About the Program
The Master of Information and Cybersecurity (MICS) is a part-time professional degree program that provides the technical skills and contextual knowledge students need to assume leadership positions in private sector technology companies as well as government and military organizations. The interdisciplinary program offers students mastery of core technical skills and fluency in the business, political, and legal context for cybersecurity, as well as managing cyber risk in the service of strategic decision making. The core MICS curriculum includes cryptography, secure programming, systems security, and the ethical, legal, and economic framework of cybersecurity. In addition, students may select from a wide variety of electives covering topics such as privacy engineering, managing cyber risk, and usability security. MICS features a project-based approach to learning and encourages the pragmatic application of a variety of different tools and methods to solve complex problems.
Graduates of the program will be able to:
- Understand the defining challenges of cybersecurity
- Comprehend and implement cryptosystems
- Know the main causes of software vulnerabilities and the means to avoid and defend against them
- Apply security principles to analyze and determine the security of a system
- Define the technical, process, and policy capabilities an organization needs to deploy to mitigate cyber risks to acceptable levels
Master's Degree Requirements
Unit Requirements
The Master of Information and Cybersecurity is designed to be completed in 20 months. Students will complete 27 units of course work over five terms, taking two courses (6 units) per term for four terms and a one 3-unit capstone course in their final term. MICS classes are divided into foundation courses (9 units), a systems security requirement (3 units), advanced courses (12 units), and a synthetic capstone (3 units). Students will also complete an immersion at the UC Berkeley campus.
Curriculum
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation Courses | ||
| CYBER W200 | Beyond the Code: Cybersecurity in Context | 3 |
| CYBER W202 | Cryptography for Cyber and Network Security | 3 |
| CYBER W204 | Secure Programming | 3 |
| Systems Security Courses | ||
| CYBER W210 | Network Security | 3 |
| CYBER W211 | Operating System Security | 3 |
| Advanced Courses | ||
| CYBER W215 | Usable Privacy and Security | 3 |
| CYBER W220 | Managing Cyber Risk | 3 |
| CYBER W233 | Introduction to Privacy Engineering | 3 |
| Capstone Course | ||
| CYBER W295 | Synthetic Capstone | 3 |
Immersion
As a Master of Information and Cybersecurity (MICS) student, the immersion is your opportunity to meet faculty and peers in person on the UC Berkeley campus. You will have the opportunity to gain on-the-ground perspectives from faculty and industry leaders, meet with cybersecurity professionals, and soak up more of the School of Information (I School) culture. Offered twice a year, each four- to five-day immersion will be custom crafted to deliver additional learning, networking, and community-building opportunities.
Please refer to the cybersecurity@berkeley website for more information.
Admissions
Minimum Requirements for Admission
The following minimum requirements apply to all graduate programs and will be verified by the Graduate Division:
- A bachelor’s degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution;
- A grade point average of B or better (3.0);
- If the applicant comes from a country or political entity (e.g., Quebec) where English is not the official language, adequate proficiency in English to do graduate work, as evidenced by a TOEFL score of at least 90 on the iBT test, 570 on the paper-and-pencil test, or an IELTS Band score of at least 7 (note that individual programs may set higher levels for any of these); and
- Sufficient undergraduate training to do graduate work in the given field.
Applicants Who Already Hold a Graduate Degree
The Graduate Council views academic degrees not as vocational training certificates, but as evidence of broad training in research methods, independent study, and articulation of learning. Therefore, applicants who already have academic graduate degrees should be able to pursue new subject matter at an advanced level without need to enroll in a related or similar graduate program.
Programs may consider students for an additional academic master’s or professional master’s degree only if the additional degree is in a distinctly different field.
Applicants admitted to a doctoral program that requires a master’s degree to be earned at Berkeley as a prerequisite (even though the applicant already has a master’s degree from another institution in the same or a closely allied field of study) will be permitted to undertake the second master’s degree, despite the overlap in field.
The Graduate Division will admit students for a second doctoral degree only if they meet the following guidelines:
- Applicants with doctoral degrees may be admitted for an additional doctoral degree only if that degree program is in a general area of knowledge distinctly different from the field in which they earned their original degree. For example, a physics PhD could be admitted to a doctoral degree program in music or history; however, a student with a doctoral degree in mathematics would not be permitted to add a PhD in statistics.
- Applicants who hold the PhD degree may be admitted to a professional doctorate or professional master’s degree program if there is no duplication of training involved.
Applicants may apply only to one single degree program or one concurrent degree program per admission cycle.
Required Documents for Applications
- Transcripts: Applicants may upload unofficial transcripts with your application for the departmental initial review. If the applicant is admitted, then official transcripts of all college-level work will be required. Official transcripts must be in sealed envelopes as issued by the school(s) attended. If you have attended Berkeley, upload your unofficial transcript with your application for the departmental initial review. If you are admitted, an official transcript with evidence of degree conferral will not be required.
- Letters of recommendation: Applicants may request online letters of recommendation through the online application system. Hard copies of recommendation letters must be sent directly to the program, not the Graduate Division.
- Evidence of English language proficiency: All applicants from countries or political entities in which the official language is not English are required to submit official evidence of English language proficiency. This applies to applicants from Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Latin America, the Middle East, the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, most European countries, and Quebec (Canada). However, applicants who, at the time of application, have already completed at least one year of full-time academic course work with grades of B or better at a US university may submit an official transcript from the US university to fulfill this requirement. The following courses will not fulfill this requirement:
- courses in English as a Second Language,
- courses conducted in a language other than English,
- courses that will be completed after the application is submitted, and
- courses of a non-academic nature.
