Should I study Cybercrime or Cyber Security and Digital Forensics?

Read the answers to the following questions to help you decide whether an MSc in Cybercrime or an MSc in Cyber Security and Digital Forensics is the right choice for your interests and ambitions. 

What's the difference between Cybercrime and Cyber Security and Digital Forensics?

Cybercrime is the term applied to criminal and harmful behaviours that are facilitated through the use of networked digital technologies, or that only occur due to the existence of such tools.

Cyber security involves techniques of protecting networked digital technologies, electronic data, networks, and programmes against criminal or unauthorised access. Cyber security is a technical approach to preventing and tackling cybercrime.

Furthermore, it protects information assets of a company and ensures the company treats those assets in the most secure manner so that accidental disclosure of information assets is less likely to occur.

Who should study cybercrime?

What do you want to get out of your master's degree? Cybercrime is the right choice for you if you want to:

• Understand the underlying causes behind online deviant and law-breaking actions
• Take a holistic approach to cybercrime, developing critical thinking around responses to technological, behavioural, human, legal and management perspectives
• Assess new harms online such as bullying, harassment and technology-facilitated sexual violence, as well as potential shortfalls in legislation
• Learn how to use qualitative, quantitative and mixed research methods to investigate cybercrime
• Collaborate with experienced personnel such as members of Hampshire Police and the Crime Commissioner’s Office on your dissertation/major project
• Network with and learn from peers from a wide range of professional backgrounds with a similar interest in cybercrime

Who should study cyber security and digital forensics?

Cyber Security and Digital Forensics is the right choice for you if you want to:

• Know how to protect an organisation’s digital assets and systems
• Gain experience with specialist software and hardware
• Learn how to design and conduct forensic IT experiments
• Understand the principles involved in searching for and collecting digital evidence from data storage devices and large datasets
• Learn about data hacking, including ethical hacking
• Learn how to convince a court of law that you know the correct procedure to extract evidence from devices Network with other cyber security professionals around the world and build your contact list

Do I need a technical background to study cybercrime?

No, technical skills are not required to study cybercrime at master's level. You just need an interest in how people use technology in ways that are problematic.

Do I need a technical background to study cyber security and digital forensics?

No, you need to be a user of technology rather than have a technological background to study cyber security and digital forensics. If you do have more technical skills, you could choose a more technical project for your dissertation.

What job roles can studying cybercrime lead to?

There’s a growing need in the police and government agencies for cybercrime expertise. Other job roles could include:

• Behaviour analyst
• Information security officer
• Risk management analyst
• Intelligence analyst
• Researcher

Find out more about cybercrime careers. 

What job roles can studying cyber security and digital forensics lead to?

Cyber Security expertise is needed in a wide range of industries including banking, insurance, accountancy, IT, and the public sector. Other job roles could include:

• Security Analyst
• Security Engineer
• Digital Forensic Investigator
• Cryptographer
• Chief Information Security Officer
• Information Systems Administrator
• Information Security Analyst
• Cyber Security Consultant
• Cyber Vulnerability Analyst
• Security Operations & Intelligence Analyst

Find out more about Cyber Security and Digital Forensics careers.

Want to find out more?

The University of Portsmouth offers an online MSc in Cybercrime and an online MSc in Cybercrime and Digital Forensics. If you'd like to discuss in more detail which course will help you achieve your goals, get in touch with our team for a chat: