We’ll teach you to think like a hacker—and as a security professional—in our hands-on courses. You’ll be able to look at a system and see its vulnerabilities, then implement and carry out a penetration attack using industry-standard tools and techniques. We’ll also teach you how to build and improve security systems from the ground up as well as propose policies and procedures for keeping a system secure.

This is a technical subject, but you’ll graduate with a solid awareness of the legal and ethical issues around cybersecurity.

You’ll learn about social engineering—why humans are the most vulnerable part of any information system, and how to combat weaknesses from processes and human failures.

We’ll introduce you to risk management and how to make sure the controls are proportionate to the risks. You’ll gain the analytical, communication, and team-work skills needed to excel in this profession.

Cybersecurity is an industry with great career prospects and job security, with demand for cybersecurity professionals growing every year.

The Cybersecurity major at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington has been developed to meet this increasing demand. Our graduates get entry-level roles as security engineers, security analysts, and penetration testers. With a bit of work experience, you could be a security consultant, governance risk and compliance expert, or security manager. All of these professionals are in high demand.

We take a layered approach to teaching cybersecurity, covering people, processes, and technology. Courses have a strongly practical and hands-on focus, backed up with theory and an understanding of trends in cybersecurity. You’ll learn about threats, attacks, defences, and techniques, and you’ll work with software and tools for implementing network security.

You can choose one of two ways to study cybersecurity—within a four-year Bachelor of Engineering with Honours (BE(Hons)) degree, or as a specialisation of the Computer Science major in a three-year Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree.

The final year project in the BE(Hons) degree provides a great opportunity to apply what you have learnt to an engineering problem. You might build a new security tool, evaluate new security technology, or apply machine learning to solving security issues.

We teach a range of specialist courses, including:

• Malware and Reverse Engineering—you’ll learn the methodology and techniques to analyse malicious code and identify vulnerabilities in software (BE(Hons) only).
• Cryptography—we’ll teach you both the maths and how to make and integrate a cryptographic system to protect communication and data.
• Human and Organisational Security—you’ll learn how people’s behaviour affects cybersecurity threats and mitigation strategies, and about the relevant ethical issues, legislation, and industry standards.
• Digital forensics—we’ll cover how to collect and analyse the digital footprints left behind after an attack (BE(Hons) only).
• Offensive and Defensive Security—this course is designed around a virtual lab environment and scenarios that provide robust and realistic hands-on experiences (BE(Hons) only).