If applicants have previously been denied admission to Berkeley on the basis of their English language proficiency, they must submit new test scores that meet the current minimum from one of the standardized tests.
Where to Apply
Visit the Berkeley Graduate Division application page.
Completed applications are given a comprehensive, holistic review. When we review applications, we take into consideration everything you have shared with us, including academic course work and performance, GRE/GMAT score, work experience, Statement of Purpose, and letters of recommendation. It is important that applicants demonstrate the academic aptitude to meet the demands of a rigorous graduate program.
To complete your application, you must submit the following:
- Online application
- Official transcripts from all educational institutions attended
- Official Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) score report
- Statement of Purpose and additional admissions statements
- Two professional letters of recommendation
- Current resume
- TOEFL Scores (if applicable)
- Application fee ($105 for domestic applicants, or $125 for international applicants)
For more information and application instructions, please visit the cybersecurity@berkeley Admissions Overview.
Faculty and Instructors
+ Indicates this faculty member is the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award.
Faculty
David Bamman, Assistant Professor.
+ Robert Berring, Professor. China, law, contracts, Chinese law.
Research Profile
Jenna Burrell, Associate Professor.
Coye Cheshire, Associate Professor. Sociology, trust, social media, social psychology, social networks, collective action, social exchange, information exchange, social incentives, reputation, internet research, online research, online dating, online behavior.
Research Profile
John Chuang, Professor. Computer networking, computer security, economic incentives, ICTD.
Research Profile
Paul Duguid, Adjunct Professor. Trademark, information, communities of practice.
Research Profile
Robert J. Glushko, Adjunct Professor.
Morten Hansen, Professor.
Marti A. Hearst, Professor. Information retrieval, human-computer interaction, user interfaces, information visualization, web search, search user interfaces, empirical computational linguistics, natural language processing, text mining, social media.
Research Profile
Ray Larson, Professor. Information Retrieval system design and evaluation, database management.
Research Profile
Deirdre Mulligan, Associate Professor.
Geoffrey D. Nunberg, Adjunct Professor.
Zach Pardos, Assistant Professor. Education Data Science, Learning Analytics, Big Data in Education, data mining, Data Privacy and Ethics, Computational Psychometrics, Digital Learning Environments, Cognitive Modeling, Bayesian Knowledge Tracing, Formative Assessment, Learning Maps, machine learning.
Research Profile
David H. Reiley, Adjunct Professor.
Kimiko Ryokai, Associate Professor.
Pamela Samuelson, Professor. Public policy, intellectual property law, new information technologies, traditional legal regimes, information management, copyright, software protection and cyberlaw.
Research Profile
Annalee Saxenian, Professor. Innovation, information management, entrepreneurship, Silicon Valley, regional economic development, high skilled immigration, Asian development.
Research Profile
Doug Tygar, Professor. Privacy, technology policy, computer security, electronic commerce, software engineering, reliable systems, embedded systems, computer networks, cryptography, cryptology, authentication, ad hoc networks.
Research Profile
Steven Weber, Professor. Political science, international security, international political economy, information science.
Research Profile
Qiang Xiao, Adjunct Professor.
Lecturers
Brooks D. Ambrose, Lecturer.
Lefteris Anastasopoulos, Lecturer.
Olukayode Segun Ashaolu, Lecturer.
Kurt Beyer, Lecturer.
Dav Clark, Lecturer.
Steven Fadden, Lecturer.
Alexander Gilgur, Lecturer.
Benjamin T. Gimpert, Lecturer.
Nathaniel Stanley Good, Lecturer.
Annette Greiner, Lecturer.
Quentin R. Hardy, Lecturer.
Anna Lauren Hoffmann, Lecturer.
Todd Michael Holloway, Lecturer.
Douglas Alex Hughes, Lecturer.
Jez Humble, Lecturer.
Coco Krumme, Lecturer.
Arash Nourian, Lecturer.
Emmanouil Papangelis, Lecturer.
Daniel Percival, Lecturer.
Daniel Perry, Lecturer.
Elisabeth Prescott, Lecturer.
Dmitry Rekesh, Lecturer.
Blaine Gary Robbins, Lecturer.
Ali Sanaei, Lecturer.
Juanjie Joyce Shen, Lecturer.
David Steier, Lecturer.
Andreas Weigend, Lecturer.
Peter Frank Weis, Lecturer.
Jake Ryland Williams, Lecturer.
Scott Young, Lecturer.
Visiting Faculty
Ramakrishna Akella, Visiting Professor.
Paul Laskowski, Visiting Assistant Professor.
Emeritus Faculty
Michael Buckland, Professor Emeritus. Information management, information retrieval, metadata, library services.
Research Profile
Michael D. Cooper, Professor Emeritus. Analysis, design, database management systems, implementation and evaluation of information systems, computer performance monitoring and evaluation, and library automation.
Research Profile
William S. Cooper, Professor Emeritus.
M. E. Maron, Professor Emeritus.
Nancy A. Van House, Professor Emeritus. Digital libraries, science, information management, technology studies, knowledge communities, user needs, information tools, artifacts, participation of users.
Research Profile