Carnegie Mellon University

Cyber Defense Concentration

For M.S. in Information Security (MSIS)

Following guidelines from the U.S. National Security Agency, the Cyber Defense Concentration is intended to provide MSIS students with a structured pathway to a focused set of skills that are highly relevant to careers in cybersecurity.

Through INI's MSIS program, Carnegie Mellon University is designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CD).

LEARN MORE ABOUT CMU'S DESIGNATIONS

Requirements

The Cyber Defense Concentration is available to students in the M.S. in Information Security (MSIS) program. Through this concentration, MSIS students complete the set of courses below as part of their MSIS curricular requirements. The following courses are required:

  • 14-513: Introduction to Computer Systems

  • 14-642: Introduction to Embedded Systems

  • 14-735: Secure Coding

  • 14-740: Fundamentals of Computer Networks

  • 14-741: Introduction to Information Security

  • 14-761: Applied Information Assurance

  • 14-817: Cyber Risk Modeling

  • 18-731: Network Security

Compatibility with Study Options

The Cyber Defense Concentration can be completed within any of the available study options (Standard, Applied, Advanced, or Applied Advanced). Under any of these options, 24 units of program electives remain to be fulfilled outside of concentration requirements. Several additional INI courses have been identified as strong complements to the concentration, including but not limited to 14-736, 14-819, 14-822, 14-823, 14-828, 14-829, 14-848, and 18-732.