Course overview

In an increasingly complex digital world, where threats towards personal sensitive data, organisational risk, cost-critical digital assets relevant to areas of national defense, IT industry and large-scale sciences, are becoming ever more complex and subtle, pursuing a postgraduate degree in computer security opens up a whole new prospect for building a professional career in such an exciting and important field.

This new Master's course aims to provide current graduates from technical disciplines relevant to computer science with the ability to pursue a career in computer and information security. It provides an educational experience that will equip you with the necessary knowledge and understanding as well as intellectual, professional and transferable skills to fulfil the urgent needs of industry for security professionals in areas related to distributed systems and network security, requirements engineering, modelling, and analysis of security and digital forensics.

Skills learned on this course will help you to:

• critically analyse and evaluate security properties and threats in distributed systems
• select and apply security mechanisms and methods in improving the security of a computer system, and use software tools for writing and reasoning about security policies
• use software tools effectively in order to analyse and develop requirements and formal specifications
• set up and use web development environments and tools including programming environments
• use a range of digital forensic tools in the context of a digital investigation
• apply cryptographic operations for various purposes related to the security of a system
• manage computer engineering and study projects using appropriate tools and techniques

A multifaceted course

One of the main strengths of the course is that it covers security at various stages of the software development process:

• the formal requirements and specification stage
• the software implementation and operation stage mainly for web services
• the after-security stage focusing on the digital forensics analysis of computers and data

This multifaceted approach will result in a deeper and more complete understanding of what security means.

Excellent resources

The course benefits from the excellent resources offered by the School of Computing at the University of Portsmouth, encompassing state-of-the-art laboratories and classrooms, software tools and excellent technical support staff.

The course will also benefit from professional and academic experience of the Computer Security and Digital Forensics Group, which feeds it strong research and technical skills of its staff into the course's programme. It also provides project ideas based on advanced research in the area of computer security, and you will be invited to attend and participate in seminars and events organised by the group, enriching your educational experience.

Course content

The full-time course runs from October to September and consists of a taught programme from October to June and a project that is undertaken in the summer period, from June to September. The part-time mode runs over three years, with the taught programme being delivered over the first two years, followed by a project year.

The course is made up of units to a total of 180 Credit Accumulation and Transfer (CATS) points. The taught element consists of 120 credits taught in four compulsory units rated at 30 credits each. The project unit is rated at 60 credits. The four compulsory units you will study are:

• Computer Security: introducing computer and information security concepts and their practical application in both closed and interconnected systems, this unit aims to develop your critical analysis skills required for building secure systems
• Computer Forensic Investigation and Cryptography: this unit covers the practical aspects of conducting forensic investigation and includes an introduction to cryptographic and steganalysis methods and techniques necessary for the discovery and recovery of hidden information
• Formal Approaches to Software Development: this unit will develop your knowledge in mathematically rigorous approaches to system specification and development
• Advanced Programming Skills for the Web: this unit will draw together a number of system development skills focusing on the development of web applications and connecting databases to web applications, software tools, testing and security

In the final part of the course, you will undertake a substantial engineering project where you will apply the skills and knowledge from the taught part of the course to build and test a system in response to a practical computer and information security problem, often supplied by local businesses or other external clients.

Teaching and assessment

You will be taught using a combination of formal lectures, tutorials and lab sessions. Each 30-credit unit has 48 hours of scheduled activities and, in addition, requires significant time to be spent in private study, which may involve additional software development or research as appropriate to the unit.

You will encounter a range of assessment styles depending on the content and nature of the unit. This will almost certainly include:

• coursework
• supervised work sessions (day-long assessments, generally comprising both a group element and an individual section)
• examinations
• at least one presentation

The most significant assessment element is the final dissertation, which reports and reflects on the project undertaken during the latter stages of the course. You will have a personal tutor who can help with any other personal or academic problems should they arise and access to the School's Tutor Centre, which provides ad hoc support.

Career prospects

Computer and information security remains at the forefront of the global digital economy and national defence. Our course aims to equip you with the necessary technical knowledge and skills to fulfil the urgent need for security professionals in areas related to:

• systems and network security
• requirements engineering
• modelling
• analysis of security and digital forensics

Such career roles include security engineer, security architect, R&D researcher in security-related projects and forensic analyst.

The course will also strengthen your research skills, enabling you  to pursue an academic and industry research career. Our collaborative ties, maintained by the Computer Security and Digital Forensics Group (part of the Pervasive Computing Research Group) in the School of Computing, with various scientific and industrial sectors, both at the national and the EU levels, will also enhance this.

Facilities and features

You will have easy access to a wide range of powerful and modern computers and associated hardware, equipped with the latest software, as well as day-to-day contact with knowledgeable, enthusiastic and highly motivated staff experienced in information and computer security.

Our facilities include:

• a dedicated lab
• a range of target systems to investigate
• specialist software and hardware
• staff experienced in the use of a wide range of specialist software
• external speakers with a broad range of industrial experience

The University Library is at the centre of academic life and is only a short walk away. Open from 8am until midnight every day during term-time, it provides a variety of information to help with study and research. It has also invested heavily in the purchase of electronic resources.  The School also subscribes to the Association of Computer Machinery (ACM) Digital Library, which will give you access to full text articles from leading computing and computer science journals.

In addition, academic staff maintain close links with the world of work, both in Portsmouth and further afield. These links ensure that the programme reflects the current and future needs of commerce and industry.  

Entry requirements

The entry requirements for MSc Computer and Information Security are shown above, for more detailed information please contact:

Department: The School of Computing
Tel: +44 (0)23 9284 2555
Email: technology.admissions@port.ac.uk