125 credits
required for program
- On Campus
- Minor Available
- PSEO/Early College Online Classes
Gain an in-depth understanding of how organizations of all types and sizes use cybersecurity to protect their information, computer systems, and personnel. The Cybersecurity major provides you with the tools to effectively provide information assurance in a variety of enterprises such as business, government, and healthcare.
This degree might be right for you if
- enjoy taking on new challenges every day
- consider learning to be a life-long occupation
- thrive on protecting your organization and colleagues from cyber threats
Why study cybersecurity at Northwestern?
Our program provides training in three broad areas:
- learning and managing implementation of new technology
- developing solutions for your firm’s information security needs
- providing a secure environment for your organization
Designed to meet curricular learning outcomes set by the National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education, our Cybersecurity major includes courses in mathematics, computer science, data communication, and computer security fundamentals in order to provide a well-rounded learning experience for the undergraduate seeking a career in cybersecurity. We also offer a study group each spring semester for preparation for the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.
Cybersecurity has become a dominant concern across all areas of our lives: business, technology, government, and even non-profit organizations. The media daily contain stories about cyber attacks and underscore the need for educated employees in information security.
The federal government recently announced the need for an additional 500,000 cybersecurity professionals. Microsoft Corporation has committed to spending $20 billion, that’s an increase of 400%, in the next five years to prepare students for a career in cybersecurity. Google, in an effort to secure employees certified in cybersecurity, will spend $10 billion in the next five years training 100,000 students.
Our courses provide the learner with hands-on experience in our data communications hardware facility managing network routers and switches, unique labs designed to challenge both you and your teammate, and off-campus projects at the conclusion of various courses. Our students have designed solutions for numerous Twin City firms including: Medtronic, Andersen Windows, Thrivent Financial, Northwestern Mutual, Caribou Coffee, Scandinavian Design, and Chick-fil-A.
All graduates are usually employed within three months of commencement and work at a variety of organizations including: FBI, Allianz, United Health, Travelers Insurance, Medtronic, Thrivent, H.B. Fuller, 3M, Abbott Labs, Target, and U.S. Bank.
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My roommate convinced me to take Principles of Management Information Systems despite never having an interest in coding or computers for the most part. It just so happened that I loved that class and eventually changed my major to Business Management Information Systems by the next semester.
Careers in Cybersecurity
There are a variety of career pathways that begin with a degree in cybersecurity.
What types of work are related to this degree?
- Digital forensics specialist
- Computer network defense analyst
- Exploitation analyst
- Cyber network engineer
- Information systems designer
- Cybersecurity analyst
- Protocol analyst
- Systems engineer
- Database administrator
- Penetration testing specialist
- Cyber security architect
- Incident response analyst
- Malware analyst
- Intrusion detection analyst
- DevSecOps engineer
- Software developer
- Security auditor
What will I learn?
You will learn to adapt to changing conditions, solve complex problems, and communicate effectively with fellow workers.
CYS 2081
Data Communications I
This course provides the student with a comprehensive overview of the broad topic of data communications. The ISO OSI model for data communications is used as a framework. The ideas of LANs, WANs and the World Wide Web are discussed, as are the concepts of security, network architectures and network management and administration. Examples from modern computer networks are utilized.
CYS 4369
Introduction to Cryptography
Introduction to Cryptography focuses on the need to provide secure communications through an insecure medium, namely the Internet. Firms and individuals now see the need for anonymity, non-repudiation, traceability, and authenticity. Each of these needs rely on security mechanisms. This course provides the learner with tools and techniques to create a foundation of secure transmissions. Different levels of security, various security objectives, and a variety of cryptographic techniques will be introduced in this course.
CYS 4466
Digital Forensics
An introductory course that provides the student with methods for conducting a computer forensics investigation including procedures, tools, ethics and analysis. This course maps to the objectives of the International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists (IACIS) certification.
CYS 4245
Cybersecurity Current Practices and Trends
This course examines three broad areas related to cybersecurity: tools, trends, and risk. Exploration of tools will include current tools for: Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Proxy/Decrypt, DNS security, Web Application Firewalls (WAF), Threat Intelligence, and Sandboxing. Trends discussion will look at how enterprises are shifting their investment in security tools, from on-premise gear, towards cloud-based solutions including OpenSource, SASE (Secure Access Service Edge), CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker), and SWG (Secure Web Gateway). Exploration of risk will include tools and methods around security program management, audit, and legal issues.
CYS 3265
Tools and Techniques in Computer Science and Cybersecurity
This course will examine tools and techniques used in computer science for software development. The course includes an emphasis on applicability to cybersecurity. Topics include: DevOps (for example CI/CD pipelines and Jenkins), Containerization (for example Openshift, Kubernetes and Docker), and Cloud-deployment. Discussion of the use of the above methods to deploy in cloud environments, considerations unique to commercial clouds such as resiliency and scaling. We may also look at virtualization and orchestration tools (for example VMware, Chef, SaltStack, Puppet, and Ansible), and the differences between imperative and declarative approaches. The course includes a substantial lab and hands-on component, which investigates the use of course tools. A $100 course fee required.
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