Master of Science in Cybersecurity

Click here to download this pdf if it is not showing up properly in your browser.

Minimum Admissions Requirements

A bachelor’s degree or equivalent in computer science, computer engineering, information technology, or a similar field as judged by the Graduate Committee from a regionally accredited institution.*
‘B’ average (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) or better in all coursework attempted while registered as an upper-division student in the bachelor’s program.
For applicants whose native language is not English, English proficiency exam scores of at least 550 (paper-based) or 80 (internet-based) on the TOEFL, 6.5 on the IELTS or 110 on the Duolingo. English proficiency exam exemptions are based on the country in which the applicant completed their undergraduate degree, not on nationality or language of instruction. See the list of exempt countries here: https://gradschool.fiu.edu/toefl-exempt-countries/.

*Please note that the MS in Cybersecurity is a technical degree. While SCIS welcomes students from all backgrounds, prerequisite courses may be required for applicants who do not hold a degree in the fields listed above. Contact the Graduate Program Advisor for more information.

Required Documents

Online graduate application/application fee.
Beginning January 15th, 2023, official courses-by-course evaluation is required from a NACES member credential evaluation service for all international post-secondary (college or university) course work. The evaluation must come directly from the evaluation service to FIU certified as an official document. FIU only accepts secure transcripts of post-secondary school records and these must be received via official channels of mail or authorized electronic transmission. All credentials and documents submitted to the Office of Admissions become the property of FIU. FIU will not return original documents to the applicant or forward to other institutions. You are not required to use the agencies below; you can use any of your choice that is a NACES member credentialed.
- Josef Silny & Associates
  7101 SW 102 Avenue
  Miami, FL 33171
  (t) 305.273.1616
  www.silny.com | info@jsilny.com
- World Education Services
  PO Box 745
  New York, NY 10113-0745
  (t) 212.966.6311
  www.wes.org | info@wes.org
- Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc.
  PO Box 514070
  Milwaukee, WI 53203-3470
  (t) 414.289.3400
  www.ece.org
If applicable, Official TOEFL and Duolingo scores must be reported by the testing agency.
- The ETS school code for the TOEFL exam is 5206.
- IELTS can be verified directly by admissions. Plesae be sure to upload or email a copy of your official IELTS score card.
If admitted, All foreign educated students are required to provide proof of Degree / Diploma. This can be submitted upon arrival at FIU.

Supporting Documents (Recommended)

Statement of purpose
Three letters of recommendation
Resume

Immigration Documents

These forms are required for international students only. See https://admissions.fiu.edu/international/submit-documents/#what for more info.

Bank and Sponsor Letter
Declaration and Certification of Finances
F-1 Transfer Form (if currently residing in the U.S. on an F-1 visa)

Step One: Apply Online

All applications and associated fees, with the exception of those for the combined BS/MS program, are submitted online at https://gradschool.fiu.edu/apply/.

Through the website, applicants will have the opportunity to upload supporting documents, such as a statement of purpose, resume, residency documents for tuition purposes, immigration documents, and the like. They can also provide contact information for recommenders who are then prompted to submit the letters of recommendation through the online portal.

Once submitted, Graduate Admissions will promptly acknowledge receipt of the application via email and will provide a Panther ID as well as further instructions on how to access the MyFIU portal. On MyFIU, students can view the status of their application, including any missing documents. Missing documents are listed under the “To Do List” on the top right-hand corner of the screen.

Once the applicant has been issued a Panther ID, they should include the Panther ID in all communications to the unit representatives, Graduate Admissions, International Student and Scholar Services, and Student Health services.

Step Two: Submit Official Documents

Mailing address for regular U.S. mail:

Office of Admissions
Florida International University
P.O. Box 659004
Miami, FL 33265-9004

Mailing address for couriers (typically used for delivering documents from outside the United States):

Office of Admissions
11200 SW 8th St
BT 201
Miami, FL 33199

FIU requires official documents, even for the initial review of the applications. Required official documents include transcripts, course by course evaluation, translations, and test scores (if applicable).

Transcripts must be official. Foreign students must provide a course by course evaluation from a NACES approved agency.

Official test scores must be reported to the University by the testing agency. The University’s ETS code is 5206. IELTS scores may be verified directly by the admissions officer if the applicant provides FIU with a copy of the score report.

Please note that applications are not referred to the unit for review until required documents have been received and the application evaluation can be completed. Uploaded copies of any of these documents are considered unofficial and will not be used in evaluating the application.

Once admitted, international students will also be required to show an official proof of degree, typically a diploma, but can do so upon their arrival to FIU.

