Program Description:
The program strengths include a unique blend of faculty expertise, well-equipped computer science and engineering laboratory facilities, and a balance of theory, practice, hardware, and software. The M.S. degree in Cyber Security is designed for individuals who want to develop skills to identify and resolve cyber security threats. The degree is focused on developing knowledge and skill applicable to protecting computer systems and computer networks. Students with backgrounds in computer science, computer engineering, information systems or electrical engineering may apply to the program. Professionals working in the industry who have a strong technical background and related work experience are also encouraged to apply.
Admissions Requirements:
Students must have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Information Systems or a related technical area from a regionally accredited academic institution, with an overall GPA of 3.0 for regular graduate status. Students with an undergraduate GPA of 2.7 or above and at least a 3.0 GPA in technical courses related to cyber security are eligible for conditional admission.
Knowledge that is equivalent to CEG 3310 - Computer Organization , CS 3100 - Data Structures and Algorithms and CEG 4350 - Operating System Internals and Design is required. Students with significant work experience will be permitted to take a proficiency exam in each of the prerequisite areas. Alternatively, students with a technical background but limited experience in the prerequisite course areas can take an online course (CS 5300 ) offered by the Department to demonstrate proficiency. A student successfully passing the online course will be admitted into the program.
A minimum combined GRE score of 298 (1050 under the old scale) is required. The GRE requirement is waived for WSU-ECS applicants with a BS degree and a minimum GPA of 3.3 or applicants from a U.S. institution with a graduate degree in a science/engineering field. The GRE requirement is waived for non-degree CSE graduate students if their GPA for 9 or more hours of CSE graduate courses is 3.3 or higher.
Program Learning Outcomes:
- The ability to integrate and apply graduate cybersecurity knowledge to solve complex cybersecurity issues and challenges.
- The ability to understand and integrate new knowledge within the field of cybersecurity into their professional activities.
- The ability to recognize the need for, and engage in, life-long learning.
- A deeper understanding of the breadth and depth of cyberspace and the inefficiencies and shortcomings of our existing evaluation systems to deal with cybersecurity threats.
- An understand of the unique characteristics of cyberspace and how these unique characteristics affect/influence cybersecurity threats.
- The ability to identify social, political, and economic factors/impacts of cyber threats and be able to identify and discuss ethical issues related to cybersecurity and privacy.
- Recognition of the basic concepts of cyber security defense and be able to use software tools for malware identification and elimination, data encryption and transmission, and key-based authentication.
Facilities:
University and college systems include a variety of servers and workstations running current operating systems including Linux, Mac OS, and Windows. Department facilities provide specialized systems and support equipment tailored to specific curriculum and research areas including Linux-based Operating Systems and Internet Security lab, an Immersive Visualization and Animation Theater lab, and a variety of workstations and personal computers providing software tools for project design and development. The program also has access to one of the most advanced visualization and presentation environments in the nation, the Appenzeller Visualization Laboratory, located in the Joshi Research Center. The Department has laboratories dedicated to research in assistive technologies, RFID, computer vision, medical image analysis, parallel and distributed computing, evolvable hardware, database systems, data mining, mobile information and communications, software engineering, artificial intelligence, advanced computer networking, semantic web services oriented computing, scientific workflows, business process management, bioinformatics, and cyber security.
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