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This module introduces the fundamental concepts of cyber security and how vulnerabilities can be exploited by attackers. You'll explore key topics including operating system security, software and hardware security, network protocols, and authentication and access control.

Practical lab sessions provide hands-on experience of real-world attacks and defence techniques, helping you develop the knowledge and skills needed for further study in cyber security.

This module covers the key principles that cyber security specialists need to protect and manage organisational security. You'll explore core topics including Risk Management, Governance, Policy, Regulation and Standardisation, Security Operations, Incident Management, and Business Continuity Planning.

Real-world scenarios, industry use-cases, and guest lectures from security professionals bring the content to life, ensuring you graduate with the practical knowledge and commercial awareness that employers value.

This module builds a foundational understanding of how modern networks and the internet can be attacked and defended. You'll explore threats and defences across all layers of the network stack, from physical (Ethernet, Wireless, Fibre) and network (IP) layers, through to transport (TCP, TLS, UDP) and application (HTTP, HTTPS) layers, with a security-focused look at key protocols including ARP, DHCP, DNS, and routing protocols.

Hands-on lab sessions give you practical experience implementing real attacks and defences, developing the analytical skills needed to secure both existing and emerging network technologies.

This module explores how to build security into software from the ground up. You'll examine how vulnerabilities arise in code and engineering processes, apply Formal Methods to reason about system security, and investigate how Software Engineering practices and the Software Lifecycle impact overall security.

Hands-on lab sessions put these concepts into practice, giving you direct experience of secure development techniques across the full software lifecycle.

This module looks at the practice of malware analysis, looking at how to analyse malicious software to understand how it works, how to identify it, and how to defeat or eliminate it.  

You will look at how to set up a safe environment in which to analyse malware, as well as exploring both static and dynamic malware analysis. Although malware takes many forms, the focus of this module will primarily be on executable binaries. This will cover object file formats and the use of tools such as debuggers, virtual machines, and disassemblers to explore them. Obfuscation and packing schemes will be discussed, along with various issues related to Windows internals.

The module is practical with encouragement to safely practice the skills you're taught.

This module explores the critical relationship between people and secure systems. You'll examine how user behaviour and context can introduce unanticipated vulnerabilities, and how design and development processes can inadvertently undermine security when human factors are overlooked.

Topics span usable security, cyber security awareness, and stakeholder engagement, alongside ethical, privacy, and legal considerations for responsible technology development. The module equips you to build systems that are not only technically secure but designed with real users, and your responsibilities towards them, firmly in mind.

The Industry Group Project in Cyber Security module has groups of students working on a group project based on a use-case from one of our industrial partners.

The aims of the group project are: 1) to put the techniques taught during the MSc Cyber Security into practice, 2) to gain exposure to real-world use cases, and 3) improve collaborative skills in cyber security.

Each project has topics covered in security principles and in security management, and typically offers additional topics covered in other modules. Besides applying knowledge, projects involve planning, collaborating, managing, communicating, presenting, problem solving and other skills demanded from Cyber Security experts.

This module equips MSc students with the quantitative and qualitative skills needed to conduct rigorous research. You'll cover the full research process, from problem selection and literature reviews, through data collection and analysis, to developing conclusions and disseminating findings. Topics include scientific literature, surveys, case studies, evaluation methods, and ethical considerations in research.

The module also introduces project management principles and provides guidance on identifying directions for your MSc project.

You will conduct a piece of empirical and/or theoretical research in an area of cyber security, under the supervision of a member of academic or research staff and using an appropriate methodology. Where appropriate, your project may also be conducted in conjunction with an external organisation.