and skills required to keep the information and communication systems and their data safe, secure and resilient against modern-day attacks. Students aspiring to join the cyber workforce to protect our critical information, systems and infrastructure against cyber-attacks will find this cybersecurity program to be a rewarding and challenging experience. The program will focus on hands-on learning supported by traditional lecture-based teaching and, hence, will provide students with ample opportunities to develop proficiency in subfields of cybersecurity, such as cyber defense, operations, and forensics.
The BS Cybersecurity curriculum provides a computing-based foundation and covers a broad spectrum of concepts applicable to a range of cybersecurity specializations. The core courses within the program provide the requisite body of knowledge regarding essential cybersecurity concepts and skills. Students begin with foundational mathematics and computer science programming coursework in their first year along with a special cybersecurity exploration course introducing the principles and concepts of cybersecurity. In the second and third years, students engage in core computer science and cybersecurity courses that emphasize hands-on laboratory experiences (e.g., web development, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, vulnerability assessment). These foundational cybersecurity courses prepare students for a capstone cybersecurity project, and upper-level electives or internships. Besides the technical rigor, the program throughout its curriculum strongly emphasizes the socio-ethical aspects associated with the field.
Facilities
Cybersecurity Lab
SHU’s 1300 sq. ft, Cybersecurity Lab is located on the West Campus and provides a collaborative and hands-on learning environment to simulate cyber threats, design responses and defense strategies. The newly built lab is used to support education, research, training and community outreach in cybersecurity and privacy. The lab environment is equipped with 40 workstations that leverage state-of-the-art technologies such as Virtualization (VirtualBox, VMware) and security software’s such as Forensic Toolkit (FTK), Fortigate-60D UTM and Splunk. The facility comprises of a dedicated server room supporting floor-to-ceiling technology rack including Network attached storage (NAS), Domain Servers, Network Switches, and Firewalls to run and operate the lab environment. The cybersecurity lab has a security operations center (SOC) analyst workspace to monitor for cyber threats, vulnerabilities and other technology risks that exist on the Internet, and possesses capabilities to isolate the entire lab space from the SHU network and the Internet for defensive and offensive exercises such as malware analysis and penetration testing.
Computer Science Labs
There are three state-of-the-art classroom computer labs dedicated to computer science courses and a dedicated computer lab exclusively for CS/IT majors. There is also a Networking/UNIX lab equipped with 13 Linux machines and a variety of Cisco routers. This closed LAN laboratory is used for networking and UNIX shell programming courses. All workstations are equipped with state-of-the-art applications for programming and software development related assignments and projects.
Program Requirements
The Cybersecurity major requires the completion of 80 credits.
Required Cybersecurity Courses
Must have a grade of "C" or better
| CSE 125 | CSE Explorations | 1 |
| CY 125 | Cybersecurity Explorations | 1 |
| CY 211 | Computer Networks | 3 |
| CY 212 | Web Development in UNIX | 3 |
| CY 221 | Foundations of Cybersecurity | 3 |
| CY 312 | Introduction to Cryptography | 3 |
| CY 321 | Cybersecurity Standards, Laws, and Policies | 3 |
| CY 324 | Forensic Computing | 3 |
| CY 325 | Usable Security and Privacy | 3 |
| CY 367 | Network Security | 3 |
| CY 410 | Software and System Security | 3 |
| CY 413 | Internship in Cybersecurity | 3 |
| CY 420 | Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing | 3 |
| CY 417 | Cybersecurity Capstone Project I | 2 |
| CY 418 | Cybersecurity Capstone Project II | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 40 |
Elective Cybersecurity Courses
Must have a grade of "C" or better
Take 9 cr. from the following Cybersecurity courses
| CY 414 | Directed Research in Cybersecurity | 3 |
| CY 419 | Cooperative Studies in Cybersecurity | 6 |
| CY 421 | Cloud Computing: Architecture, Operations and Security | 3 |
| CY 422 | Web and Application Security | 3 |
| CY 423 | Wireless Network Security | 3 |
| CY 424 | Emerging Trends in Cybersecurity | 3 |
Required Computer Science Courses
Must have a grade of "C" or better
| CS 111 | Introduction to Structured Programming | 3 |
| CS 112 | Data Structures | 3 |
| CS 113 | Discrete Structures | 3 |
| CS 215 | Computer Systems Organization with Assembler | 3 |
| CS 241 | Advanced Programming Concepts Using "C" | 3 |
| CS 311 | Database Design | 3 |
| CS 349 | Operating Systems | 3 |
Required Supporting Courses
Must have a grade of "C" or better