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Northeastern University - Information Assurance Program - Overview

Information Assurance Graduate Programs at a Center for Excellence

The College of Computer and Information Science (CCIS) at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, offers online and traditional graduate programs in information assurance. Northeastern University is uniquely qualified to offer these programs as the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security have designated Northeastern as a National Center of Excellence in the research and education of information assurance.

Master of Science in Information Assurance

The College of Computer and Information Science offers a Master of Science (MS) in Information Assurance to train graduate students and working professionals to combat information security threats, such as computer viruses, identity theft, and electronic fraud. Students learn how to assess and manage security risks and how to present recommendations to management.

This interdisciplinary program explores relevant topics not only in information science, but also in law, criminology, management and the social sciences. Students customize the program to meet their professional needs.

Graduate students in the master's program can complete the degree full-time within 4-semesters or opt for part-time study. In addition, students can complete the program entirely online.

MS Coursework

Master's degree students complete 32 semester hours. The program has both a technical and a contextual track and students take at least 2 courses from each of these tracks as well as electives and an interdisciplinary capstone team project. Course selections from the technical track include Applied Crytography and Network Security Practices while course selections from the contextual track include Security Risk Management and Assessment and Information System Forensics.

Master's degree students take electives such as Law and Psychology, White Collar Crime, Managing Software Development, and Wireless Networks. With approval from the program director, students can also take courses in business administration, criminal justice, engineering, and computer science.

Students with backgrounds in law enforcement, law, and IT collaborate in a capstone team project that deals with one or more security issues usually in an industrial context.

Graduate Cooperative Education

Northeastern University is acclaimed for its experiential educational approach that revolves around its co-op program. This program is available to CSIS master's degree level students.

Graduate students spend 6 to 8 months working for an industry in software development, project management, network administration, or another field of specialization. Most jobs are located in the Boston area, but some students have traveled to Hong Kong, China, Australia, Ireland, and many other countries to complete their co-op training.

Doctoral Program in Information Assurance

The 5-year, interdisciplinary doctoral program in information assurance at Northeastern University prepares students to become researchers and policy advisors in information security in industry, academia, and government. The program is a collaborative effort on the part of the College of Computer and Information Science, the College of Engineering, and the College of Social Sciences and Humanities. Students study how policy, law, and human behavior impact the design implementation of security systems.

Students complete 48 semester hours of coursework, or 16 semester hours if they enter the program with master's degrees. Doctoral students complete core courses, such as Local Area Networks and Interworking or Hardware and Software Security, as well as electives, research, and a dissertation.

Those who enter the PhD program directly from bachelor's degree programs can obtain master's degrees from one of the collaborating departments.

Institute of Information Assurance

NEU's Institute of Information Assurance (IIA) is an interdisciplinary research collaboration between CCIS and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Research is focused on 3 areas: improving network security within systems that are comprised of multiple communication layers, including wireless devises and sensors; protecting data integrity in the face of viruses, insider attacks, and other threats; and designing information infrastructure with system vulnerabilities in mind.

An Accomplished Faculty

The highly qualified faculty includes both advanced researchers and successful practioners. Themis Papageorge is a former VP of services at Guardium, a leading database security firm. Kyle Courtney is an attorney from Harvard Law School, and Michael Higgins is a veteran in the field with 20 years of experience in government and private industry who founded the Department of Defense Computer Emergency Response team.

Researchers in the program have been consistently awarded prestigious grants to fund their research. Professor Agnes Hui Chan, cofounder of IIA, has received grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Security Agency, GTE Laboratory Inc., the Computing Research Association, and DARPA.

Admissions to Information Assurance Programs at Northeastern

Admissions requirements to the PhD program in information assurance at Northeastern University include a 3.0 undergraduate GPA. Graduate students who have not completed bachelor's degrees in technical fields may be required to take extra courses to cover fundamentals. Northeastern University does not require that students complete the GRE for these programs.

Northeastern -- A Top Experiential Research University

Northeastern University is located in Boston, Massachusetts, a center of for the high tech and medical industries and leading academic institutions. The university offers 165 graduate programs. Many Northeastern graduate programs are ranked among the top 100 in their fields in the country.