Cybersecurity, Policy, and Law

Cybersecurity is a multidisciplinary domain that involves technical issues, security policies, regulation, and law. Our integrated curriculum—incorporating coursework from Pitt’s School of Computing and Information, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and School of Law—provides students with the skills to develop comprehensive cybersecurity policies and strengthen cybersecurity ecosystems to minimize risk. 

As part of the certificate’s multidisciplinary approach, the certificate requires courses to be taken from all three Pitt schools. Students must complete a minimum of three courses from SCI, one course from GSPIA, and one course from the School of Law to earn the certificate.

Courses

Students can select from the following courses across the three schools to build a program around their interests:

School of Computing and Information courses

INFSCI 2150 - Information Security and Privacy
TELCOM 2821 - Network Security
INFSCI 2620 - Developing Secure Systems
TELCOM 2811 - Hacking for Defense
INFSCI 2621 - Security Management and Computer Forensics
CS 2053 - Applied Cryptography and Network Security
CS 2530 - Computer and Network Security
CS 3525 - Advanced Topics in Security and Privacy

Graduate School of Public and International Affairs courses

PIA 2156 - Ethics and Policy in Cyber Space
PIA 2379 - Introduction to Cyber Crimes
PIA 2360 - Cyber Security Policy
PIA 2389 - Criminal Operations in the Cyberworld
PIA 2327 - Terrorism and Counter Terrorism
PIA 2346 - Introduction to American Intelligence
PIA 2365 - Transnational Crime
PIA 2041 - Policy Analysis for Cybersecurity & Intelligence Studies

School of Law courses

LAW 5623 - Cyber Law, Policy & Security
LAW 5380 - Cybercrime
LAW 5404 - Cyberspace and the Law
LAW 5430 - Information Privacy Law and Practice
LAW 5260 - Intellectual Property
LAW 5877 - Public Policy Seminar