Security Concentration Course Requirements

MS Computer Science Core Requirements                                                                   
Four courses (12 credits)

1. Students must satisfy the CompSci MS core requirements: four courses (12 credits) of the 30 credits including at least one course from Systems, Theory, and AI areas (see table below). 

Systems Core Requirement:

• Either COMPSCI 660 or COMPSCI 560 (597N) must be taken as a Systems Core for this Security concentration.
  Students may petition to the Master's Program Director to substitute this requirement with a class roughly equivalent to either and that the equivalent of receiving a "B grade or higher" was awarded. (Students should not expect the credits to necessarily transfer to the MS degree.)
• Courses from the MS COMPSCI Systems Core menu or the Security Systems Core menu count as a second Systems core for this concentration only.

Security Systems Core menu:

This table is an example. The tables are maintained by the Master's Program Director according to current/regular course offerings.

• COMPSCI 660 Advanced Information Assurance
• COMPSCI 560 Introduction to Computer and Network Security (formerly COMPSCI 597N)
• COMPSCI 690B Detecting Interference in Networks
• COMPSCI 590K Advanced Digital Forensics
• COMPSCI 661 Secure Distributed Systems
• COMPSCI 561 System Defense and Test (formerly COMPSCI 590A)
• COMPSCI 590J Cyber Effects: Reverse Engineering, Exploit Analysis, and Capability Development 
• COMPSCI 690C Foundations of Applied Cryptography

A grade of "B" or better is required for core classes.

500-level courses do not count toward MS/PhD core requirements. Students who potentially could apply to the UMass PhD program should follow the MS/PhD core/course requirements. 

Security Electives Requirements
Two courses (6 credits) 

1. Students must take two security electives from Security Systems Electives menu.

Security Systems Electives menu:

• COMPSCI 690B Detecting Interference in Networks
• COMPSCI 590K Advanced Digital Forensics
• COMPSCI 661 Secure Distributed Systems
• COMPSCI 561 System Defense and Test (Formerly COMPSCI 590A)
• COMPSCI 560 Introduction to Computer and Network Security (formerly COMPSCI 597N)
• COMPSCI 690C Foundations of Applied Cryptography
• COMPSCI 563 Internet Law & Policy (formerly INFOSEC 690L)
• ECE 647: ST --Security Engineering
  
  Outside courses on this list are pre-approved and can count toward the CompSci MS course requirements.
   
• ECE 544/644 may not be used towards the MS degree (since it overlaps with COMPSCI 560 previously COMPCSI 597N). Math 571 and ECE 597XX may not be used towards the MS degree (since they overlap with COMPSCI 690C Foundations of Applied Cryptography).

A grade of "B" or better is required for these classes.

Electives Requirements

Four courses (12 credits) 

1. Students must take four additional COMPSCI courses as free electives. These courses are not limited to security courses.  

Course Requirements:

• No more than 9 credits may come from courses outside of CICS. Credit for graduate courses from other departments must be approved by the GPD.
• No more than 18 of the course credits may come from courses at the 500 level. 500-level classes taken to satisfy core requirements fall into this group.
• At least 12 of those 18 credits must come from courses at the 600-900 level that are not independent studies. 600-level classes taken to satisfy core requirements fall into this group.
• No more than 6 credits may be pass/fail.
• At most 12 credits from independent studies and/or a Master's project (COMPSCI 701).
• Classes with a grade below a C may not be counted toward the MS degree.
• No more than 12 credits may be transferred from other programs or institutions.
• Your overall grade point average for those 30 MS credits must be 3.0 or higher.

Systems