Royal Holloway

Egham

2012-13 Msc Information security !!!!

slavenash

Anyone else who has Confirmed their place for 2012-13 Msc information Security ?
I have !!! :party2:

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Reply 1

vivshivram

Congratulations! So have I :smile:

Royal Holloway

Egham

Visit website

Reply 2

UnixGuy

I got admission to RHUL MSc Information security, through distance learning. Let's network :smile:

Reply 3

abhinav.nautiyal

Congrats to all!!
Confirmed !! :thrasher:

Reply 4

lee4

Congrats to all,confirmed too!

What next, accomodation?

Reply 5

NickL

Confirmed too!!
Has anyone applied for accommodation?

Reply 6

vivshivram

Hi everyone - Congratulations!
I've applied for accommodation and have listed the Victorian houses as my first choice. Does anybody know when we'll hear from the University?

Reply 7

postdata182

Hi Everyone

I have as well!! :smile:

Congrats!!!

Reply 8

lee4

When will I be given my UCAS no for visa application?
Paid acceptance fee last week Tuesday

Reply 9

postdata182

When I asked, they told me around the beginning of June they will start getting in touch with the students regarding the Visa procedures, including the information about the UCAS number

Reply 10

SpringHibernate

Got admission as well (RHUL International Programmes).

Reply 11

UnixGuy

Original post by SpringHibernate

Got admission as well (RHUL International Programmes).

What modules are planning to take? I'm thinking of taking all the 4 core modules.

Reply 12

slavenash

Original post by vivshivram

Hi everyone - Congratulations!
I've applied for accommodation and have listed the Victorian houses as my first choice. Does anybody know when we'll hear from the University?

i have applied for gowar as my first choice and runnymede as second....
applied a month back ... paid that 150 pounds also ... still no reply ! ....

did u get any reply after paying tution deposit as well ? ...

Reply 13

slavenash

Original post by NickL

Confirmed too!!
Has anyone applied for accommodation?

applied for gowar .... a month back ... still no reply ... wat abt you ?

Reply 14

slavenash

Original post by UnixGuy

What modules are planning to take? I'm thinking of taking all the 4 core modules.

im going for the technical neday ... they also sent a new mail abt introducing a cyber crime pathway !.... so im going for tat .....

the modules are
network security

computer security

cyber crime

digital signatures

Reply 15

UnixGuy

Original post by slavenash

Are you a full time student student?? For the distance learning, we only have one option:

Computer Security + Network Security + Cryptography + Security Management

Reply 16

euph0ria

Hi guys,
I am currently doing this MSc programme. I finish my exams on this week. I would be happy to answer any questions you have related to any of the aspects of the course (except details about the project of course since I will be working on that until September).

At the moment there seems to be some confusion about the pathways and modules you can choose because they are changing them this year (2012/2013). So far it has been two pathways. Business pathway: Sec.Management, Crypto, Sec.Technologies, Legal Aspects. Technical pathway: Sec.Management, Crypto, Computer Security, Network Security. And both pathways can choose 2 or 3 optional modules whichever ones they want (if you take 3 optionals only the two top exam grades of the three will count).

Now they have sent out an email that they are replacing pathways with "tracks" and that the pathway/track will no longer be visible on your transcripts. The tracks will still have the structure of 4 core and 2-3 optional modules but the difference will be that there are more "pathways" thus called "tracks". The suggestion is that for the 4 core modules the options will still be the same (management+crypto for all and comp.sec+network.sec for pathway 1 and sec.technologies+a new module replacing legal). The main difference is that you will no longer be able to choose any 2 optional modules, you will have to choose a "track" which includes a combo of two modules. For example a new track that will be included is "Cybercrime track" and you have to do: the 4 technical pathway core modules plus two optional modules which are Cybercrime and Digital Forensics.

I hope all this makes sense. I don't know when you will be required to select a track but 2011/2012 in the first semester when we were doing the core modules we were allowed to attend all 6 of them and decide until the end of the semester which pathway we have decided on. Essentially what happened was that we were allowed to attend all modules and online material for them until the end of November when we had to decide which 4 core modules (pathway selection) we're going to take for the May exams. At the end of January we were asked to select our optional modules to complete all our 6 (or 7) courses.

