NCI Course Details

Springboard+

Applications for this course are offered under the Springboard+ initiaitive, click the link below to apply:

• Postgraduate Diploma in Science in Cybersecurity (1 Year, Classroom Delivery but will be delivered online in January)

Download our Springboard+ Brochure for further information.

The course will be free of charge for people who are currently unemployed. For applicants in employment, there will be a fee of 10% of the contribution to the normal course fee. Visit the Springboard+ website for more information on eligibility criteria.

Springboard+ is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Social Fund as part of the ESF programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning 2014-2020.

Programme Overview

Cybersecurity is an essential need for a modern society in which information technology and services pervade every aspect of our lives. The Cybersecurity field has the fastest growth rate while the labour market encounters a severe workforce shortage.

As a graduate of the course you will be able to:

• Conduct independent research and analysis in the cybersecurity domain including secure application design, development and testing within a given context e.g. web, cloud computing, and forensic investigation
• Demonstrate practical skills and expert knowledge of technologies and tools that support cryptanalysis, application and service vulnerability detection and patching, security incidents detection and log file analysis
• Critically evaluate the design and implementation and evaluation of a research idea
• Analyse and evaluate the legal, ethical and economic ramifications of developing secure applications and services
• Communicate effectively to a range of audiences in both written and verbal media and undertake self- learning in order to acquire new knowledge

Career Prospects

Cybersecurity Ventures estimates that a business or consumer will be the victim of a ransomware attack every 5 seconds by 2021. As the world’s data store grows over the next five years, more of it will be taken hostage by cybercriminals. The Irish government is seeking to fill the shortage of skilled cybersecurity personnel to protect companies against cybercrime as well as respond to security breaches.

Companies who have hired 2018 and 2019 graduates from this course include: Version 1 (Associate Consultant), Irish Aviation Authority (Project Management System Specialist), Amazon Web Services (Cloud Support Associate), AKKA Academy (Graduate Technology Consultant), Fidelity Investments (Senior System Analyst and Senior Software Quality Engineer), PwC (Technology Consultant), Dell EMC (Software Solutions Engineer), Kontainers (Business Analyst).

Who is the course for?

This course is ideal for ICT professionals or graduates with a level 8 degree on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ), in computing/computer science or in a cognate area (STEM) that wish to develop a career as a cybersecurity professional; to take a leading technical or managerial role; to progress faster in their employment or to apply the knowledge in their current role. Candidates who do not hold a computing degree and are currently working in the IT sector may be considered based on relevant academic qualifications or extensive work experience. Candidates are expected to have programming ability.

Academic Entry Requirements

A minimum of a level 8 primary degree in Computing or a cognate area with a 2.2 award or higher or equivalent on the National Qualifications Framework in Computing or a Cognate area. Candidates are expected to have programming ability. Cognate area means a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) degree that also taught programming/application development related modules. An assessment and/or interview may be conducted to ascertain suitability if necessary for candidates who do not meet the normal academic requirements.

The college operates a Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL) scheme meaning applicants who do not meet the normal academic requirements may be considered based on relevant work and other experience. This may be assessed using a portfolio of learning, demonstration of work produced, and an interview. The programming ability of the applicant will also be assessed. Non-English speaking applicants must demonstrate fluency in the English language as demonstrated by IELTS academic score of at least 6.0 or equivalent

Laptop Requirements

NCI is prepared to adhere to Government directives for course delivery in September 2021. Investments have been made in technology for online learning, as well as campus enhancements if face-to-face classes are permissible.

This programme has a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy. Specifically, students are expected to successfully participate in lectures, laboratories and projects using a portable computer (laptop/notebook) with a substantial hardware configuration. Its minimal suitable configuration is 8GB of RAM (16GB are recommended); a modern 64-bit x86 multi-core processor (Intel i5 or superior); 250+ GB of available space in hard disk; WiFi card; and a recent version of Ubuntu, macOS, or Windows. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure their laptop is functioning correctly and that they have full administrator rights to the machine. NCI IT cannot provide support to personal devices.

Award and Progression

Graduates of the Postgraduate Diploma in Science in Cybersecurity are awarded an NFQ Level 9 qualification can optionally complete the additional 30 credits required to upgrade their qualification to the MSc in Cybersecurity (not included under Springboard+, additional fee would apply).

Assessment

The programme is assessed by means of continuous, in-semester, assessment and final examination. Please note that in some instances exams may take place in the daytime and at weekends.

Indicative Schedule

Indicative Schedule: Monday and Wednesday 18.00 - 22.00 and a number of Saturdays 09.00 - 16.00 (Career Bridge Classes will be delivered one day per week 17.00 - day to be confirmed).

While every effort is made to schedule exams for part-time students in the evenings or Saturdays this is not always possible and all students, Part-time and Full-time, are expected to sit end of semester examinations during the day and evening Monday to Saturday

Please note that exams can be scheduled during the morning, afternoon or evening Monday to Saturday.