By 2023, cybercrime in the United States will cost businesses $8 trillion. That’s a staggering statistic, but even more remarkable is that a cyber attack happens every 39 seconds. The impact on business cannot be overstated.

For professionals seeking a career in cybersecurity, cybercrime has a silver lining. The demand for skilled and qualified cybersecurity graduates has skyrocketed, and finding the best online Master of Science in cybersecurity will open the doors of opportunity. Online degrees are affordable and flexible, equipping professionals with the skills they need to add value to any organization.

Exploring the Significance of Online Cybersecurity Education

Online coursework allows busy professionals to study at their own pace, no matter their geographical location. Using state-of-the-art delivery platforms to provide coursework designed by industry leaders and leading academics in cybersecurity is part of the attraction.

The best online master of science in cybersecurity programs will prioritize virtual learning to give students the opportunity to immerse themselves in real-world cyber defense scenarios. These degrees also provide insight into theoretical concepts.

Criteria for Selecting the Best Online Cybersecurity Programs

The best online cybersecurity degrees will offer a curriculum that is comprehensive and aligned with the needs of modern organizations. This includes providing students with the opportunity to immerse themselves in real-world scenarios.

Practical knowledge is essential for any prospective employee. Businesses want a professional who can analyze the threat environment, and provide insight into emerging threats, as well as provide guidance on how to mitigate these threats.

The answer to the question “What is the best online school for cybersecurity?” lies, at least in part, in the coursework. The best online cybersecurity programs will have course content that covers cybersecurity trends, technologies, and best practices. It will also be presented by faculty members and cybersecurity experts who have immersed themselves in the field.

For employers, the combination of practical experience and theoretical foundations is important, but so is the reputation of the school. Your chosen degree provider must be accredited as an online higher education institution by a globally recognized regulatory body.

Comparing Online Cybersecurity Programs

A certification that is recognized and respected by leading industry players is essential. However, other factors need to be considered when choosing the best online masters in cybersecurity.

A master’s degree program can be time-consuming, and for full-time professionals, the online study option is attractive. It allows them the flexibility to continue to meet their 9-5 obligations. State-of-the-art learning platforms and an interactive learning environment will contribute to a successful master’s experience.

The value of practical coursework should also not be underestimated. An online degree that offers access to cutting-edge cybersecurity tools and labs will enhance the learning experience. Immersion in real-world case studies and challenges will definitely enhance employability.

Demand for cybersecurity professionals is at an all-time high. Still, the relationship of the educational institution with industry leaders certainly enhances job prospects, as will career support services once the program is complete.

Best Online Masters in Cybersecurity

Since this field is in high demand, there’s no shortage of programs available for cybersecurity. Below are five of the top ones for a master’s degree.

1. Online Master’s of Science in Cybersecurity – Georgia Institute of Technology

This online, interdisciplinary master’s degree in cybersecurity can be completed in two to three years and has been developed for working professionals. It will allow advanced students insight into the vulnerabilities of cyber systems and the threats they face and supply professionals with the tools they need to protect network data. The total tuition cost is $9,920 (approximately 9,163 euros).

2. Online Masters in Cybersecurity – Johns Hopkins University

During this program, students will develop the skills required to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data, and to preserve and restore systems. The development of risk management skills is also prioritized. The course combines on-campus learning with eLearning with a total program cost of $50,910 (47,026 euros).

3. Master’s in Cybersecurity Risk Management – Georgetown University

This on-campus/online degree offers an integrated approach to coursework such as ethical considerations in cybersecurity practice, best practices for communications, computer science, the regulatory environment, compliance law, and coping with organizational change. Students will also get practical experience in developing and rolling out integrated cybersecurity strategies and crafting policy frameworks for business. The total cost of the degree is $50,391 (46,547 euros).

4. M.S. In Cybersecurity Online – Syracuse University

This master’s qualification allows students to develop the skills to apply machine learning strategies in a security context and explore topics such as neural network approaches, fraud detection, data mining, pattern recognition, and other valuable skills. Electives cover machine learning and biometrics. The cost of this degree is $56,160 (51,876 euros).

5. Masters in Cyber Security Engineering Online – University of San Diego

The coursework of this online/campus master’s qualification is aimed at providing those interested in various senior cybersecurity roles or seeking to work as a security engineer. The coursework has been developed in close consultation with the U.S. intelligence community, industry leaders, and government stakeholders. It includes subjects such as an introduction to cybersecurity concepts and tools, investigating threats and vulnerabilities, applied cryptography and secure network engineering. Students will pay $37,500 (34,639 euros) to complete the degree.

OPIT’s Leading Online MSc in Enterprise Cybersecurity

The OPIT Online Master’s Degree (MSc) in Enterprise Cybersecurity is an attractive option for those searching for the best online master’s in cybersecurity. The interactive, online nature of the coursework allows for incredible flexibility, students can study when they want and where they want, making it ideal for time-poor professionals.

During the course of the degree, students will be exposed to foundational concepts like network security, information assurance, and cybersecurity management. The practical nature of much of the coursework makes this master’s degree highly attractive to employers.

