University of Bologna: part of the master's degree in CYBERSECURITY

(To Antonio Vecchio)
04/10/19

Confirming the centrality that cybersecurity plays in the advanced training of tomorrow's professionals, this year the University of Bologna has dedicated a master's degree to 1 level, directed by prof. Marco Prandini, to whom we have asked a few questions.

Why is cybersecurity important?

The modern world is increasingly connected. When we use the term cyber, we refer to the use of information technology in systems that have a direct impact on real life, from home automation, to the supply chain of companies, to critical infrastructures (aqueducts, electricity grid, etc.) . Preventing these functions from being interrupted or altered is crucial for the safety of people and for the well-being of the entire nation.

So a cyber attack is not just an economic nuisance due to misuse of data.

No, there has been talk for years of cyber-terrorism and cyber-warfare as phenomena capable of doing the same damage, or more, than their traditional counterparts. Proof of this is the interest of all governments and international bodies such as NATO.

All the actors involved in cyber defense are well aware of the need to train new specialists in the field, and involve the universities. In Italy, the CINI initiative Cyberchallenge.IT12 to cultivate talents in this field (in the last edition the Bologna team was ranked second on 18 universities participating in the final competition) has the full support of the Ministry of Defense and DIS.

How does the Unibo proposal fit into this context?

The Master in Cybersecurity - from design to operation3 is born from the collaboration between the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and numerous entrepreneurial realities, among which the main sponsors are CRIF4 and Yoroi5

Given the global nature of the cyber threat, we have chosen to design an international Master's course taught in English.

It has a strong practical edge, with the aim of providing an immediately applicable vision of the main problems:

  • network security and calculation systems management
  • secure application design
  • identification of threats
  • response to attacks

The 288 teaching hours (half in the lab) will take place in 24 weekend between November 2019 and May 2020.

Is it a good professional investment?

According to the most recent Alma Laurea, 6 data, recent graduates in computer security have an 100% employment rate and average salary among the three highest among all disciplines.

As a further advantage for a new graduate, partner companies are ready to host students for an 500 hours internship, ensuring immediate contact with the world of work.

I stress that it is an excellent tool also for the continuous training of those who are already working, as the lessons are concentrated on Friday afternoons and Saturdays, and the internship can be replaced by a project carried out in the context of one's own professional activity.

How do you access it?

Law requirement is a degree at least three years. A good IT background is required to be able to follow with profit, attested by the studies undertaken or demonstrated during the selection.

The call7 pre-registration expires on October 8; the selections will take place on October 10 and the ranking will decide the admitted and the facilitations: the participation fee for the Master is € 4.500, but for the first two classified it will be entirely covered, and for the following 9 will be reduced to € 2.800.

For more information: https://master.unibo.it/cybersecurity/it

1https://cyberchallenge.it

2https://www.consorzio-cini.it/index.php/it/lab-cyber-security

3https://master.unibo.it/cybersecurity/it

4https://www.crif.it/

5https://www.yoroi.company/

6https://www.infodata.ilsole24ore.com/2019/06/25/scopri-le-lauree-rendono...

7https://master.unibo.it/cybersecurity/it/ammissione/bando_cyber_security...@@ download / file / bando_cyber_security_19-20.pdf