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Master of Science in Security Studies: Cybersecurity Concentration

Get ready to meet the challenge of today's ever-increasing cyber threats with this flexible and affordable program offered by an established educational leader in criminal justice and information technology.

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Please Note: Test requirements for most graduate applications have been temporarily waived. Learn more.

Build Your Expertise in a Thriving Tech Field

With UMass Lowell's Master of Science in Security Studies: Cybersecurity Concentration program, you will develop the knowledge and abilities you need to successfully pinpoint and address the technology, security and human weaknesses that leave organizations of all sizes and types vulnerable to data breaches and cyberattacks.

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No GRE/MAT Required

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Earn Your Master's Degree in as Little as 18 Months

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Variety of Financial Aid and Scholarships Available

under 20k

Earn a Top-Ranked Master's for Under $20k

This 10-course master's degree program offers a unique combination of graduate-level courses in two distinct disciplines: criminal justice and information technology. Through the core criminal justice courses, you will study contemporary issues in security management, intelligence policy and practice, national security, and cyber-crime trends. The information technology electives will allow you to explore a broad array of computer and network security topics such as virtual systems management, secure mobile networks, cloud computing and digital forensics.

Cybersecurity is an increasingly important concern for all different types of organizations, including local, state and federal government agencies; defense contractors; biotech and research firms; advanced technology companies; and numerous other business entities that are concerned with the protection of their information capital.

Best Online Master's in Criminal Justice Program in the Nation by U.S. News & World Report
Ranked #4 Best Online Master's in Criminal Justice Programs in the Nation by U.S. News & World Report
National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security Badges
UMass Lowell has been designated a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Research by the NSA and the Department of Homeland Security
Employment of information security analysts is projected to grow 32 percent from 2018 to 2028, much faster than the average for all occupations. Demand for information security analysts is expected to be very high, as these analysts will be needed to create innovative solutions to prevent hackers from stealing critical information or causing problems for computer networks.
—U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2019

Open the Door to a variety of Opportunities

Offered entirely online, the program's enriching, interdisciplinary curriculum will prepare you to pursue a broad range of information security careers in both the private and public sectors. With the M.S. in Security Studies: Cybersecurity Concentration program, you will increase your career opportunities and deepen your professional knowledge of a diverse range of topics including:

  • computer network security principles
  • intelligence collection and analysis
  • the history and evolving nature of the relationship between technology, crime and security
  • domestic and international security threats and responses
  • critical infrastructure protection
  • strategies and agencies (federal and state) that aim to protect the nation from cyber attacks

Learn from a Leader in Terrorism and Security Studies Research

The Center for Terrorism and Security Studies (CTSS) was established at the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2013 to bring together faculty from several colleges at UMass Lowell (and from other institutions and organizations in the Commonwealth) to work on a variety of collaborative research projects addressing the evolution, convergence and complexity of such domestic and foreign security challenges as terrorism, cybersecurity, transnational crime and weapons of mass destruction.

CTSS faculty, staff and fellows — who are internationally recognized experts in their respective fields — represent such diverse disciplines as psychology, criminology, political science, education, philosophy and computer science.

In May 2018, the median annual wages for information security analysts in the top industries in which they worked were as follows:

Industry

Median Annual Wages
Computer systems design and related services $102,620
Finance and insurance $101,130
Information $96,580
Management of companies and enterprises $94,180
Administrative and support services $94,120
—U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2019

Curriculum Outline

- Total Number of Courses: 10 (30 credits)

Required Core Courses (7 Courses / 21cr)

Concentration Elective Courses (Choose 3)*

*Note: Additional elective courses may be available on-campus for students who are interested in taking a mix of on-campus and online courses. Call 978-934-4106 or send an email to CJGradAdvisor@uml.edu for more information.

Program Requirements

To be recommended for a University of Massachusetts Lowell master's degree, candidates must satisfy all of the general requirements below, plus any additional requirements that may be required by the department through which the program is offered. Any additional requirements for this program are either listed below or may be found in the University's Graduate Program Catalog.

General Requirements:

  • Students must complete the program of study designed by the department in which he or she is enrolled and approved by the University.
  • Satisfactory grades in all subjects offered for the degree must be earned (See Academic Standing).
  • All financial obligations, including tuition, fees, and expenses, must be satisfied as evidenced by completion.
  • Upon completion of all their courses, graduate degree candidates must submit a signed Declaration of Intent to Graduate (DIG) form to their coordinator. The coordinator will apply them in SIS, Graduation Tracking.