For any and all questions regarding admission required documents you must contact the office of international admissions directly at gradadm@fiu.edu.

Deadlines

This program admits for the fall and spring terms.

All international applicants must abide the international applicant deadline. This includes international applicants residing in the United States and/or international applicants who do not require student visas.

	Fall
Domestic Applicants	June 1st
International Applicants	February 15th

To view this information in a printable format, Click Here.

Required Coursework: 9 credits

CIS 5370 Principles of Cybersecurity
CIS 5371: Introduction to Cryptography
CIS 5374: Cybersecurity & Privacy: Attacks & Defenses

Focus Area: 12 credits

Systems Concentration Area:

CEN 5079: Secure Application Programming
CIS 5373: Systems Security
CIS XXXX: Anonymity & Privacy (TBA)
EEL 6787: Network Security
EEE 5718: Internet of Things & Privacy
EEL 6805: Advanced Malware Reverse Engineering

Applications Concentration Area:

CNT 5415: Practical Applied Security
CIS 5208: Social, Economic, and Policy Aspects of Cybersecurity
EEL 6803: Advanced Digital Forensics
TCN 6880: Telecom Public Policy Development & Standards
ISS 5135: National Security Essentials
PAD 6379: Homeland Security Risk Assessment
PAD 6399: Homeland Security Management for State and Local Government
ISM 6326: Information Security and Compliance
ISM 6328: Information Security Management

Electives: 9 credits

Electives can be chosen from either of the focus areas above or from the courses below. Thesis track students should select 6 credits of thesis to be used here.

CAP 5610 Introduction to Machine Learning
CAP 5640 Introduction to Natural Language Processing
CAP 5768 Introduction to Data Science
CAP 5771 Principles of Data Mining
CAP 6778 Advanced Topics in Data Mining
CIS 5373 Systems Security
CIS 5374 Information Security and Privacy
CIS 6930 Advanced Special Topics (advisor approved sections only)
COT 5407 Introduction to Algorithms
TCN 5080 Secure Telecommunications Transactions
TCN 5455 Information Theory
TCN 6430 Networks Management and Control Standards
TCN 6880 Telecommunications Public Policy Development and Standards

Thesis option: After completion of the other required courses, the student must conduct a research thesis. The topic must first be approved by the faculty member who will supervise the research and then by the Thesis Committee. The thesis will be accepted only after being read and approved by a Thesis Committee. An oral defense is required before the Thesis Committee.

Students who are interested in relevant courses not on the approved list should submit the request to the Graduate Program Advisor with the course details and a strong justification; these courses must have significant security content to be considered. The Graduate Program Director has final discretion over the inclusion of courses in the program of study.

Students in this program are allowed to take up to 6 credits from the University of South Florida’s online M.S. in Cybersecurity program with approval. Students interested in pursuing coursework at USF should contact the Graduate Program Advisor early to learn what is required.

Core Courses

CIS 5370 Principles of Cybersecurity Cybersecurity algorithms, techniques. Mathematical foundations. Symmetric and public key encryption. Authentication, key infrastructure, certificates. Covert channels. Access control. Vulnerabilities.

CIS 5371 Introduction to Cryptography Introduction to cryptography, including hash functions, symmetric and public key cryptosystems, applications, attack types, standards. No programming or special math skills required. Prerequisite: M.S. or Ph.D. standing or permission of the instructor.

CIS 5374 Information Security and Privacy Information Security Planning Planning for Contingencies, Policy, Security Program, Security Management Models, Database Security, Privacy, Information Security Analysis, Protection Mechanism.

Systems Concentration Area Electives

CEN 5079 Secure Application Programming Development of applications that are free from common security vulnerabilities, such as buffer overflow, SQL injection, and cross-site scripting attacks. Emphasis is on distributed web applications.

CIS 5373 Systems Security Risk, Trust, and Threat Models; Types of Attacks; Safe Programming Techniques; Operating System Mechanisms, Virtual Machine Systems; Hardware Security Enforces; Application Security; Personal Security.

CIS XXXX Anonymity & Privacy – TBA

EEL 6787 Network Security Network Security Requirements, Number Theory, Steganography, Encryption Design Principles and Algorithms, Message Authentication and Digital Signature Principle and Designs, Network System Security Design.

EEE 5718 Advances Security of Internet of Things and Cyber-Physical Systems In this project-based class, the students will gain advanced hands-on training in the security of Internet-of-Things (IoT) and Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) areas. Prerequisites: Programming coursework, any CS oriented courses or any embedded coursework or permission of the instructor.

EEL 6805 Advanced Malware Reverse Engineering This course provides the student with the necessary tools and techniques to perform practical reverse engineering on suspicious files and firmware encountered in a range of devices and understanding the implications associated with a malware attacks.

