Cyber Security is a specialisation within our Master’s in Computer Science. It is a joint master’s specialisation offered by the University of Twente and Delft University of Technology.
Why study cyber security?
Today’s society relies on cyber space for almost everything, including banking, transport and logistics, air travel, energy, telecommunications, flood defence, healthcare, email, social networks, and even warfare. The consequences of cyber security failures could be disastrous and the demand for cybersecurity specialists is therefore high and rising.
Cyber security is all about the assessment of cyber risks and the design and implementation of counter-measures. Good cyber security measures start with the prevention of attacks. Think, for example, of encryption, firewalls and awareness campaigns. As ‘100% security’ is unaffordable, the next stage of cyber security is the timely detection of attacks. Think of using intrusion detection tools and data analytics. The third stage is the recovery from attacks, for example, using incident response methods and backups. Cyber risk management is the process used to make sure that the right resources are allocated. It is all about balancing these three categories of cyber security measures in order to reach states of acceptable risk levels in various cyber domains.
Cyber security is a multidisciplinary field with computer science at its core. It involves cryptography, formal methods, secure software engineering, and machine learning, among other things. It also touches on a broad range of supporting disciplines, such as law, economics, criminology, management, and psychology.
Find out more about the programme and whether it is the right specialisation for you or check out the courses overview.
Joint programme: 4TU master's specialisation
The 4TU Cyber Security Master’s specialisation offered by the University of Twente and Delft University of Technology gives students taking a Master’s in Computer Science the opportunity to become highly sought after cyber security specialists.
As a student of the 4TU Cyber Security Master’s specialisation, you can enrol in the Computer Science Master’s at the University of Twente or at Delft University of Technology. Most courses are taught via tele-lecturing, so that travel between the universities is minimal. The programme takes two years and consists of 120 EC courses and project work. You can start in September and in February.
Please note that this is not a joint degree. After completing the 4TU Cyber Security Master's specialisation you will receive a diploma from the University of Twente – if you complete the programme here, that is – with a certificate in Cyber Security. However, there is a double degree in Cyber Security available through the EIT Digital Master School.
Career opportunities
As a cyber security graduate, you will not have any problems finding a job. You can work for a variety of organisations, including the police, ministries, the IT security industry, auditors, research organisations and universities, both in the Netherlands and abroad.
Examples of jobs include:
- Computer and network security specialist
- Digital expert police
- Entrepreneur and security consultant
- Ethical hacker
- Information security advisor
- PhD student
- Security analyst
- Teacher
Curious about job perspectives? Read alumnus Jarmo's testimonial.
Advisory board
The Advisory Board supports our plans in general and very much welcomes graduates who have excellent technical knowledge and skills (‘Über-technologists’) and who are able to convert their knowledge into the language of another domain (speak a second language).
The 4TU.CybSec Master’s specialisation is supported by an advisory board made up of senior leaders from industry and government:
- Maarten Hoeve, Manager technical team, European Network for Cyber Security
- Floor Jansen, Strategic advisor, High Tech Crime Unit, National Police
- Ronald Prins, CTO, Fox-IT
- Paul Samwel, Lead security architect, Rabobank
- Eelco Stofbergen, Director consulting, CGI Group
- Pim Takkenberg, Director cyber security, North wave Group
- Hans de Vries, Director, National Cyber Security Centre
- Annemarie Zielstra, Director cyber security & resilience, TNO
- Marko van Zwam, Partner cyber security, Deloitte