Governance of Cyber Security
Software is eating the world. Whatever sector you are specializing in, they are increasingly digitized. Energy systems, transportation, water infrastructure, health, communication networks – they are all connected and operated via computer systems.
Digitization also means that these sectors are now exposed to cybersecurity risk. Criminals and nation states actively attack infrastructures for profit or political gains. Yet, firms and governments in many sectors are not experienced IT providers. Their core technology was developed before their systems got exposed to the internet. They are still adapting and developing their capabilities to manage complex cyber risks.
For whom?
This specialisation is for second year master students MOT, EPA or CoSEM.
What will you learn?
The specialization Governance of Cybersecurity will provide you with a coherent program that will teach you how to think about cybersecurity in the sector that you are interested in. It consists of three courses that build on each other, giving you a holistic understanding of actor behavior around cybersecurity risks.
The course “Cybersecurity: Actors, Incentives, Interventions” (TPM020) focuses on how different organizations handle cybersecurity threats and what interventions are available to better secure critical systems. The course on “User-Centered Security” (TPM025) goes from the level of organizations to the level of individual users and professionals. How can we understand and change the security behavior of users?
Both courses focus on the perspectives of defenders. The third course, “Cyber Crime Science,” (TPM010) introduces you to the attacker perspective: what have we learned from empirical research about threat actors? Understanding attacker behavior is not only relevant for law enforcement, but also for firms that need to decide on where to invest in cybersecurity.
Thesis supervision opportunities
As an additional benefit to following the specialization, you will have guaranteed access to potential supervisors for your Master thesis project. In fact, you can already craft an initial project idea with the supervisors before you enter the Master thesis preparation course. This allows you to get much more benefits from this course and helps you to hit the ground running for your thesis project.
Labor market benefits
Whatever sector you want to have a career in, you can’t afford to ignore cybersecurity. To put it more positively, cybersecurity expertise is scarce and in high demand in the labor market. You can build this expertise into your CV by selecting this specialization for your elective space!
Education methods
Each separate module has its own method of assessment (assignments, written or oral exam, essay or individual project) as described in their individual course descriptions.
Course overview
Mandatory courses:
TPM010a Cyber Crime Science (5 ECTS, Q1)
TPM020c – Cybersecurity: Actors, Incentives, Interventions (5 ECTS, Q1)
TPM025b – User-Centred Security (5 ECTS, Q2)
Register for this elective
Please fill in your application in My Study Planning and enroll this elective package in Brightspace.
Contact details
In case of questions, please contact the coordinator Simon Parkin.
