Skip to content

KEY TAKEAWAYS

This innovative program positions cybersecurity graduates to immediately step into cybersecurity roles within the private and public sectors, and includes courses to help students prepare for industry-leading cybersecurity certifications, such as the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).

  • The program emphasizes hands-on learning from day one
  • Learn to lead cybersecurity operations and teams
  • Conduct hands-on projects, labs, and capstone research
  • Gain expertise in cloud security, secure architecture, risk management, and ethical hacking
  • Prepare for roles across corporate, government, and non-profit sectors
  • Experiential learning that meets real-world demand
  • Taught by faculty with industry experience
  • Harrisburg University is an NSA-designated Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense

PROGRAM GOALS

Experiential learning is the foundation of the Harrisburg University experience. The Cybersecurity bachelor’s program includes hands-on experiences in which students participate in applied and research-based projects, and each learner completes an internship and/or an applied practice to gain real-world experience. Graduates of the program will:

  • Understand modern digital infrastructures and information technology systems.
  • Apply risk analysis techniques, skills, and tools necessary for strong cybersecurity operations.
  • Apply critical reasoning techniques to analyze a problem or threat response and identify and define the business-oriented cybersecurity computing requirements.
  • Design, implement, and evaluate a secure computer-based system, process, component, or program to meet cybersecurity needs.
  • Conduct cybersecurity forensic investigations.
  • Develop synergy with information technology teams to accomplish business or organizational goals.
  • Communicate effectively with a wide range of information technology users and business leadership.

CONCENTRATIONS

Further personalize your career track with two industry-informed cybersecurity concentrations. Students typically complete the concentration courses after the majority of the core courses or in their third year.

Cyber Management & Leadership

This concentration prepares students to become strategic leaders in the cybersecurity field. You will learn how to oversee teams, manage risk, develop policy, and align security initiatives with organizational goals. The program emphasizes communication, decision-making, and leadership skills that empower graduates to guide cybersecurity operations, influence stakeholders, and protect digital assets in the government, business, and nonprofit sectors.

Cyber Operations Management

This concentration equips students with the knowledge and skills to manage day-to-day cybersecurity operations. Students gain expertise in monitoring systems, responding to incidents, and coordinating resources to ensure organizational resilience. With a focus on operational efficiency, compliance, and threat mitigation, this program trains graduates to oversee security infrastructures, lead response teams, and safeguard mission-critical data in fast-paced environments.

Dual Degree: 5-Year Accelerated Bachelor/Master of Science Program

Students who demonstrate exceptional academic performance in the undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity program may be eligible to participate in an accelerated dual-degree program.

The five-year Bachelor of Science/Master of Science Cybersecurity program is designed to result in a student earning both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Cybersecurity in five years rather than the usual six.

Standards for Admission to the Program

The following standards for admission to the program must be met by the end of the first semester of the third year of study:

  • Completion of at least 75 semester hours toward the Bachelor of Science degree with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.25.
  • A minimum grade point average of 3.50 in all major core and concentration courses attempted.
  • Completion of all major core requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree.

Students should contact Records & Registration at https://RegHelp.HarrisburgU.edu for their application form.

INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS

The cybersecurity industry is experiencing unprecedented demand, with thousands of positions unfilled globally. Organizations across healthcare, finance, energy, and government urgently need professionals who can manage risk, protect digital assets, and lead incident response.

As an NSA-recognized Center of Academic Excellence, Harrisburg University’s Cybersecurity program meets the ongoing need for project-based learning and deep industry alignment. Graduates are positioned to pursue careers as Cybersecurity Architects, Directors of Information Security, Security Operations ManagersCloud Security AnalystsInformation System Security Officers (ISSO), and more.


Program Courses

The following 11 courses comprise the required core courses of the Cybersecurity Operations and Management program. The credit value of each course appears in parentheses ( ).

CYOM 105 – Introduction to Cybersecurity (3 credits)

This course provides students with basic concepts of cybersecurity fundamentals. Students receive a basic awareness of threats to information systems, vulnerabilities inherent to modern architectures and the options available to mitigate threats within a system.

