Overview

Digital systems now underpin almost every organisation, and each one needs people who can keep attackers out and unravel what happened when they get in. The BSc (Hons) Cyber Security with Digital Forensics course at Bournemouth University develops students who can manage, implement and assess security in business settings, and who can put technology to work in preventing or responding to incidents. Ethical hacking and forensic investigation sit side by side in the curriculum, so students learn to think like an attacker while also mastering the evidence-based methods used to investigate a breach. Learning is built around practical, industry-focused tasks and research projects that bring together university staff and specialists from other institutions and industry, in the UK and beyond. Students are taught by senior academics, practising professionals, demonstrators and technicians, with regular guest lectures from industry. The course holds provisional certification from the National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ, and has initial accreditation from BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, pending full accreditation. Academic partnerships with EC-Council and the Cisco Network Academy open routes to certification-focused resources, and students may add a work placement. The course suits analytical, technical and creative students, who will graduate ready for security and forensic computing roles across many sectors.

What You'll Learn

• Computer fundamentals, networking and virtualisation

• Mathematics for computing

• Programming and software engineering

• Introduction to cyber security

• Ethical hacking and security practices

• Security operations and real-time breach detection

• Network and cyber management

• Emerging technologies for cyber security solutions

• Digital forensic investigation

• Human factors in complex socio-technical systems

• Digital technology and its impact on society

• Individual project on a topic of your choice

• Optional study in digital transformation, systems development, data visualisation and software quality assurance

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will understand computing and security across several levels, from the concepts behind hardware, networks and virtualisation to the management of secure network infrastructure and the technical, legal and social effects of digital technology. They will be able to test systems using ethical hacking methods, monitor live security data to spot breaches and respond to them, and carry out a full digital forensic investigation using appropriate skills, techniques and tools. Laboratory practice and team-based units build hands-on competence and the ability to design security solutions around emerging technologies, supported by a grounding in programming, software engineering and mathematical reasoning. Students also learn to weigh risk critically, consider how people interact with complex systems, and understand the commercial side of software. The final-year individual project asks them to identify a real problem and then choose and implement a solution, while optional units allow them to specialise in areas such as digital transformation, systems development or data visualisation.