Why Choose OPIT for Your Cybersecurity Education Online

Any master’s degree in cybersecurity is only as good as the educational institution that provides the qualification. The OPIT Online Master’s Degree (MSc) in Enterprise Cybersecurity is made available by an organization that is internationally recognized and respected due (in part) to its accreditation with leading regulatory bodies.

Coursework counts when looking for the best online masters in cybersecurity. An OPIT master’s degree offers a blend of theoretical education with practical, real-world application, as well as access to renowned cybersecurity experts and a growing global community of cybersecurity professionals.

For busy professionals who want to further their careers in the ever-evolving field of cybersecurity and threat analysis, an OPIT master’s should be on the bucket list of the best online masters in cybersecurity.

Become a Master of the Cybersecurity Environment

The best online cybersecurity degrees combine practical coursework with foundational theory to increase the employability of the graduate. The courses need to be developed with industry needs in mind and should leverage the knowledge available from both academia and business to deliver exceptional value.

This integrated approach must be combined with post-graduate career support and a commitment to providing cutting-edge online accessibility to content and evaluation tools, as well as technology like sandboxes and real-world simulations, to enhance the practical value of the degree.

If the master’s degree you are evaluating does not tick these boxes, then perhaps OPIT is the higher education solution that you have been searching for.

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Expert Pierluigi Casale analyzes the adoption of AI by companies, the ethical and regulatory challenges and the differentiated approach between large companies and SMEs

By Gianni Rusconi

Easier said than done: to paraphrase the well-known proverb, and to place it in the increasingly large collection of critical issues and opportunities related to artificial intelligence, the task that CEOs and management have to adequately integrate this technology into the company is indeed difficult. Pierluigi Casale, professor at OPIT (Open Institute of Technology, an academic institution founded two years ago and specialized in the field of Computer Science) and technical consultant to the European Parliament for the implementation and regulation of AI, is among those who contributed to the definition of the AI ​​Act, providing advice on aspects of safety and civil liability. His task, in short, is to ensure that the adoption of artificial intelligence (primarily within the parliamentary committees operating in Brussels) is not only efficient, but also ethical and compliant with regulations. And, obviously, his is not an easy task.

The experience gained over the last 15 years in the field of machine learning and the role played in organizations such as Europol and in leading technology companies are the requirements that Casale brings to the table to balance the needs of EU bodies with the pressure exerted by American Big Tech and to preserve an independent approach to the regulation of artificial intelligence. A technology, it is worth remembering, that implies broad and diversified knowledge, ranging from the regulatory/application spectrum to geopolitical issues, from computational limitations (common to European companies and public institutions) to the challenges related to training large-format language models.

CEOs and AI

When we specifically asked how CEOs and C-suites are “digesting” AI in terms of ethics, safety and responsibility, Casale did not shy away, framing the topic based on his own professional career. “I have noticed two trends in particular: the first concerns companies that started using artificial intelligence before the AI ​​Act and that today have the need, as well as the obligation, to adapt to the new ethical framework to be compliant and avoid sanctions; the second concerns companies, like the Italian ones, that are only now approaching this topic, often in terms of experimental and incomplete projects (the expression used literally is “proof of concept”, ed.) and without these having produced value. In this case, the ethical and regulatory component is integrated into the adoption process.”

In general, according to Casale, there is still a lot to do even from a purely regulatory perspective, due to the fact that there is not a total coherence of vision among the different countries and there is not the same speed in implementing the indications. Spain, in this regard, is setting an example, having established (with a royal decree of 8 November 2023) a dedicated “sandbox”, i.e. a regulatory experimentation space for artificial intelligence through the creation of a controlled test environment in the development and pre-marketing phase of some artificial intelligence systems, in order to verify compliance with the requirements and obligations set out in the AI ​​Act and to guide companies towards a path of regulated adoption of the technology.

Read the full article below (in Italian):

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The Lucky Future: How AI Aims to Change Everything
OPIT - Open Institute of Technology
OPIT - Open Institute of Technology
Apr 10, 2025 7 min read

There is no question that the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) is having a profound impact on nearly every aspect of our lives.

But is an AI-powered future one to be feared, or does AI offer the promise of a “lucky future.”

That “lucky future” prediction comes from Zorina Alliata, principal AI Strategist at Amazon and AI faculty member at Georgetown University and the Open Institute of Technology (OPIT), in her recent webinar “The Lucky Future: How AI Aims to Change Everything” (February 18, 2025).

However, according to Alliata, such a future depends on how the technology develops and whether strategies can be implemented to mitigate the risks.

How AI Aims to Change Everything

For many people, AI is already changing the way they work. However, more broadly, AI has profoundly impacted how we consume information.

From the curation of a social media feed and the summary answer to a search query from Gemini at the top of your Google results page to the AI-powered chatbot that resolves your customer service issues, AI has quickly and quietly infiltrated nearly every aspect of our lives in the past few years.