Graduate Program Policies

In applying for a degree program or registering for courses, each student assumes full responsibility for knowledge of and compliance with the definitions, regulations and procedures of UMass Lowell as set forth on our website. For additional information, please refer to the Graduate Program Policies found within the UMass Lowell Graduate Catalog.

Course Descriptions

This course examines the complex nature of key domestic and international security threats and responses. Topics include terrorism and insurgency, transnational organized crime, WMD proliferation, cyber-security, intelligence, national and homeland security strategies, critical infrastructure protection, and theories of international security. 3 credits.

Students will examine the tradecraft of intelligence collection and analysis from various perspectives. Topics will include strategies, tactics, legal and ethical implications, sources, means, methods, limitations, covert action, methods of analysis, and case studies of prominent intelligence successes and failures in the last half century. 3 credits.
Prerequisites:

CSCE Graduate Restrictions

This course is a rigorous introduction to statistical inference: probability theory, confidence intervals, and hypothesis tests. The course also covers regression analysis, which is developed in a non-technical way, with an emphasis on interpretation of regression results, using examples from recent research. 3 credits.

Research design is a graduate-level introduction to methodology as used in criminology/criminal justice. The course surveys the research design enterprise and covers a host of issues on the measurement and collection of data, and other procedures that influence whether a research study will lead the investigator to scientifically rigorous information. This course explains various strategies for devising social science studies, compares the relative benefits of various designs, and identifies the tools necessary to conduct studies that will yield data worthy of analysis and interpretation. This material will be valuable for students who will conduct research and administrators who must evaluate the research of others. 3 credits.
Prerequisites:

CSCE Graduate Restrictions

This course will examine the history and evolving nature of the relationship between technology, crime, and security, with a particular focus on legitimate and illegitimate Internet commerce, and cyber criminal methodologies and techniques. We will study major issues in cyber security including criminal and state-sponsored hacking; data, intellectual property, and identity theft; financial and personal data security; cyber-terrorism; tools and methods used to exploit computer networks, and strategies to protect against them; and new and emerging technologies. This course will be taught specifically for non-computer science majors, although students with computer science backgrounds are welcome for the experiences that they can bring to the class discussions. 3 credits.
Prerequisites:

CSCE Graduate Restrictions

In this required course for the MS in Security Studies program, students will take this course to learn all about the efforts in the public and private sector to design new sensors, scanner, and the general role of science and technology in homeland and national security. 3 credits.
Prerequisites:

CSCE Graduate Restrictions

This course introduces the concepts and techniques of systems and network administration. The course covers topics in a wide range from host management, network management, host and network security to automating system administration. In this course learners will be installing and configuring various popular network based services in a Linux environment. 3 credits.
Prerequisites:

MSIT, IT Certificate Program

This course examines the strategies for deploying and auditing secure systems. IT auditors primarily study computer systems and networks form the point of view of examining the effectiveness of their technical and procedural controls to minimize risks. Risk analysis and the implementation of corresponding best practice control objectives will be studied. The material will include methodologies that help auditors to: Discover what's really going on at a point in time; Find out about potential problems, before it's too late to fix them; Evaluate business situations objectively; Make informed, if difficult decisions; Implement corrective actions, changes and improvements where needed. 3 credits.
Prerequisites:

MSIT,IT Certificate Program

This course will investigate the current state of virtualization in computing systems. Virtualization at both the hardware and software levels will be examined, with emphasis on the hypervisor configurations of systems such as Vmware, Zen and Hyper-V. The features and limitations of virtual environments will be considered, along with several case studies used to demonstrate the configuration and management of such systems. Para-virtualized software components will be analyzed and their pros and cons discussed. Processor and peripheral support for virtualization will also be examined, with a focus on emerging hardware features and the future of virtualization. 3 credits.
Prerequisites:

MSIT, IT Certificate Program

This course focuses on enterprise-level information security, privacy and regulatory compliance through study of the rapidly emerging Information Governance (IG) discipline which is applied to electronic documents, records management and output of information organization-wide. The key principles of IG will be examined including the security, privacy and compliance of corporate e-documents/records as well as email, social media, instant messaging, cloud computing, and mobile computing. The student will learn how IG leverages existing information technologies to enforce policies, procedures and controls to manage information risk in compliance with legal and litigation demands, external regulatory requirements, and internal governance objectives. 3 credits.
Prerequisites:

