Cyber Security

Program Director: Nasir Memon

The MS in Cyber Security Program at NYU-Poly provides students with the critical knowledge and skills to become experts in cyber security, the science of protecting vital computer networks and electronic infrastructures from attacks. The program responds to the growing demand for security specialists in industry and in government organizations.

The cyber-security field is expected to generate many new jobs over the next decade as companies across all industries continue to place top priority on safeguarding their data and information systems. Graduates are well prepared for careers as developers of security products and as security-application programmers, security analysts, penetration testers, vulnerability analysts and security architects. They also may pursue positions as security researchers or continue their studies at the PhD level.

Special Provisions

Transfer Courses

Students with a prior MS or an advanced degree from another institution may be allowed to transfer a maximum of two courses. The Cyber Security MS Program Committee determines the course equivalence of the transferred course work. For each course to be transferred, the student must provide a complete description, along with lecture and assignment materials. Courses are considered for transfer credit if they were completed less than three years ago.

Student Transfers from other Master’s Programs at Polytechnic Institute of NYU
Qualified MS students registered in other NYU-Poly master’s programs (e.g., the CS master’s program), who can demonstrate adequate skills in cyber security, may be permitted to transfer to the MS in Cyber Security Program. The admission criteria and program requirements are detailed in previous sections.

MS Cyber-Security Transfers to the PhD Program in Computer Science
Qualified Cyber Security MS students may transfer into the PhD program in Computer Science. The MS Program Committee first must recommend the applicant to the PhD Admissions Committee.

NOTE: Any other programmatic issues are evaluated individually by the Cyber Security MS Program Committee.

Requirements for Master of Science in Cyber Security

Entrance Requirements

Students need a superior undergraduate record from an accredited institution. Preferably, students should have an undergraduate degree in computer science, mathematics, science or engineering. However, applicants with degrees in other fields are considered individually for admission. Additionally, students must satisfy the following:

1. Knowledge of mathematics through calculus.
2. At least one year of university-level science.
3. A working knowledge of a high-level, general-purpose programming language (preferably C++) and of data structures.

Students who do not satisfy requirement 3 may satisfy the requirements by taking one or two non-credit, preparatory bridge courses.

Students who have superior academic credentials but who lack insufficient background are admitted with conditional status, pending satisfactory completion of preparatory bridge courses. In some cases, such students are interviewed to determine the necessary preparatory courses they need. Successful completion of the preparatory courses with a B or better average grade is a necessary condition for transfer to regular status.

The demonstrated ability to communicate in written and spoken English is essential to success in graduate studies in computer science and information systems engineering and is required for regular status. Foreign students and others for whom English is a second language may be required to undertake preparatory work to improve their language skills before admission into the graduate program.

Admission with advanced standing is accepted in accordance with NYU-Poly regulations published in the catalog. A maximum of 9 credits may be applied to the MS degree from previous graduate work at an acceptable institution.

Statement of Purpose

Applicants also should submit a special purpose statement clearly stating their experience in cyber security, and their motivation for applying to the program.