Online Master of Cybersecurity Management
This exclusively online, part-time program was developed for cybersecurity working professionals seeking to advance their leadership skills and to deepen the managerial acumen required to establish, maintain, and develop an effective and efficient cybersecurity enterprise. Students in this 30-unit program will acquire the expertise needed to successfully execute a range of core cybersecurity functions, including leadership, governance, risk management, operations, and incident response. The program places particular emphasis on business-related skills such as communicating with non-technical line-of-business leaders and peers, speaking the language of business, and strategy formulation and development. Graduates of this program will be well prepared to step into positions of greater responsibility and to make larger and more consequential contributions to their organizations.
Contact Info
Email: | sever@wustl.edu |
Website: | https://sever.wustl.edu/degree-programs/cybersecurity/index.html |
Program Director
Joe Scherrer
Executive Director, Professional Education
Director, Cybersecurity Strategic Initiative
Program Director, Graduate Studies in Cybersecurity Management
DLA, Doctor of Liberal Arts, Washington University in St. Louis
MA, Strategic Studies, Air War College
MA, National Security Studies, Naval War College
MS, Business Administration, Boston University
MS, Information Systems Management, Air Force Institute of Technology
Graduate Certificate, Executive and Professional Coaching, University of Texas at Dallas
BS, Electrical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis
For a list of our program faculty, please visit our website.
Online Master of Cybersecurity Management
Total units required: 30
In order to earn the degree, all courses must be passed with a C- or higher. In addition, a student must have a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.70 over all courses applied toward the degree.
Course numbers below are subject to change. Please contact the Sever Institute Assistant Director of Academic & Student Services for accurate academic advising information.
Code | Title | Units |
---|---|---|
Required: 21 units | ||
CSM 660 | Cybersecurity Technical Fundamentals | 3 |
CSM 661 | Oversight for Excellence: Cybersecurity Management and Governance | 3 |
CSM 662 | Efficient and Effective Cybersecurity Operations | 3 |
CSM 666 | Cybersecurity Risk Management | 3 |
CSM 667 | The Hacker Mindset: Cyber Attack Fundamentals | 3 |
CSM 687 | Cloud Security | 3 |
INFO 570 | Leadership Seminar for Technology Professionals | 3 |
Electives: Choose 9 units | ||
CSM 663 | Enterprise Network Security | 3 |
CSM 664 | Access Control and Identity Management | 3 |
CSM 665 | Cybersecurity Analytics | 3 |
CSM 668 | Emerging Issues and Technology in Cybersecurity | 3 |
CSM 669 | Incident Response and Business Continuity | 3 |
Bridge Course* | ||
CSM 659 | Introduction to Cybersecurity | 3 |
- *
The bridge course is offered for students with limited to no cybersecurity background. The successfully completed course will count toward the 9 required elective units.
Visit online course listings to view semester offerings for T93 CSM.
T93 CSM 659 Introduction to Cybersecurity
This course is intended as a comprehensive introduction to the cybersecurity field. It covers a broad range of cybersecurity terms, definitions, historical perspectives, concepts, processes, technologies, and trends, with a focus on managing risk and the employment of cybersecurity as an organizational enabler.
Credit 3 units.
View Sections
T93 CSM 660 Cybersecurity Technical Fundamentals
This course presents a comprehensive survey of cybersecurity technology, including basic theory and concepts. Students will gain hands-on familiarity with cybersecurity technology through lab exercises, in-class studios, and scenarios. Topics covered include security considerations surrounding operating systems, the web, email, databases, wireless technology, the cloud, and the Internet of Things. Also addressed are cryptography, secure software design, physical security, and human factors in cybersecurity.
Credit 3 units.
View Sections
T93 CSM 661 Oversight for Excellence: Cybersecurity Management and Governance
This course takes a comprehensive approach to the management of the organizational cybersecurity function. It also explores the principles of information technology governance. Course work provides a deeper understanding of best practices for managing cybersecurity processes and meeting multiple needs of enterprise management by balancing business risks and operational and technical imperatives. Toward this end, the course addresses a range of topics necessary for success, including the elements of and how to establish a governance program, cybersecurity management frameworks, developing and implementing a cybersecurity strategy, deploying cybersecurity policy and controls, ensuring standards and regulatory compliance, functional and budgetary advocacy, interfacing with the C-suite and board, and talent acquisition and development.
Credit 3 units.
View Sections
T93 CSM 662 Efficient and Effective Cybersecurity Operations
In this course, students will gain understanding of what it takes to manage the people, process, and technology for effective and efficient day-to-day cybersecurity operations. Using the Cybersecurity Operations Center (CSOC) as the fundamental exemplar, students will learn the functions and processes that comprise a typical CSOC with an underlying focus on continually optimizing operations and processes to ensure agility and performance. Students will examine options for structuring the CSOC and core CSOC functions and processes such as threat intelligence; monitoring, detection, and threat assessment; vulnerability management; incident response; prevention, including awareness training; partner and third-party coordination; analytics, metrics, and reporting; training; and CSOC technologies and instrumentation.
Credit 3 units.
