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Cybersecurity
The master of cybersecurity program engages students in developing specialized knowledge and practical skills in the area of cybersecurity. The program trains students to build and maintain safe systems and infrastructure that can withstand digital attacks. Foundational topics such as penetration testing, malware analysis and configuration of firewalls are covered as part of the curriculum complemented by advanced teaching in cryptography, secure software design and ethical hacking, among others. Students take instructional and lab courses, in a cohort, and complete work placement through SFU's co-op program, allowing them to tackle real-world scientific, engineering, and social-economic problems and gain valuable project management experiences while expanding their network of industrial contacts. This full-time master's program is suitable for students with a strong aptitude in computer science, or other quantitative fields, such as engineering and mathematics.
Admission Requirements
Applicants must satisfy the university admission requirements as stated in Graduate General Regulation 1.3 in the SFU Calendar. Applicants should normally have a bachelor's degree, or equivalent in computer science or a related field. Students who do not meet the minimum university requirements may be recommended as conditional or qualifying students as per Graduate General Regulation (GGR) 1.3.8 or 1.3.9.
For further information on conditional or qualifying admission requirements, please contact the Program Coordinator.
Program Requirements
This program consists of course work, and co-op or graduate project for a minimum of 30 graduate units.
Students must maintain a minimum 3.0 CGPA throughout their graduate career.
Students complete all of
Students will learn principles and techniques for processing various data types at real-world scale using distributed and cloud computing resources. Fundamentals of approximation and distributed algorithms will be covered. Handling of large-scale image and video datasets, massive graphs, as well as structured and unstructured text datasets will be studied. Designing and building robust software systems using multicore processors, processor accelerators (e.g., Graphics Processing Units) and cloud resources will be introduced.
Simulating real attacks on software systems to assess the risk associated with potential security breaches to provide students with hands-on experience necessary for a successful career path in the cybersecurity field. Students are trained as penetration testers to learn how to discover vulnerabilities, exploit vulnerabilities, and to determine what attackers might gain after a successful vulnerability exploitation. Prerequisite: This course is only available to students enrolled in the master of cybersecurity program.
Students will learn the fundamental principles of system and network security by studying attacks on computer systems, network and cloud infrastructure and how to prevent and detect them. The focus is on hands-on experiences. Students will be able to explain and reproduce former and recent system attacks, build network defensive systems, and design computer systems that are immune to these attacks. Prerequisite: CMPT 782. This course is only available to students enrolled in the master of cybersecurity program.
Explores modern cryptographic and cryptoanalytics techniques in detail, and emphasizes how such mechanisms can be effectively used within larger security systems, and finding their vulnerabilities. Topics covered include cryptographic primitives, public key encryption, digital signature, message authentication codes, cryptographic protocols, and attacks.
and an additional nine units of graduate courses in computing science
and one of
This course is the first term of work experience in the School of Computing Science Co-operative Education Program for graduate students. Units of this course do not count towards computing science breadth requirements. Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Prerequisite: 12 units of CMPT coursework at the 700-level or higher with a CGPA of at least 3.0. Department Consent is required for enrollment.
| Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
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| G100 |
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
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| G200 |
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
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| G300 |
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
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| G400 |
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
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| G500 |
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
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| G600 |
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
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| G700 |
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
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| G800 |
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
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| I100 |
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
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| I200 |
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
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| I300 |
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
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| I400 |
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
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Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Prerequisite: Permission of the Graduate Program Chair.
Program Length
Students are expected to complete the program requirements in four terms.
Other Information
Co-op
A co-op is an integral part of this program. However, it is offered on a competitive basis.
All students are required to apply for a co-op. With assistance from the co-op coordinator for this program, students will be expected to find a suitable industry partner. Students may complete one or two terms of co-op. The latter option is in place to satisfy requests from our industrial partners for continuity and to carry out a large-scale project. Students are required to enroll in at least one of the program courses in the term following their co-op.
In the event that a student is unable to secure a co-op during the summer term, they will be required to go on academic break since no courses will be offered. The student will be able to apply for a co-op in the subsequent term or, if unsuccessful, will be required to undertake additional course work. In consultation with the program director, the student may complete a graduate project in their final term to fulfil program requirements.
Academic Requirements within the Graduate General Regulations
All graduate students must satisfy the academic requirements that are specified in the Graduate General Regulations, as well as the specific requirements for the program in which they are enrolled.