CHENNAI: The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) and IIT-Kanpur have jointly launched what is touted as the country’s first practice-oriented, four-year Bachelor of Cybersecurity (B Cyber) programme. Admissions to the inaugural batch will be conducted jointly this month, while students will pursue the programme at their institute of choice.
The undergraduate programme has been introduced to address the country’s growing demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals amid rapid digital transformation across sectors such as governance, finance, healthcare, telecommunications, manufacturing and defence. There is an estimated shortage of 1.5 million cybersecurity professionals nationally, a release by IIT-M stated.
Designed with an emphasis on hands-on learning, the course combines academic instructions with extensive laboratory training and real-world professional experience.
A key feature is a two-year field deployment professional project, under which students will spend their final four semesters working on live cybersecurity projects under the mentorship of experts from strategic and critical organisations.
The competency-based curriculum covers areas including security operations, vulnerability assessment and penetration testing, secure systems, malware analysis, firmware reverse engineering, hardware security, cloud security and critical infrastructure security.
Students can also choose advanced electives such as digital forensics, embedded systems security, secure processor microarchitecture and applied cryptography.
During the first two years, students will receive intensive laboratory-oriented training in computer systems, programming, Linux system administration, cryptography, operating systems, computer networks, ethical hacking and web security.
Graduates will be equipped for careers in cyber defence, security operations centres, cloud security and critical infrastructure protection, among others, the release added.