@UnixGuy: you have to take all 4 core modules. they are compulsory. The modules you mention for distance learning are correct they represent the current technical pathway.
@slavenash: there is no Digital Signatures module (or I am not aware of any such module). But there is a whole chapter in Crypto on them and in other optional modules.

Visas: I cannot answer any questions about visas as I did not need one (EU).
Accommodation: I am not living on campus but my friends are. The general picture they gave me was: disorganised and late replies, some of them came to UK and booked a hotel room still waiting for accommodation (were on waiting list and told that there could get something). However the ones that applied early for accommodation were secured a room and could choose roommate and other options in some cases. Accommodation in Founders I believe is mainly occupied by undergrads. The newest halls like Tuke and Gowar (also Highfield) is where most of the MSc people in my year stayed. Rooms clean, well kept, cleaning staff comes regularly, relatively good size. Mostly arranged like: 6 rooms in one apartment with common kitchen and each room en-suite shower/toilet. Periodical inspections by the housing staff were made to all rooms. Requests to fix broken things like pipes showers windows kitchen appliances lighting etc are usually dealt with in a very relaxed manner so you could face a one week wait before someone bothers to come, they even tell you this when you submit your request (that its going to take 2-3 days or more). Campus and surroundings are beautiful its considered a posh area its also next to Windsor which is THE "poshest" area. Lots of green, very good sports facilities and gym on campus, many sports societies. Two clubs on campus: Medicine and the SU (student union) good fun especially on friday and saturday.

Food (for catered accommodation people): it's is ok nothing amazing just standard under-seasoned basic food like burgers pizza plus 2 choices other things one is meat one is vegetarian usually, things like stuffed eggplant,fries,rice,steamed veggies,spaghetti bolognese,chicken kiev,etc etc and a salad bar. There are 2 places for catered people: the Hub and the Founders diner hall. The Hub also has "cook-to-order" chinese dishes which are very popular much better than anything else. Then there are the bars/coffee places that also offer some light food like sandwiches pizza wedges jacket potatoes they are: Crosslands in Founders, Student Union top floor (dont remember name), Cafe Jules in international building, Coffee & Cake in the Hub. There is also The Store which is a mini-market on campus it has frozen food, pastries, sandwiches,and things to cook with but usually too expensive compared to Tesco which is 10 min walk. If you are not catered, I recommend eating at the SCR in founders, it is a small diner for staff and postgraduates they have better food than the Hub usually.

I know that last year this time the thread for Infosec 2011/2012 did not offer much help to answer Infosec specific questions I had so I hope that I can help the new batch of MSc students or at least help clarify any confusion. So, please ask any questions you want but try to make it specific for MSc Information Security (or at least MSc related) as there are other threads available for general questions.

Reply 17

UnixGuy

Thanks for your answer! Those pathways aren't available for distance learners. So I'm taking the core modules.

Can you tells how's the courses in general? What courses did you enjoy the most? How do you rate the degree itself? do you think it's a worthwhile investment?

I'd like to read more about your experience :smile:

Reply 18

euph0ria

I was doing the Business pathway because I come from a Computer Science background and I thought it would be more interesting and challenging to do something that is not 100% technical and I didn't regret my choice. Security Technologies (one of the two courses that are different in business from technical) is a mixture of both Computer Security and Network security that are done in the technical path so I didn't feel that I was missing out on anything I was just going into less detail.

Then the second course that is specific to Business pathway is "Legal and Regulatory Aspects of E-commerce" which is now being removed from the core modules and is only going to be optional. This course (the legal one) was the most fun and interesting for me believe it or not. The lecturer was amazing and even though it was something completely new I really enjoyed it.