MSIT,IT Certificate Program

Intrusion Detection Systems is a survey of the hardware and software techniques that are applied to the detection, identification, classification and remediation of compromised information systems. From this introduction to intrusion detection systems, students will develop a solid foundation for understanding IDS and how they function. This course will give students a background in the technology of detection network attacks. It will introduce all the concepts and procedures used for IDS (intrusion Detection Systems) and IPS (intrusion Prevention Systems). Students will have hands-on experience with implementing and configuring software and hardware based IDS in a network infrastructure. This course is designed with a network administrator in mind. 3 credits.
Prerequisites:

MSIT,IT Certificate Program

This course focuses on best practices for designing and building a comprehensive Cybersecurity Program based on the NIST Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity ("The Framework"). The Framework was issued on February 12, 2014, as directed by President Obama in Executive Order 13636. This framework provides guidance for reducing cybersecurity risk for organizations, and this course will examine its basic tenets of: "Cybersecurity Fundamentals", techniques applied to "Building a Controls Factory", "Cybersecurity Programs" "Establishing Cybersecurity Centers of Expertise" and "The Cybersecurity Program Implementation Roadmap". 3 credits.

This course provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts in the design and implementation of computer communication networks, their protocols, and applications. Topics to be covered include: an overview of network architectures, applications, network programming interfaces (e.g. sockets) , transport, congestion, routing, and data link protocols, addressing, local area networks, network management, and emerging network technologies. Cannot be used toward MS or D.Sc. in Computer Science. 3 credits.
Prerequisites:

MSIT, IT Certificate Program

This course is aimed to provide students with a solid understanding of key concepts of computer network security and practical solutions to network security threats. Topics to be covered include common network security attacks, basic security models, data encryption algorithms, public-key cryptography and key management, data authentication, network security protocols in practice, wireless network security, network perimeter security and firewall technology, the art of anti-malicious software, and the art of intrusion detection. Pre-Req: BS in IT or Equivalent. Cannot be used toward MS or D.Sc. in Computer Science. 3 credits.
Prerequisites:

MSIT, IT Certificate Program

Identifying, preserving and extracting electronic evidence. Students learn how to examine and recover data from operating systems, core forensic procedures for any operating or file system, understanding technical issues in acquiring computer evidence and how to conduct forensically sound examinations to preserve evidence for admission and use in legal proceedings. 3 credits.
Prerequisites:

MSIT, IT Certificate Program

This course covers principles and practices of wireless networks, including cellular networks, wireless LANs, ad hoc mesh networks, and sensor networks. The potential attacks against these wireless networks and the security mechanisms to defend these networks will be discussed. Topics to be covered include cellular network architecture, wide-area mobile services, wireless LANs and MACs, introduction to emerging wireless networks, survey of malicious behaviors in wireless networks, securing wireless WANs and LANs, securing wireless routing, securing mobile applications, wireless intrusion detection and prevention, challenges in securing next-generation wireless networks, and privacy issues in wireless networks. 3 credits.
Prerequisites:

MSIT, IT Certificate Program

This course starts with an overview of modern distributed models, exposing the design principles, systems architecture, and innovative applications of parallel, distributed, and cloud computing systems. The course will focus on the creation and maintenance of high-performance, scalable, reliable systems, providing comprehensive coverage of distributed and cloud computing, including: Facilitating management, debugging, migration, and disaster recovery through virtualization. Clustered systems for research or ecommerce applications. Designing systems as web services. Principles of cloud computing using examples from open-source and commercial applications. 3 credits.
Prerequisites:

MSIT, IT Certificate Program

Tuition & Fees

At UMass Lowell, we believe that students should have as much information as possible up front so they can make informed decisions before enrolling in a degree program or signing up for a course.

Tuition for all undergraduate courses offered through the Division of Graduate, Online & Professional Studies is the same for both in-state and out-of-state students. Tuition for all online graduate courses is also the same for both in-state and out-of-state students. Tuition is priced per credit. To calculate the tuition for a course, simply multiply the per-credit tuition by the total number of credits per course. Exception: If the total number of course contact hours is greater than the total number of credits, the per-credit tuition is instead multiplied by the total number of contact hours.

