Where the Experts of the Cyber World Are Trained

It is a program that stands out for two reasons, as Greta Nasi, Associate Professor at the Bocconi Department of Social and Political Sciences, explains. The Program Director since its inception in 2019 says: "Because it is the first program created by two outstanding Milanese and Italian universities, Bocconi and Politecnico di Milano, and because there are no other programs in the world with these characteristics, with the exception of a PhD-level program at Oxford." The Master of Science in Cyber Risk Strategy and Governance was conceived, says Greta Nasi, "out of the need to holistically address the problem of people's interactions in virtual spaces. We realized that cyber risk was only focused on from a technological and legal point of view. There was no 360-degree approach, and at the graduate level there was no program that combined technical and organizational aspects." In addition, "the market has a demand for this interdisciplinary background and the prestigious institutions Politenico di Milano and Bocconi have been able to effectively meet that demand."

Which two leading universities respectively in the fields of cyber security and social sciences have decided to do, with their respective competence areas. "The program primarily develops skills in technology and computer science, which are crucial for an in-depth understanding of the cyber world," says the Director. "Secondly, economic, management and legal principles and aspects related to cyber risk are studied, to develop know-how and soft skills that allow relationships to be built at all levels of an organization, to influence strategic decisions and implement the actions needed to limit risks in the era of the digital economy."

In terms of career opportunities, the market has a high demand for profiles with this background: "The MSc prepares students to enter the labor market at companies, financial institutions, other institutions in the public/private sector and consulting companies, with two main profiles," says Greta Nasi. "As Cyber Risk Managers, graduates will support tasks related to cyber risk management at the organizational level in order to govern business risk by designing and implementing ad hoc strategies. As Data Protection and Security Managers, graduates will support tasks related to data protection, privacy management and compliance in order to govern data risks."

The Master of Science in Cyber Risk Strategy and Governance has another unique feature. It has seven corporate partners (Cisco, KPMG, Fincantieri, IntesaSanPaolo, NTT Data, Spike Reply and Vodafone) who are very active in the program and who each offer three scholarships. "All the students in our program already have a job offer," says Nasi, "testifying to the demand of the market. In addition, we have a high percentage of women students, on average over 30%, and we have achieved gender equality in the 2019-2021 class group, which does not always happen in STEM areas."