As far as quality of module content goes, the Cryptography course that is common to everyone was very good it covers everything from symmetric and public-key crypto to digital signatures to key management to the applications such as SSL and GSM and smart-cards (and of course this means that the exam has an in-proportionate enormous amount of things to learn in relation to the other modules). The key here is to make sure you do it with Keith Martin himself and not another instructor.

Now Security Management can be a very confusing and weird module for some people (including me) and there is nothing you can do about it i.e. the module is structured quite airy and vague with different people coming to present every week but the exam is essays where you have to prove that you have found a way to relate all the different module subjects together and prove that you can think in management terms. This is quite hard or quite easy depending on the grade you want from this module if you just want to pass it then do all the exam questions and pass if you want distinction there you're in trouble since there is no indication as to what more or different you need to study and whether that will help at all.

The optional modules are ranging from plain silly (assuming you have some sort of technical background) to extremely demanding. An example of a silly optional module would be software security where the content is so-and-so / too easy. An example of an extremely demanding optional module would be Forensics where the instructor is of the freaky-genius type and there are 3 books of additional reading for each weeks material but fortunately you are not required to learn all that for the exam. In between there are fun courses such as Cyber Crime which is taught by "the" John Austen (ex head of cybercrime at scotland yard) and he makes the course quite "illustrated" and fun with his stories,examples,and advice.

Overall my experience has been good and not too far from what I expected. I did not expect to go into an MSc and know everything about InfoSec after I come out of it but this is true for all degrees. Although I must admit there was good intention by all instructors to get us involved through moodle (online e-learning) and through weekly questions/answer type of tutorials it was good but of course there is room for improvement for example some instructors never put anything up into moodle and never answered a single question in there (I suspect the distance learning will be different in this regard).

So to answer your question: Yes I believe that overall it was a good investment but this is because of two things:
1. Some of the content I mentioned was new to me and some was challenging I felt like I learned things (in most courses)
2. The Infosec MSc from RHUL is considered the best there is in the UK in terms of preparing people for employment. I did not know this before I came, but I realised soon that it is highly respected by all organisations that offer such services. For example the big 4 all give priority to people graduating from RHUL for InfoSec positions. One specific company I know (will not mention which one) has instructed their HR to hire InfoSec people who have either 3-4 years of work experience OR have graduated from RHUL InfoSec Msc.
So the combination of the above (I give 40% weight to number one and 60% to number 2) I believe it is a good investment especially if you wish to work in the UK although it is well known degree within the whole EU. I would recommend it to anyone that is trying to choose between RHUL, UCL, Kings,Bristol and all the other unis that offer this degree. The difference in my opinion is: RHUL is very good for employability the other degrees will try to steer you into research or restrict the material to a couple of specialized fields.

I cannot give it 10/10 because I thing the administration is a bit weird and disorganised when it comes to dates,registrations,bookings,this and that and creates unnecessary chaos. I would rate the degree 8/10 but this is just me and as I said it depends on your expectations it's not going to land you a 200k job and its not going to make you an expert its just going to open your eyes to all the issues around InfoSec and this is more than enough for most employers - any other additional skills you have are a plus for you and usually means you will get a job before the other people in your degree do but everyone will find something because simply put: this subject it "hot" right now and there is more demand than supply.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 19

UnixGuy

Thank you VERY much!! Everything I know about the degree was from the PDFs I downloaded from RHUL's website, but now you gave me a great deal of information. This is very helpful :smile:

I was very hesitant about the degree and distance learning, but now I'm more confident that it's a good choice. I have a decent background in infosec and IT. While my job isn't directly in infosec (I'm currently a Unix admin, in the banking sector), we deal with a lot of infosec as part of our job. I thought this will be a great addition to my knowledge. I'm not in the UK, but it's good to know that the Big 4 knows about RHUL, hopefully worldwide.

Regarding 'security management', I read the syllabus of the course, it seems a lot like the CISSP certification, and from what you mentioned, it seems that the exam is similar to the CISSP (scenario based questions). I understand that it can be tricky.

I'd like to know your opinion regarding "Smart cards/tokens security and applications", "Database Security", and "Advanced Cryptography", in case you took these modules or know of anyone who took them.