B.S. in Cybersecurity: Cyber Operations Specialization
Protect Networks with Proven Cyber-Defense Strategies
Gain Global Information Grid Experience
In-Demand Career Opportunities
Earn Digital Badges
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Complete the form to learn more about this program.
- Duration 2-4 years
- Cost per Credit $475
- Credit Hours 120
Program Benefits
- National Security Agency and Dept. of Homeland Security designated leader in cybersecurity education
- Curriculum informed by the Secret Service, Securities Exchange Commission, and more
- 6 start dates per year
Gain Expert-Level Knowledge of Operating System Defense
Address one of the hottest topics in cybersecurity with the Cyber Operations specialization of Utica University’s online Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity.
You’ll delve into cyber-defense strategies that keep organizations safe from cyber threats. Plus, you’ll learn to embed security measures directly into the emerging Global Information Grid and create encryption codes that allow users to pass information between systems securely.
Utica University is a leader in cybersecurity education, designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence by the Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency.
Elevate Your Skills with Real-World Simulations
Gain crucial cybersecurity experience and become a better cyber defender. Many of Utica University’s cybersecurity courses include RangeForce, an innovative cloud-based training platform that simulates real-world cybersecurity battles. You’ll work to conquer threats, beat hacking simulations, and perfect your approach through gamified activities. These immersive experiences are separated into Learning Paths. As you successfully complete each Learning Path, you’ll earn impressive digital badges that you can share on your résumé and on social media platforms like LinkedIn.
Career Outlook
The rate of cyberattacks is outpacing the number of skilled professionals who can detect, prevent, stop, and mitigate their damage. There’s a worldwide gap of 3.4 million cybersecurity workers1, and 80% of IT decision-makers say they’ve had a breach due to a lack of cybersecurity skills or awareness at their company.2
The hardest jobs to fill involve cloud security, security operations, and network security2 — which are just some of the skills you can learn in our B.S. in Cybersecurity with a Cyber Operations specialization. Graduate prepared to qualify for cybersecurity postings that demand a bachelor’s degree, like penetration tester, which comes with an average salary of $91,066 per year.3
CAREER SPOTLIGHT: PENETRATION TESTER
$91,066/year
As a penetration tester (also known as a white-hat hacker), you’d put your understanding of complex security measures to work to break the system. You would use a variety of tools — some of which you might create yourself — to find holes in your company’s security before bad actors do. You’d also search for passive threats to network integrity, such as poor passwords, and work to mitigate them.4
Other titles you may qualify for:
- Computer Network Defense (CND)
- Computer Network Attack (CNA)
- Computer Network Exploitation (CNE)
- Computer Network Operations (CNO)
Curriculum
With a unique focus on UNIX and extensive coursework in computer science and programming, defensive and offensive tactics, and vulnerability assessments and penetration testing, this specialization provides you with the skills to keep your organization safe. Explore incident response to system compromise, risk management decision-making, and legal and regulatory analyses. You will also learn about building secure audio and video equipment, protecting products from tampering, providing trusted microelectronics solutions, and more.
Course Spotlight: CYB 339 – Cyber Operations Tools
Learn how to develop, run, and analyze the output of computer programs and scripts for cyber operations, cybersecurity, and computer forensics applications and about how to develop a virtualized computing environment that will be used to work with cyber operations tools. Prerequisite(s); CYB 125 and CYB 237.
Explore CoursesCourse Spotlight: CYB 438 – System Vulnerability Assessments
This course addresses the theory and practice of penetration testing from scoping and information gathering through reporting. Identify and exploit host and network vulnerabilities; simulating the real-world activities of malicious threat actors. Prerequisite(s); CYB 339 and CYB 362.
More Options for Your Degree
Frequently Asked Questions
Advancing your life and career with an online degree comes with lots of questions, and we want to ensure your search for answers is effortless. If you have a question we haven’t covered, call (866) 295-3106 to speak with an enrollment counselor.
You can earn your bachelor’s degree in approximately three years by taking one class every 8 weeks in each 16-week semester. With Program Director permission, you can complete the program in a shorter time frame by taking more credits per semester.
Opportunities abound in this incredible field. There will be 3.5 million unfilled jobs in cybersecurity by 2021 and it’s projected cybercrime will cost organizations worldwide $6 trillion.
Companies desperately need qualified information security experts. 100,000 new jobs were posted in 2016 alone, and the median pay for entry-level Information Security Analysts was $95,510 in 2017.
Learn more about your career outlook in cybersecurity.
You don’t need a background in cybersecurity or computer science to apply to this program. Learn more about the admission requirements for this program.
This 60–63-credit program (variable based on your specialization and senior project) costs $475 per credit hour. Before including fees and other education costs, your tuition estimate is $28,500–$29,925.
Learn more about tuition for this program.
It’s up to you. We’ve designed our program to fit into the lives of students as they maintain full-time employment. As such, a typical course load is one class every eight weeks in each 16-week semester. This is considered full-time for financial aid purposes.
To begin with, you’ll take classes that give you a solid foundation of cybersecurity and computer science knowledge and skills. You will also focus your coursework through one of three specializations:
- Network Forensics and Intrusion Investigation
- Cybercrime and Fraud Investigation
- Cyber Operations
Learn more about how our cybersecurity curriculum prepares you to guard private information, identify network weaknesses, and defend against threats from hackers, malware, and other cyberthreats.
Sources
- (ISC)2. (2023). Cybersecurity Workforce Study. Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://www.isc2.org/Research/Workforce-Study
- Fortinet (2022). 2022 Cybersecurity Skills Gap. Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://www.fortinet.com/content/dam/fortinet/assets/reports/report-2022-skills-gap-survey.pdf
- Payscale (2023). “Penetration Tester Salary.” Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Penetration_Tester/Salary.
- Burning Glass Labor Insights (2015). Burning Glass Report: Job Market Intelligence: Cybersecurity Jobs, 2015. Retrieved December 4, 2018, from https://www.burning-glass.com/research-project/cybersecurity/.