Diploma in Cybersecurity

Program Overview

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Professional Diploma in Cybersecurity

Overview

Cybersecurity is the protection of internet-connected systems such as networks, devices, programs, and data from cyber-attacks or unauthorised access. The World Economic Forum lists cyber-attacks as 5th in the top 10 global risks and this can affect an individual’s business or work in a number of ways. Cybersecurity is therefore used by individuals and businesses to protect against unauthorised access to data centres and computerised systems.

Programme Aims and Objectives

Aims of Cybersecurity Course

This programme aims to immerse learners into the area of Cybersecurity with a view to enabling them to be able to act on the real threats that face companies in today’s business environment.

Objectives

• Provide learners with an understanding of the threats posed to websites including session hijacking, secure authentication and SQL injection attacks.
• Equip learners to do full penetration testing on their systems.
• Introduce learners to the area of cryptography by using public-key (asymmetric) encryption to do secure communication.
• Understand the risks posed by unsecure software, looking at some of the threats posed by common vulnerabilities including buffer overflow, heap overflow and stack overflow.

Timetable

The provisional timetable is available upon request.

Assessment

To successfully complete the programme the learners will be assessed through 3 separate individual assessments. These practical assessments will enable the students to apply the topics covered as part of the programme.

Course Content

The lecturing team consists of a team of staff that combine both academic qualifications with substantial practical experience, and this practical perspective is reflected in the delivery of the course. The diploma is broken into 4 areas: secure web, secure communications, secure systems and secure software. Some of the key subject areas are the following:

Secure Web

Websites are a vital part of business in today’s world. They are also a major threat factor when securing your business. As part of this topic, we will look at the various threats that exist including session hijacking, secure authentication using JSON Web Tokens (JWT), HTTPS over HTTP and SQL Injection attacks.

Secure Systems

A company’s website and email server are not the only entry point to their systems. It is not uncommon for companies to leave open ports, either intentionally when using third party services or unintentionally when installing or configuring new software. Penetration Testing is the practice of testing a computer system, network or web application to find security vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit. Here will examine all of steps involved in the process: Planning and reconnaissance, Scanning, Gaining, Access, Maintaining access and Analysis.

In addition, we will simulate how MAC Flooding with ARP Spoofing attack works and how to protect against it.

Secure Communications

A company email format is rarely secret. Their domain addresses are normally listed on their website. This leads various attempts to access systems using email phishing techniques. We will look at how email phishing works and how to protect against it.

This section will also look asymmetric (public-key) cryptography and how it can be used in secure communications.

Secure Software

Many businesses today rely on custom built software that will be installed internally on their systems. Using third party software to scan for potential threats is one part of the process, but here we dig a little deeper to look at some common software vulnerabilities including: buffer overflow, heap overflow and stack overflow.

Structure

The key subject areas are delivered over 12 weeks with project assignment. Each week will consist of a number of different activities which incorporate classroom, live discussion forums and Moodle resources. Students will understand the fundamentals of cybersecurity with hands-on practical experience of key areas. This course aims to provide students with an ability to implement changes that have tangible benefit to their respective companies and also give them the confidence required to communicate the importance of cybersecurity within an organisation to non-technical people.

Career Opportunities

The Professional Diploma in Cybersecurity has been designed to meet the growing need for Cybersecurity professionals throughout the workforce which can directly create added value and wealth to the business and society. Possible Cybersecurity career pathways include: Cyber Threat Analyst Manager, Cyber Security Incident Manager, Security Delivery Manager etc.

Student Profile

Typically, students participating on this programme are from a variety of backgrounds from those starting out in the business world to managers or those advising such businesses, who need to understand what cybercrime and cybersecurity can mean for business. It is also beneficial to those who are not employed directly in ICT related roles but who are responsible for protecting business from cyber-attacks and who want to improve their understanding of cybersecurity solutions appropriate in their company.

Fees

The fee for this course is €1,500. This is inclusive of tuition, registration, exam fees and DBS library membership. This fee must be paid in full before the course begins.

Student Facilities

DBS Diploma students can also avail of a wide range of facilities to assist them in every aspect of their studies, including:

• Online Notes System (DBS Moodle)
• DBS Library Aungier Street
• DBS Careers and Appointment Service
• Subsidised Parking
• Subsidised Student Canteen

Certification

Dublin Business School

Schedule

1 evening per week, 6.15-9.30pm

Next Intake

September 2025

Duration

12 weeks (part-time)

Mode

Online