View Sections
T93 CSM 663 Enterprise Network Security
This course presents a detailed and comprehensive study of the architecture and defensive approaches to protect enterprise network environments against cyber threats. Students will gain practical experience in secure network architectures and design approaches. Using a building-block approach along with case studies and design exercises, the course will establish the value of applied foundational security frameworks and system models. Specific topics include defensive network design, advanced treatment of appropriate security implementation tools and techniques, boundary defense, secure wireless and mobility solutions, remote and business partner access, and third-party and vendor interactions to ensure appropriate enterprise network solutions are implemented.
Credit 3 units.
View Sections
T93 CSM 664 Access Control and Identity Management
Business advancements due to technologies such as cloud, mobility, and the need to access information from anywhere using any device have made identity management and access control a critical component of cybersecurity. In this course, students will gain understanding of organizational and technical identity management and access control frameworks. They will also learn central concepts such as least privileged access, authentication, and authorization, which protect applications and systems from unapproved access. Topics covered include single sign-on, privileged account management, provisioning, role management, and directory services. Students will complete a "real-world" identity management and access control business case to identify risks and controls, and they will also create a strategy and roadmap to address challenges and propose solutions.
Credit 3 units.
View Sections
T93 CSM 665 Cybersecurity Analytics
This course provides an introduction to use of data analytics in support of an organization's cybersecurity function. The course is designed to increase student understanding of how data analytics can be used to manage security and how data analytics can be deployed in support of risk-based assessment and decision making. Students who complete this course successfully will be able to apply data analytics techniques and tools to help organizations discover anomalies pertaining to cyber threats; to implement, assess and monitor basic security functions; to respond to emerging threats or prioritized requests as defined by organizational stakeholders; to depict cybersecurity risk posture within the context of compliance and regulatory requirements; and to construct a comprehensive cybersecurity analytics framework.
Credit 3 units.
View Sections
T93 CSM 666 Cybersecurity Risk Management
In this course, students will gain deeper appreciation of the challenges faced by enterprises when addressing cybersecurity risks. The course will cover the evolution of cyber threats, including attacker methods and their targets across different industries. Students will be able to understand the differences between enterprise, operational and cybersecurity risk management and the role that each play (or should play) in managing risks to an organization. Students will gain technical understanding of industry-leading frameworks (COSO, ISO, NIST, FAIR) and become conversant with their strengths and weaknesses as well as the applicability and practicality of their implementation.
Credit 3 units.
View Sections
T93 CSM 667 The Hacker Mindset: Cyber Attack Fundamentals
This course is designed to provide an introductory understanding of how offensive security techniques practically operate. During this course, students will use hacking techniques to compromise systems, collect data, and perform other tasks that fall under the generally understood use of the term "hacker." These techniques will be related to risk-based defensive security practices, with a view toward enhancing the student's understanding of what it takes to be a successful "defender." By the conclusion of the course, students will have a baseline technical understanding of hacking techniques; they will have executed offensive security operations and increased their technical understanding of what it takes to deal with cyber threats.
Credit 3 units.
View Sections
T93 CSM 668 Emerging Issues and Technology in Cybersecurity
Each new technology advancement brings with it promises and challenges. Will it be used for good or lead to disaster? This course examines contemporary and near-future cybersecurity threats and the potential security impact of new technologies. Topics include new forms of computing and communications and their implications for cybersecurity practitioners as well as incipient threat vectors. Historical security incidents will also be used to provide context and insight into the relationship of technology and security. Throughout the course, students will be challenged to develop strategies and responses to deal with emerging technologies and threats in the ever-evolving cybersecurity domain.
Credit 3 units.
View Sections
T93 CSM 669 Incident Response and Business Continuity
This course focuses on the end-to-end process and methods to deal with cybersecurity incidents. Using recent examples of cyber breaches and incidents, students explore how CISOs react and respond to these incidents and learn best practices for doing so. Topics include developing an incident response plan, organizing an incident response team, leveraging cyber intelligence and external partners to aid in response, handling public and private communications about the incident, and post-breach restoration. Particular attention will be paid to establishing a strong understanding of cybersecurity indicators and motives for espionage activities from both an external and rogue insider's perspective. Students will learn about host-based and network incident response tools and digital forensic tools, including techniques and tactics for their effective use. This section of the course includes key "hands-on" activities that are typically used in post-breach analysis and investigations, such as the forensic analysis of network storage, hard drives, and memory. Students will also become familiar with post-breach report construction and examine the proper drafting and use of such reports for submission to legal counsel, the courts, and organizational leaders.
Credit 3 units.
View Sections
T93 CSM 687 Cloud Security
Today's organizations are more and more focused on delivering faster results and better products and services and on doing this securely via an ever-evolving technological landscape. As a key component of the competitive landscape, cloud-based technologies have enabled the critical capabilities, functionality and innovations necessary to transform the way organizations survive and thrive in the competitive environment. As such, "the cloud" requires cybersecurity practitioners to think differently about managing risk, producing resilient solutions, and dealing with third-party providers. In this course, students will learn best practices for cloud security to include methods for architecting and applying security-related features in a cloud platform. Through case studies, standards, best practices, and studio exercises, students will develop the necessary skills to identify the security challenges of a cloud environment in support of the ongoing operations of the enterprise.
Credit 3 units.
View Sections