iSchool Curriculum

Information Sciences graduate students are eligible for ICSSP scholarships if they are in the MS/IM (Master of Science in Information Management) or Ph.D. degree program. Interested Ph.D. students should contact Prof. Masooda Bashir (mnb@illinois.edu) for more information on curriculum requirements.

The Master of Science in Information Management (MS/IM) degree from the UIUC School of Information Sciences (IS) is a 1.5-year, 40-credit program. MS/IM students will take part in the ICSSP during their first and second year of their degree programs through specialized career pathways that includes a Privacy, Security and Ethics track. The ICSSP will take advantage of the 28 hours of elective courses that can be taken based on the selected career pathway either at the IS or other colleges, including computer security courses offered through the CS department. MS/IM students enrolled in the ICSSP are required to adhere to the following cybersecurity road map:

 

  • Satisfy core requirements of the MSIM curriculum.
This includes IS 515, Information Modeling; IS 507 Data, Statistical Models and Information; and IS 504, Sociotechnical Information Systems. Students must also take IS 584 PVO, Information Ethics. For the remainder of the courses, students will select specific courses that fit within their existing electives options in consultation with the student’s advisor.
  • Take 16 hours of core courses in security.
These include CS 461 or CS463, IS 464 or equivalent, IS 584 PVO, and IS583 IFO.
  • Take 8 hours from the specified list of courses.
Students will take a sequence of 2 courses selected from the currently available information assurance/trust courses (a list of security-related courses at UIUC is available), such as:

  • Applied Cryptography:
    • CS 498 AM1 & AM3, and ECE 498 AC3 & AC4 (Applied Cryptography)
    • CS/ECE 598 AM: Cryptocurrency Security
    • CS 598 CLF: Secure Processor Design and Foundations in Applied Cryptography
    • CS 598 DK: Special Topics in Cryptography
  • Human Aspects of Security:
    • CS 465: User Interface Design
    • IS 464: Information Assurance
    • CS 498 CD: Cyber Dystopia
  • Machine Learning and AI:
    • CS 446: Machine Learning
    • CS 598 BL: Adversarial Machine Learning
    • CS 498 SM: Principles of Safe Autonomy
  • Privacy:
    • IS 584 PVO: Privacy in the Internet Age
    • CS/ECE 598 NB: Privacy Enhancing Technologies
  • Cyberinfrastructures:
    • CS 598 AB: Computer Security in the Physical World
    • ECE 498 KL: eCrime and Internet Service Abuse
  • Secure Software:
    • CS 598 TXU: Reliability of Cloud-Scale Systems
    • CS 598 TXU: Reliable Software Systems
  • Approved Track: Students may work with  Professor Bashir and the ICSSP leadership team to create an approved concentration area.
  • Research project in the area of security.
Students will work in collaboration with a faculty member to satisfy the Upper Level Writing Requirement as well as the ICSSP research paper requirement. This will involve two semesters of IS 589: Independent Study.
  • ICSSP Seminar.
Students must register every semester for CS 491, the Information Assurance & Trust Seminar.