Fall 2021 Tuition

 Per Credit / Contact Hour
Graduate Online Courses
(Except Graduate Online Business*, IT, Engineering and Education Courses)
 $575.00
Graduate Online Business* Courses $655.00
Graduate Online IT and Engineering Courses** $590.00

*Applies to courses with the following prefixes: ACCT, BUSI, ENTR, FINA, MGMT, MKTG, MIST, POMS offered through the Manning School of Business

**Applies to courses with the following prefixes: CHEN, CIVE, EECE, ENGN, MECH, PLAS offered through the Francis College of Engineering. Applies also to MSIT courses in the Master's in Information Technology, Graduate Certificate in Cybersecurity and the Graduate Certificate in Systems Models and Management.

The cost to audit a course will be charged the rates listed above.

Additional Fees
Registration Fee per Term $30.00
Late Fee for Nonpayment $50.00
Fee for Graduate Degree and Certificate Applications $50.00

Looking for Financial Assistance?

UMass Lowell offers a variety of financial aid and scholarship options.
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Registration

Current students can register using SiS Self-Service. New students who have not already applied and been accepted to a program must use the Non-Degree Registration Form.

You can take courses without being officially enrolled in a certificate or degree program, but you must meet course prerequisites. Registrations are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Class size is limited. We recommend that you register early to reserve your place in class.

For more information, please visit our Registration Page.

New Students

If you have not already applied and been accepted to a program.
Register with Non-Degree Reg. Form

Current Students

If you have applied, been accepted to and are currently enrolled in a program.
Register with SIS Self-Service

Questions?

Email our Advising Center for assistance, or call 800-480-3190 to speak with an advisor.

Please Note: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information presented within this website, the Division of Graduate, Online & Professional Studies reserves the right to implement new rules and regulations and to make changes of any nature in its program, calendar, locations, tuition and fees. Whenever possible, appropriate notice of such changes will be given before they become effective. In applying for a degree program or registering for courses, each student assumes full responsibility for knowledge of and compliance with the definitions, regulations and procedures of UMass Lowell as set forth on our website. For additional information, please refer to the Graduate Program Policies found within the UMass Lowell Graduate Catalog.

Career Outlook

To help you make an informed decision about continuing your education, we access real-time labor market data to provide up-to-the-minute employment information including:

  • Job postings for the occupations this program will prepare you to pursue
  • Demand for specific positions within the industry
  • Salary information (nationwide and by region)
  • Expected career growth rate over the next 10 years vs. total labor market growth rate

With this information, you'll have a clear understanding of the return on investment you can expect from this program and which skills can help you to further increase your earning power.

Information provided by Burning Glass Technologies

Applying into the Security Studies: Cybersecurity Concentration Program

Applications to the Graduate Program in Security Studies are accepted and processed year-round. Students accepted into the program can begin their courses in the Fall, Spring or Summer terms. To be considered for admission to this program, applicants must have earned an undergraduate degree from an accredited institution of higher education, with a final cumulative GPA of at least 3.0. A wide variety of undergraduate degree programs qualify as an appropriate foundation for this master's degree, particularly those in the behavioral and social sciences such as political science, sociology, criminal justice, psychology, history, international relations, and many others.

All applicants must submit the following:

For specific information regarding any of the above application materials (which may vary for some programs), please see UMass Lowell's Graduate Application Requirements at https://www.uml.edu/Grad/Process/.

Applications can be completed and submitted at any time during the year. Each application is processed — and each applicant notified — as soon as all admissions materials have been received and reviewed. For additional details, please visit https://www.uml.edu/grad/.

Graduate Program Admissions Requirements

Admission to all graduate programs at UMass Lowell is contingent upon successful completion of a bachelor's degree. In many cases, applicants may register for a course before they have formally applied into the program; however, students requiring financial aid may want to wait until they have been formally accepted into the program to ensure that their course(s) will be covered. Contact UMass Lowell's Office of Graduate Admissions if you have questions about the application process.

Please Note: Test requirements for graduate applications have been temporarily waived. Learn more.
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Questions Regarding Your Graduate Application?

Email Graduate_Admissions@uml.edu or call 800-656-4723 (for U.S. students) or 978-934-2390 (for international students).

For General Assistance:

For general questions about registering for courses or to find out who the advisor is for your graduate program, call 800-480-3190. Our admissions and advising teams are here to help!

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