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M.S. in Cybersecurity: Cybersecurity Operations Specialization

Leverage Both Defensive and Offensive Tactics of Cyber Operations

32% Job Growth

Hands-On Experience Opportunities

Industry-Experienced Faculty

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  • Duration 2 years
  • Cost per Credit $895
  • Credit Hours 30

Program Benefits

  • Examine defensive and offensive modes of cyber operations
  • Foundations course for students without computer software or networking background
  • National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CD)

Take Advantage of Countless Opportunities

Cybersecurity is more than just defending against cyberattacks. Through 21 core credits and 9 specialization credits, you’ll examine both defensive and offensive modes of cyber operations in Utica University’s Master of Science in Cybersecurity, Cybersecurity Operations specialization.

By understanding both sides of the spectrum through hands-on coursework, you’ll graduate ready to detect, investigate, and prevent cybercrime for employers ranging from defense contractors to financial services to critical infrastructure.

Career Outlook

7.9 Billion. In aggregate, Spirion reports that was the economic toll in 2021 for organizations that experienced data breaches, with an average cost of 4.24 million per breach. They note that cyberattacks are a near-constant threat to modern business. Attacks occur every 10 seconds, and in January of 2021 alone, there were more data records compromised than the total number of records stolen in 2017. IBM reports that in 2021, an average of 4.24 million per breach was reached — the highest average in their 17-year history in reporting on the topic. Organizations that implemented the skills and technologies like those taught in the Cybersecurity Operations Specialization at Utica, like artificial intelligence (AI) and a zero trust approach, reduced their costs by millions. And those with a current cloud migration strategy contained the breach, on average, 77 days faster than those in earlier stages of modernization.

CAREER SPOTLIGHT: COMPUTER NETWORK DEFENSE ANALYST

$73,231/year

As a computer network defense analyst, you could be responsible for assessing security controls and applying appropriate incident response methods to ensure critical networks are properly protected from cyberattack. You would also investigate threats, manage network access, and more.3

CAREER SPOTLIGHT: SOC Analyst

$95,078/year

A Security Operations Center (SOC) Analyst finds security breaches and likely cyberattacks by reviewing incident notifications and running vulnerability assessments. They’ll report attacks to superiors, and create improvement strategies for better security. They’ll also complete risk analysis and security operations to find holes in their systems before attackers can.2

Other titles you may qualify for:

  • Penetration Tester
  • Computer Network Operations Analyst
  • Vulnerability Assessment Analyst
Jobs and Income

Curriculum: Gain Practical Experience in the Virtual Classroom

As one of the few programs in the U.S. that address cyber operations technology, this specialization uses virtual hands-on labs to help students gain critical skills in current technologies. Utica’s online infrastructure provides special servers, virtual machines, and experimental environments that give students a “learn by doing” experience. Labs include penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, data hiding and steganography, anonymity, and autonomous cyber operations.

Course Spotlight: CYB 641 – Offensive Security Operations

Perform studies of attack and defense methods in the cyber environment and learn about the intricacies of vulnerability assessment, penetration testing, and system exploitation.

Explore Courses

Course Spotlight: CYB 691 – Malware Practicum

This practicum course is a graduate level course in the specialized area of malware analysis that is designed to give students supervised practical application of previously or concurrent studied theory in malware mitigation and analysis. This course uses knowledge and methods presented in earlier courses as theory or examples in real-live practical examples. Students will learn the nuances of finding and mitigating malware which will be particularly well suited to mitigating targeted attacks. The student will use specialized malware analysis tools and environments along with a deep understanding of the technical methods of malicious codes (malcode). We will also highlight specific methods to gain speed in an analysis and how enterprise-wide mitigation methods may be employed.

More Options for Your Degree

M.S. in Cybersecurity: Digital Forensics

Pursue your passion for collecting and preparing evidence for computer crimes such as fraud, ransomware and cyber espionage with courses that emphasize a comprehensive understanding of the forensic tools and techniques used to investigate and analyze network-related incidents and preserve digital evidence.

M.S. in Cybersecurity: Cybercrime and Fraud

Master the technical, legal, and ethical aspects of electronic crime, white collar crime and fraud investigation with a focus on risk and compliance, legal issues, fraud management, and advanced fraud analysis techniques.

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.

The online M.S. in Cybersecurity program is designed for professionals who work full-time and is offered part-time, which allows you to achieve a realistic balance between work, school, and personal responsibilities and gives you the opportunity to fully absorb the information in your coursework. To see the curriculum, view our courses page.

Our M.S. in Cybersecurity is ranked #13 for Best Online Master’s in Cybersecurity Degrees in 2022 by Fortune Education.

Additionally, the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security have designated Utica University as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CD) through the academic year 2024.

Our cybersecurity programs have also been recognized for their excellence by the:

  • Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3)
  • EC-Council, one of the premier certifying cybersecurity bodies

Read more about the M.S. in Cybersecurity.

The first step toward applying to the M.S. in Cybersecurity is to start your online application. Then, you’ll need to gather official transcripts, a personal statement, two letters of recommendation, and a résumé. Read more about admission requirements for the M.S. in Cybersecurity.

Yes, the M.S. in Cybersecurity offers these specializations:

  • Digital Forensics
  • Cybersecurity Operations
  • Cybercrime and Fraud

You can review courses now.

No, there is no residency component for the M.S. in Cybersecurity. Learn more about the curriculum.

The M.S. in Cybersecurity prepares you for industry certifications like CompTIA A+, Security+, and CISSP—among others.

Visit our FAQ page