While there have been significant concerns recently about the possibly negative impact of AI, Alliata’s “lucky future” prediction takes these fears into account. As she detailed in her webinar, a future with AI will have to take into consideration:

  • Where we are currently with AI and future trajectories
  • The impact AI is having on the job landscape
  • Sustainability concerns and ethical dilemmas
  • The fundamental risks associated with current AI technology

According to Alliata, by addressing these risks, we can craft a future in which AI helps individuals better align their needs with potential opportunities and limitations of the new technology.

Industry Applications of AI

While AI has been in development for decades, Alliata describes a period known as the “AI winter” during which educators like herself studied AI technology, but hadn’t arrived at a point of practical applications. Contributing to this period of uncertainty were concerns over how to make AI profitable as well.

That all changed about 10-15 years ago when machine learning (ML) improved significantly. This development led to a surge in the creation of business applications for AI. Beginning with automation and robotics for repetitive tasks, the technology progressed to data analysis – taking a deep dive into data and finding not only new information but new opportunities as well.

This further developed into generative AI capable of completing creative tasks. Generative AI now produces around one billion words per day, compared to the one trillion produced by humans.

We are now at the stage where AI can complete complex tasks involving multiple steps. In her webinar, Alliata gave the example of a team creating storyboards and user pathways for a new app they wanted to develop. Using photos and rough images, they were able to use AI to generate the code for the app, saving hundreds of hours of manpower.

The next step in AI evolution is Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), an extremely autonomous level of AI that can replicate or in some cases exceed human intelligence. While the benefits of such technology may readily be obvious to some, the industry itself is divided as to not only whether this form of AI is close at hand or simply unachievable with current tools and technology, but also whether it should be developed at all.

This unpredictability, according to Alliata, represents both the excitement and the concerns about AI.

The AI Revolution and the Job Market

According to Alliata, the job market is the next area where the AI revolution can profoundly impact our lives.

To date, the AI revolution has not resulted in widespread layoffs as initially feared. Instead of making employees redundant, many jobs have evolved to allow them to work alongside AI. In fact, AI has also created new jobs such as AI prompt writer.

However, the prediction is that as AI becomes more sophisticated, it will need less human support, resulting in a greater job churn. Alliata shared statistics from various studies predicting as many as 27% of all jobs being at high risk of becoming redundant from AI and 40% of working hours being impacted by language learning models (LLMs) like Chat GPT.

Furthermore, AI may impact some roles and industries more than others. For example, one study suggests that in high-income countries, 8.5% of jobs held by women were likely to be impacted by potential automation, compared to just 3.9% of jobs held by men.

Is AI Sustainable?

While Alliata shared the many ways in which AI can potentially save businesses time and money, she also highlighted that it is an expensive technology in terms of sustainability.

Conducting AI training and processing puts a heavy strain on central processing units (CPUs), requiring a great deal of energy. According to estimates, Chat GPT 3 alone uses as much electricity per day as 121 U.S. households in an entire year. Gartner predicts that by 2030, AI could consume 3.5% of the world’s electricity.

To reduce the energy requirements, Alliata highlighted potential paths forward in terms of hardware optimization, such as more energy-efficient chips, greater use of renewable energy sources, and algorithm optimization. For example, models that can be applied to a variety of uses based on prompt engineering and parameter-efficient tuning are more energy-efficient than training models from scratch.

Risks of Using Generative AI

While Alliata is clearly an advocate for the benefits of AI, she also highlighted the risks associated with using generative AI, particularly LLMs.

  • Uncertainty – While we rely on AI for answers, we aren’t always sure that the answers provided are accurate.
  • Hallucinations – Technology designed to answer questions can make up facts when it does not know the answer.
  • Copyright – The training of LLMs often uses copyrighted data for training without permission from the creator.
  • Bias – Biased data often trains LLMs, and that bias becomes part of the LLM’s programming and production.
  • Vulnerability – Users can bypass the original functionality of an LLM and use it for a different purpose.
  • Ethical Risks – AI applications pose significant ethical risks, including the creation of deepfakes, the erosion of human creativity, and the aforementioned risks of unemployment.

Mitigating these risks relies on pillars of responsibility for using AI, including value alignment of the application, accountability, transparency, and explainability.

The last one, according to Alliata, is vital on a human level. Imagine you work for a bank using AI to assess loan applications. If a loan is denied, the explanation you give to the customer can’t simply be “Because the AI said so.” There needs to be firm and explainable data behind the reasoning.

OPIT’s Masters in Responsible Artificial Intelligence explores the risks and responsibilities inherent in AI, as well as others.

A Lucky Future

Despite the potential risks, Alliata concludes that AI presents even more opportunities and solutions in the future.

Information overload and decision fatigue are major challenges today. Imagine you want to buy a new car. You have a dozen features you desire, alongside hundreds of options, as well as thousands of websites containing the relevant information. AI can help you cut through the noise and narrow the information down to what you need based on your specific requirements.

Alliata also shared how AI is changing healthcare, allowing patients to understand their health data, make informed choices, and find healthcare professionals who meet their needs.

It is this functionality that can lead to the “lucky future.” Personalized guidance based on an analysis of vast amounts of data means that each person is more likely to make the right decision with the right information at the right time.

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