Applications Concentration Area Electives

CNT 5415 Practical Applied Security Hands-on training in practical installation and maintenance of secure systems, including such topics as security configuration, DMZs, firewalls, anti-virus software, and hardware security modules.

CIS 5208 Social, Economic, and Policy Aspects of Cybersecurity The broader human context of cybersecurity, from the perspective of society, economics, and policy.

EEL 6803 Advanced Digital Forensics This course provides students with the advanced skills to track and counter a wide range of sophisticated threats including espionage, hacktivism, financial crime syndication, and APT groups.

TCN 6880 Telecommunications Public Policy Development and Standards A concept-oriented examination of the domestic and international telecommunications policy processes and standards setting environment.

ISS 5135 National Security Essentials An examination of the U.S. national security structure, current security-related controversies and potential U.S. responses to security threats.

PAD 6379 Homeland Security Risk Assessment Provides the technical framework needed for design, implementation, and evaluation of risk assessments used in local, regional, and state Homeland Security administration.

PAD 6399 Homeland Security Management for State and Local Government Provides a broad overview of the legal, technical, financial, and organizational environment in which Homeland Security initiatives are designed and successfully implemented.

ISM 6326 Information Security and Compliance Provides Knowledge and skills needed to protect enterprise assets by mitigating IS/IT related security risks. An exposure to IS/IT security-related Laws, Regulations, and Compliance is also provided. Corequisite ISM 6222.

ISM 6328 Information Security Management Provides knowledge and skills needed to protect enterprise assets by mitigating IS/IT related security risks. Includes application of telecommunication technology and concepts.

Electives

CAP 5610 Introduction to Machine Learning Decision trees, Bayesian learning reinforcement learning as well as theoretical concepts such as inductive bias, the PAC learning, minimum description length principle. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

CAP 5640 Introduction to Natural Language Processing The concepts and principles of computer processing of natural language, including linguistic phenomena, formal methods, and applications. Students will conduct an independent research project.

CAP 5768 Introduction to Data Science Foundations of databases, analytics, visualization and management of data. Practical data analysis with applications. Introduction to Python, SQL, R, and other specialized data analysis toolkits. Prerequisites: STA 3164 or equivalent.

CAP 5771 Principles of Data Mining Introduction to data mining concepts, knowledge representation, inferring rules, statistical modeling, decision trees, association rules, classification rules, clustering, predictive models, and instance-based learning. Prerequisites: COP 4710 and STA 3033.

CAP 6778 Advanced Topics in Data Mining Web, stream data, and relational data mining, graph mining, spatiotemporal data mining, privacy-preserving data mining, high-dimensional data clustering, social network, and linkage analysis.

TCN 5080 Secure Telecommunications Transactions Telecom and information security issues such as: digital signatures, cryptography as applied to telecom transactions, network policing, nested authentication, and improving system trust.

TCN 6430 Networks Management and Control Standards Protocols for management of telecom networks, including Simple Network Management Protocol and Common Management Information Protocol. Extension of protocols to optimize network performance. Prerequisites: TCN 5030 or equivalent.

TCN 5271 Ubiquitous and Embedded Sensor Network-Centric Telecommunications Techniques impacting ubiquitous, embedded sensor network-centric telecommunications, context-awareness, autonomy, data quality, uncertainty, privacy, trustworthiness and wearable computing.

EEL 5278 Smart Grid Cyber Security and Intelligent Electronic Devices Design, simulate and solve smart grid cyber security issues. Manmade and natural large scale disturbances. Smart grid cyber networked standards and new Intelligent Electronic Devices (IED).

Up-to-date information on tuition and fees is available at https://onestop.fiu.edu/finances/estimate-your-costs/.

Currently, the cost per credit hour for a graduate-level course is $455.64 for Florida residents and $1001.69 for non-Florida residents. The estimated cost of a full-time spring or fall semester (9 credits) is $4,295.15 for Florida residents and $9,209.60 for non-Florida residents. The M.S. in Cybersecurity consists of 30 credits. The estimated total cost for a full-time student is $14,446.76 for Florida residents and $30,828.26 for non-Florida residents. These estimates do not include online course fees. Tuition and fees are paid on a semester basis.

Tuition, fees, and the above estimates are subject to change. Estimated costs may not reflect costs paid.

For inquiries related to the M.S. in Cybersecurity, including admissions and academic issues, please contact Rebeca Arocha, the Graduate Program Advisor. Email is preferred.

For information on the M.S. in Cybersecurity, please email rarocha@fiu.edu.