Master of Science in Cybersecurity

• 36 credit hours
• Customizable program, on campus or online, technical or management
• Small classes, personalized attention, and career development with expert faculty
• Fall, Spring, and Summer intake
• Students new in the field learn from other students already in government and business positions
• Hands-on learning to develop skills
• Focus on the cybersecurity workforce
• Priority to advance to the doctoral program

• Graduate application
• Official transcripts from all postsecondary education
• Professional résumé

International Students:
For university coursework completed outside the U.S., a course-by-course transcript evaluation is required from a NACES member evaluation agency such as World Education Services or Educational Credentials Evaluators.

Students for whom English is a second language must submit a recent official score of 96 from TOEFL, 6.5 from IELTS, or 58 from the PTE academic exam, or documentation of program completion at 1 of Marymount University’s language partners. For complete information about International Admissions Guidelines and language partner programs, visit our International Graduate Students page.

IT 670: Computer Network Defense

Provides hands-on experience in defending computer networks from viruses, worms, Trojan horses, denial-of-service attacks, password cracking, key loggers, buffer overflow attacks, and reconnaissance such as ‘sniffing,’ DNS, SNMP, scanning, fingerprinting, and war driving. Students execute attack-and-defend scenarios and document their results.

IT 560: Applications of Cryptography

Presents a detailed instruction on symmetric and asymmetric cryptography. Included are discussions about the history of cryptography and cryptanalysis. The curriculum teaches algorithms for modern ciphers such as AES, DES, RSA, and RC4. Also covered are key exchange and management, digital signatures, secure hashes, and steganography.

IT 588: Cybersecurity Risk Management

This course examines cybersecurity as a risk management problem in which an organization identifies potential cybersecurity risks, evaluates those risks, and makes risk mitigation and acceptance decisions given resource limitations. The course covers both the government’s Risk Management Framework (RMF) as well as more quantitative approaches to risk analysis, risk valuation, and risk metrics using techniques such as Factor Analysis of Information Risk.

IT 577 Human Factors in Cybersecurity

Explores the human aspects that have an impact on the practices, policies, and procedures that are in place in an organization to secure the firm’s information. Topics include human behavior, ethics, psychology, social engineering, and hacker culture. Emphasis is on the human element and the motivations for cyber crimes. Analysis covers techniques to prevent intrusions and attacks that threaten organizational data and techniques to identify potential insider threats.

During the next decade, the career outlook for cybersecurity professionals is expected to grow 33%, far above the national average.

Recent graduates from Marymount’s on-campus and online Cybersecurity degree programs work with companies such as Accenture, Amazon Web Services, Capital One, Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce, and federal agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and the Department of Defense.

The median annual salary for Information (Cyber) Security Analysts in 2021 was $102,600, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

More information on careers in cybersecurity can be found at cyberseek.org.

Welcome to the School of Technology and Innovation within Marymount University’s College of Business, Innovation, Leadership, and Technology (BILT).

Today, technology is a major part of all of our lives and our School is here to educate the next generation of technology gurus in whatever that technology brings. We are extremely proud of our progressive technology programs and the quality of our students who are entering the challenging workplaces of today and tomorrow.

The School of Technology and Innovation focuses on preparing individuals to take part in the global critical technology workforce shortage. Our programs, whether they are at the undergraduate, master’s, or doctoral levels, prepare students for roles in digital transformation, cybersecurity, data science, cloud computing, and the constantly growing field of technology applications.

We are particularly proud of our diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives as we help significant numbers of minorities, women, veterans and the neurodiverse succeed in the technology field.

Please explore our website to learn more about our programs and our faculty, staff, students, and alumni.

Dr. Diane Murphy
Director of School of Technology and Innovation

Click here to view our Faculty

“My experience at Marymount has catalyzed the next phase of my career. I began the dual M.S. in Cybersecurity and M.B.A. program at the height of a global pandemic but always felt connected to the faculty, my classmates, the course material, and opportunities to drive forward my professional development. I will be pursuing a Doctorate in Cybersecurity at Marymount this fall and am looking forward to evolving my skills through my research under the guidance of the supportive and innovative faculty.” – Mashi Dehghanpour, Class of 2022, Cyber Assessor Senior Consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton 

“My master’s degree in Cybersecurity has definitely already opened so many doors for me, and I’m excited to see how many more doors it will open.” – Rebecca Solorzano, Class of 2018, Information Assurance Security Specialist at the Department of Homeland Security