CYOM 130 – Cybersecurity Ethics & Policy (3 credits)

This course provides students with an understanding of information security policy and how to apply industry and government best practice rules and guidelines. Students begin to create, implement, and institutionalize organization policies that ensure legal, ethical, privacy and compliance standards which are supported. The course compares and contrasts the role of government versus commercial security, to include funding, culture, stakeholders, and classified information protections.

CISC 120 – Programming I (4 credits)

This course introduces the concepts and techniques of computer programming. Emphasis is placed on developing the student’s ability to apply problem-solving strategies to design algorithms and to implement these algorithms in a modern, structured programming language. Topics include fundamental programming constructs, problem solving techniques, simple data structures, Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), program structure, data types and declarations, control statements, algorithm strategies and algorithm development.

CYOM 215 – CritThinkReasng & Anly in CyberSec (3 credits)

Relating to people, process and technology this course provides students the methods to think through and solve complex global cybersecurity problems. Students are introduced to specific methodologies regarding systems engineering and processes, such as Shewhart cycle, OODA loop, and RPR diagnosis as they apply to networks and cybersecurity.

BUAD 220 – Prin Business Mgmt (3 credits)

The student is provided with analytical tools to understand and synthesize the most current applications of theories and concepts in business management and is exposed to the debate on the dynamic of busniess environment, evolving business models, economic systems, and scale of domestic and global competition in the market place.

CYOM 230 – Cyber Defense (3 credits)

This course provides students with a basic awareness of the options available to understand and mitigate threats within a system. It demonstrates the methodologies used by threat actors to exploit systems and how cybersecurity professionals can architect more secure systems that support business imperatives, while mitigating cyber risks. An overview of applications, networks, mobile devices, wireless security, and tool categories such as firewall, SIEM, and vulnerability management tools are discussed.

CYOM 322 – Fund Security Design Principles (3 credits)

This course provides students with a basic awareness for building defense in depth architectures and security controls into an organization’s technology processes, workforce considerations and network architectures. As part of this course, students gain a preliminary understanding of cryptography and concepts such as authentication.

CYOM 340 – Cybersecurity Systems Admin (3 credits)

This course provides students with foundational knowledge in secure networking concepts, technology, and administration. Network security is an essential requirement in building a secure resilient infrastructure. Students learn technical and administrative components of secure networks, how to apply secure design principles to configure network resources (routers, switches, firewalls, IPSes) and how to securely administer the network. Threats to network security are examined and security controls are designed to appropriately mitigate risks. Network and system administration policies and procedures are examined.

CISC 225 – Information Syst Design & Analysis (3 credits)

This course is a foundation for database design and database security courses. Systems Analysis and Design is a fundamental, active field in which analysts continually learn new techniques and approaches to develop systems more effectively and efficiently. There is a core set of skills that all analysts need to know no matter what approach or methodology is used. All information systems projects move through the four phases of planning, analysis, design, and implementation; all projects require analysts to gather requirements, model the business needs, and create blueprints for how the systems should be built; and all projects require an understanding of organizational behavior concepts like change managememnt and team building. This course captures the dynamic aspects of the field by keeping the student focused on doing Systems Analysis and Design while presenting the core set of skills that the analysts needs to know.

CYOM 410 – Cloud Cybersecurity and Governance (3 credits)

This course provides students with the design fundamentals of the compliance and management governing of the deployment of cloud services. The technologies and services that enable cloud computing, different types of cloud computing models and the security and legal issues associated with cloud computing are covered.

CYOM 430 – Prin of Secure DB Design Systems (3 credits)

This course provides an overview of database security concepts and techniques and discusses new directions of database security. Topics covered include database application security models, database and data auditing, XML access control, trust management and privacy protection, encryption methods, virtual private databases, risk assessment and mitigation, vulnerability scanning and user access control. The focus is on the key components of information assurance as it relates to database systems – confidentiality, integrity, and availability, and how these components can be managed and measured. Students conduct security assessments and audits of an existing database.