The WMG Cyber Security Centre, at University of Warwick has gained official certification from GCHQ for its Cyber Security Management MSc course and its planned Cyber Security Engineering MSc.
The certification is a government benchmark in cyber security.
These master’s degrees are designed for those wishing to develop a career in cyber security, or to take a technical or managerial role in an organisation dependent upon technology in its business processes. Typically the students will be from a computer science or information technology (IT) education background or from undergraduate courses with a significant component of either.
In 2010, the UK government announced a 650 million pound investment strategy into Cyber Security and declared that Cyber-Security had become a ‘tier 1’ priority alongside international terrorism and major national incidents.
The WMG Cyber Security Centre is only one of ten centres in the UK to gain certification and Warwick says this was due to the Centre’s engaging with industry, the international experience of the Cyber Security Centre team and the quality of the course with its student support.
The universities who submitted their master’s degrees for assessment all had to meet the assessment criteria which demand a well-defined and appropriate degree content.
Professor Carsten Maple, Director of Cyber Research and Professor of Cyber Systems Engineering at the WMG Cyber Security Centre said: “Our engagement with industry has a direct relevance to our teaching, so to be recognised by GCHQ for the quality of our research and teaching is excellent for the Cyber Security Centre. The Government’s UK Cyber Security Strategy highlights the need to build the UK’s cyber security knowledge, skills and capability, and we’re keen to support this by identifying and developing future talent through our education and research programmes.”
AndChris Ensor, Deputy Director for the National Technical Authority for Information Assurance at GCHQ, said: “As the National Technical Authority for Information Assurance, GCHQ recognises the critical role academia plays in developing the UK’s skill and knowledge base. I am delighted that six more Master’s degrees in general cyber security have been certified. I’d encourage those who were not successful to explore how best to invest in order to be able to maximise chances of success in future calls.”
