BSIS Cybersecurity Pathway

The Bachelor of Science in Information Science (BSIS) degree program (through the Department of Informatics and Networked Systems) offers a Cybersecurity pathway that prepares students to design, defend, and govern modern information systems by blending technical depth with broader privacy, policy, and human factors aspects. The curriculum balances technical depth in secure design, network security, cryptography, and cloud and application security with privacy engineering, policy, risk, and usability. Through projects, case studies, and lab-based exercises, you will practice threat modeling, build and evaluate controls, align with frameworks (e.g., NIST and ISO), and communicate findings to technical and executive audiences.

Students who wish to follow the cybersecurity pathway and receive a certificate of recognition after completing all pathway requirements should follow the structure below.

CYBERSECURITY PATHWAY SELECT ELECTIVE COURSES

Students interested in completing the Cybersecurity Pathway must take the following 3 courses:
INFSCI 1620 Advanced Security and Privacy
INFSCI 1630 Communication Networks
INFSCI 1670 Security Management and Computer Forensics

In addition, students must take two more upper electives (1100 level or higher) of their choosing. Note: internships, directed studies, INFSCI 1700, and INFSCI capstone courses may NOT be used as elective major courses.

CAPSTONE

BSIS students are required to successfully complete a capstone experience, learning how to apply what they learned in the classroom to real-world situations. Students must finish one of the following capstone courses:
INFSCI 1700 Data Driven Communication
INFSCI 1710 Directed Research
INFSCI 1720 Internship
INFSCI 1730 Independent Study
INFSCI 1740 Team-Based Capstone Project

PLAN OF STUDY TEMPLATES

Students are strongly encouraged to map out their courses using one of the Plan of Study tabs in this Google Sheet.

Explore Cybersecurity Plan of Study Templates

Whether you start in the fall or spring, or plan to enroll in the Accelerated BS/MSIS Program, you’ll find a Plan of Study that fits your timeline. For advice on your plan, contact Prof. Ahmed Ibrahim (aibrahim@pitt.edu) to schedule a meeting and review your course selections.

As a prospective first-year student, you can also lock-in admission to the MSIS degree if you maintain a certain academic record. For more details, see here for the Information Sciences Guarantee.

LERSAIS at the University of Pittsburgh is designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (NCAE-CDE) by CISA and the National Security Agency, and the MSIS Cybersecurity & Privacy concentration is the validated Program of Study (PoS). LERSIAS is planning to get the BSIS Cybersecurity Pathway validated by 2029.

GRADUATES SPOTLIGHT

Diana Randall
Ethical Hacker, PNC Financial Services

As a member of the Application Vulnerability Assessment team. Diana uses manual and automated tools for release-based testing of all internet-facing applications. Her tasks include identifying, reporting, and validating the remediation of application vulnerabilities to strengthen overall security posture.

Jonathan Azcona
Security Analyst, PNC Bank

Jonathan manage thousands of accounts for internal employees, safeguarding Identity Access Management via CyberArk, an Identity security and Access management solution. He also handle approvals, change requests for other programs that the bank uses, and incident response. He maintain the CIA of privileged accounts within the CyberArk infrastructure.

BSIS - REQUIRED MATH/STATISTICS COURSES

BSIS - REQUIRED CORE COURSES

BSIS - REQUIRED UPPER-LEVEL COURSES