MSc

Cyber Security

Teaching & Learning

Distance learning

We understand that full-time study does not suit everyone. That’s why we offer courses which give you the opportunity to decide where, when and how you can get involved in learning. Studying a distance learning course offers the convenience and flexibility to make education work for you. Whether you’d like to fit your studies around childcare, develop your skills while working or, quite simply, want to learn from the comfort of your own home, we can help you gain a qualification at a time and pace that suits your lifestyle.

Like our students on campus, you’ll have the same excellent teaching and learning resources, however you’ll find these online instead of a lecture theatre. Not only are all the modules taught online, but you’ll also have access to an online community and more than 140,000 books and journals in our online library.

Technical requirements for distance learning study are detailed in the full guide. Visit our distance learning website for more information.

Overall workload

Each module on our distance learning courses is individually designed to maximise your learning so study requirements will vary. If you choose to study this course by distance learning, as a general guideline, you’ll need to allocate around 10 hours per week to complete each module. You’ll also need a further five hours for additional reading and assignments. However, this may vary depending on the module. Teaching and learning will be delivered using a range of interactive resources. This typically includes audio and video content, group discussions, reflective exercises, quizzes, online reading and much more. All these resources are delivered through our Virtual Learning Environment and can be accessed at a time and place that suits you.

What you'll learn

Gain a critical grounding in cyber security exploring a wide-view of cyber security landscapes. You'll use the Cyber Body of Knowledge (CyBOK) as an overview of the field of study, and to critically visualise how your studies will build your competencies. This module will cover fundamental topics such as: human and organisational aspects of cyber security, including how IT risk can be managed in an organisation. You'll extend your technical and applied knowledge around cryptography, to encrypt and hash data, and around security principles of infrastructure security, including network, hardware, and cyber-physical security.
Develop your knowledge and experience with security operations and incident management. You’ll learn security monitoring techniques to monitor networks and systems to detect signs of attack or compromise, methods for recovering and restoring from security breaches, and investigation methods to identify the specifics of what has occurred.
This module will develop your critical awareness of cyber security through the perspective of offensive security. You’ll gain an understanding of the motives and methods of hackers, and the steps a hacker undertakes, and you’ll learn to apply these same techniques to perform ethical hacking and penetration testing to test the security of systems. You’ll also critically explore ethics and privacy in the context of cyber security.
This module will provide a comprehensive and accessible overview of security mechanisms, attacks and defences in modern web applications. You’ll cover the OWASP Top 10 Web Application Security Risks extensively from a predominantly practical perspective to enable you to conduct security assessments of websites. It will also cover network security, such as the configuration of firewall rules and implementation of VPNs for network security.
This module will enable you to develop your theoretical understanding and practical experience of systems security. You’ll conceptualise and implement important security principles, primitives and practices for providing security defences and you’ll cover security schemes and techniques for protecting and confining users, programs, and systems, both on devices and across networks, in depth. This includes operating systems security, using access controls and authentication schemes, including network-based authentication, virtualisation, and advanced sandboxing and containerisation techniques.
This module aims to develop your awareness of the methods and skills which are required in order to successfully carry out masters-level research. You’ll reflect critically on your own development in the context of your chosen programme of study.
This module will provide you the opportunity to engage in masters-level research or advanced scholarship in a subject area that is of particular interest to you. You’ll carry out an in-depth research project, which will be discussed in a formal dissertation and viva.
Gain a critical grounding in cyber security exploring a wide-view of cyber security landscapes. You'll use the Cyber Body of Knowledge (CyBOK) as an overview of the field of study, and to critically visualise how your studies will build your competencies. This module will cover fundamental topics such as: human and organisational aspects of cyber security, including how IT risk can be managed in an organisation. You'll extend your technical and applied knowledge around cryptography, to encrypt and hash data, and around security principles of infrastructure security, including network, hardware, and cyber-physical security.
Develop your knowledge and experience with security operations and incident management. You’ll learn security monitoring techniques to monitor networks and systems to detect signs of attack or compromise, methods for recovering and restoring from security breaches, and investigation methods to identify the specifics of what has occurred.
This module will develop your critical awareness of cyber security through the perspective of offensive security. You’ll gain an understanding of the motives and methods of hackers, and the steps a hacker undertakes, and you’ll learn to apply these same techniques to perform ethical hacking and penetration testing to test the security of systems. You’ll also critically explore ethics and privacy in the context of cyber security.
This module will provide a comprehensive and accessible overview of security mechanisms, attacks and defences in modern web applications. You’ll cover the OWASP Top 10 Web Application Security Risks extensively from a predominantly practical perspective to enable you to conduct security assessments of websites. It will also cover network security, such as the configuration of firewall rules and implementation of VPNs for network security.
This module will enable you to develop your theoretical understanding and practical experience of systems security. You’ll conceptualise and implement important security principles, primitives and practices for providing security defences and you’ll cover security schemes and techniques for protecting and confining users, programs, and systems, both on devices and across networks, in depth. This includes operating systems security, using access controls and authentication schemes, including network-based authentication, virtualisation, and advanced sandboxing and containerisation techniques.
This module aims to develop your awareness of the methods and skills which are required in order to successfully carry out masters-level research. You’ll reflect critically on your own development in the context of your chosen programme of study.
This module will provide you the opportunity to engage in masters-level research or advanced scholarship in a subject area that is of particular interest to you. You’ll carry out an in-depth research project, which will be discussed in a formal dissertation and viva.