Program Structure and Requirements
Overall Program Structure
The MSc CSEC consists of a minimum 30 credit hours, distributed as follows: 12 credit hours of Program Core courses, 9 credit hours of Elective courses, 9 credit hours of Master’s Thesis and a zero credit Research Methods course. The components of the program are summarized in the table below.
| Program Component |
Credit Hours |
| Seminar in Research Methods |
0 |
| Program Core |
12 |
| Program Electives |
9 |
| Master’s Thesis |
9 |
| Total |
30 |
Program Requirements
Students seeking the degree of MSc in Cyber Security must successfully complete a minimum 30 credit hours as specified in the program requirements detailed below, with a minimum CGPA of 3.0. Course selection should be made in consultation with the student’s Main Advisor. All courses have a credit rating of three credits each, except the Seminar in Research Methods and the Master’s Thesis.
Program Core (12 credit hours)
Students must complete the core courses listed below.
Core Courses
Program Electives (9 credit hours)
Students must select three courses from the list below. Subject to approval of the Main Advisor, students can select up to two elective courses (6 credit hours) from other MSc programs in the College of Engineering at KU.
Program Elective Courses
| CSEC 615 | Cloud and Mobile Digital Forensics | 3 |
| CSEC 618 | Wireless Network and Mobile Security | 3 |
| CSEC 620 | Social Engineering and Human Hacking | 3 |
| CSEC 621 | Hardware and System Architecture Security | 3 |
| CSEC 622 | Penetration Testing | 3 |
| COSC 638/CSEC 638 | Artificial Intelligence Techniques for Cyber-Security | 3 |
| CSEC 640 | Financial Cyber Security | 3 |
| CSEC 694 | Selected Topics in Cyber Security | 3 |
Master’s Thesis (minimum 9 credit hours)
Students must complete a Master’s Thesis that involves creative, research-oriented work within the broad field of Cyber Security, under the direct supervision of a full-time faculty advisor from the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, and at least one other full-time faculty who acts as a co-advisor. The outcome of research should demonstrate the synthesis of information into knowledge in a form that may be used by others. The research findings must be documented in a formal thesis and defended successfully in a viva voce examination. Furthermore, the research should lead to publishable quality scholarly articles.
Thesis