Network & Information Security / with Management Studies Masters (MSc)

Program Overview

Students will develop skills in combating cyber threats, including malware, social engineering, and data leakage. The program offers a project dissertation option for in-depth research and industry-relevant experience. Graduates are highly sought after in the growing field of cybersecurity, with career opportunities in ethical hacking, cyber security engineering, and security consulting.

Program Outline

New legislation, technologies, vulnerabilities and threats necessitate frequent system updates. This course offers a critical awareness of current developments and future trends in cryptography, network security and mobile/wireless security. Students will be supported by our dedicated placement team in securing this opportunity.

• Upon completion, students will be able to:
• review concepts in computational number theory and their relevance for the design of secure and efficient techniques in cryptography;
• describe and deploy common symmetric and asymmetric encryption algorithms used as standards in modern cryptosystems;
• compare and contrast the properties of hash functions and attacks on them, and be familiar with their use in digital signature algorithms and their role in security protocols;
It also covers Ethical and legal aspects of security and hence addresses the employability of the students in their future career. Finally, cutting-edge topics such as Web and Cloud security complete the picture.
• Data Communications (30 credits): This core module provides a working knowledge of data communications covering TCP/IP networks and digital communications.
Topics covered include transport layer services, multiplexing, TCP congestion control, network layer – network service models, IP addressing and IP network design, routing principles, dynamic routing, digital transmission, modulation, multiplexing and channel coding.
• Upon completion, you will be able to:
• Compare computer network architectures.
• Define and calculate transmission performance over a communication link.
• Study and analyse characteristics of modulation methods.
• Upon completion, students will be able to:
• Plan, manage and critically evaluate the project using the techniques and tools needed in order to bring it in successfully on time and within resourcing limits
• Identify and critically analyse real-world problems or knowledge gaps to which academic concepts and methods can be realistically applied to improve or resolve the problem situation
• Apply skills to show an ability to engage in academic and professional communication with others in their field through report and presentation
Characteristics and performance limits of wireless systems, techniques and tools to analyse them and methods for their design will also be covered. It will provide practical and useful knowledge that can be readily applied in the wireless industry.
• It covers the real-world, practical knowledge needed to understand, design, evaluate, deploy, test, validate and debug WLAN, WMAN and WPAN, as well as GPRS/ UMTS/ 3G and 4G and beyond networks and systems and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN).
Advanced technologies such as ultra-wideband communications and cognitive radio will also be addressed.
• Mobile Security (30 credits): (For NCSC Certified Pathway)
Mobile communication modalities will be covered, including 3G/4G communication networks, Wi-Fi and personal area networks, mobile privacy and ethical issues. The gained knowledge will be applied in different mobile computing business environments such as mobile healthcare (m-health), mobile commerce (m-commerce), mobile learning (m-learning) and mobile web services (m-WS). Mobile security assessment will be introduced in order to formulate appropriate security requirements. Key management protocols in typically ad hoc, wireless and location-dynamic environments will be presented and analysed. Emerging topics such as the Internet of Things (IoT), mobile clouds and distributed social network security will also be discussed.
• Multimedia Communications (30 credits):
• Students will investigate business topics ranging from finance, accounting, budgeting, and marketing, to organisational management by developing the leadership skills to meet business challenges and to cope with their complexity.

Assessment:

• Core Pathway:
• Coursework: 61%
• Exams: 38%
• Practical: 1%
• Management Pathway:
• Coursework: 65%
• Exams: 30%
The School of Computer Science and Mathematics is driven by the philosophy of 'learning through making'; we focus strongly on facilitating a hands-on experience, student led and owned product portfolios and producing industry-ready graduates. In fact, it can be hard to get a job with a large company, even as a software developer, without some appreciation of security. It provides friendly and high-quality careers and recruitment guidance, including advice and sessions on job-seeking skills such as CV preparation, application forms and interview techniques.
• Computing research activities are focused around the following main research centres:
• Digital Imaging Research Centre – offering expertise in computer vision, medical imaging, visual surveillance, ambient intelligence, machine learning and computer graphic.
• Wireless Multimedia and Networking Research Group – The research group carries out fundamental and applied research on wireless communications and networking, media streaming and closely related fields.

Home 2025/26 MSc full time £11,400 MSc part time £6,270 International 2025/26 MSc full time £19,300 MSc part time £10,615 Home 2024/25 MSc full time £10,900 MSc part time £5,995 International 2024/25 MSc full time £18,500 MSc part time £10,175 Postgraduate loans Scholarships and bursaries Kingston University offers a range of postgraduate scholarships, including: Alumni discount Progression Scholarship Kevin Walsh scholarship The Kevin Walsh Scholarship is a one-year scholarship for a taught masters course in the School of Computer Science & Mathematics. Additional costs Depending on the programme of study, there may be extra costs that are not covered by tuition fees which students will need to consider when planning their studies. Where a course has additional expenses, we make every effort to highlight them. These may include optional field trips, materials (e.g. art, design, engineering), security checks such as DBS, uniforms, specialist clothing or professional memberships. Textbooks You may prefer to buy your own copy of key textbooks, this can cost between £50 and £250 per year. Computer equipment Photocopying and printing In the majority of cases written coursework can be submitted online. There may be instances when you will be required to submit work in a printed format. Printing, binding and photocopying costs are not included in your tuition fees, this may cost up to £100 per year. Field trips Travel Placements