In the beginning there were certifications, and they were enough.
Put some word salad after your name — CISSP, CEH, GIAC, GPEN, CISM, ABC, 123, WTF, etc — and you were considered a security wizard, with a magical salary to boot.
Certifications are imperfect ways to measure security aptitude and skill, and more traditional academic institutions are now offering professional masters degrees in cybersecurity. Unlike a traditional research-oriented masters degree in computer science, however, these new professional degree programs are more akin to law school or medical school, advanced vocational training for specialists.
Every cybersecurity professional masters degree program is different.
Some of these programs focus more on recruiting mid-career experienced security professionals and giving them the boost they need to leapfrog their way up the corporate ladder into a CSO or CISO role. Other programs focus more on helping career-changers with no experience working in IT move into an entry-level security role. All train students in the fundamentals of cryptography, network security, and application security to wildly varying degrees of difficulty. Every program is different,…
