Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity and Digital Trust
Uganda is digitising public services, payments and identity faster than it is producing people qualified to defend them, and the shortage is acute at exactly the level — hands on defensive operations — where the region's degree programmes a...
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2031.
Roles
- Security operations centre analyst
- incident responder
- penetration tester
- security engineer
- digital forensics examiner
- governance, risk and compliance analyst
- identity and access engineer
- AI security specialist
- fraud investigator.
Employer types
- Banks, mobile money operators and payment switches
- telecommunications operators
- government security, revenue and identity agencies
- managed security service providers
- auditors and consultancies
- and international employers hiring regional security operations capacity.
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- An acute and quantified national shortage with immediate absorption
- strong remote work demand
- and a clear certification ladder embedded in the degree that raises earnings independent of the award.
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity and Digital Trust. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold or are completing?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 101 | AI Fluency I: How Intelligent Systems Work Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| AIC 110 | Programming for Security Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| AIC 111 | Computer Systems, Networks and Protocols Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| AIC 112 | Foundations of Information Security Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| AIC 113 | Linux, Windows and Systems Administration Practicum Performance | 4 | 1-0-6 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 102 | Quantitative Reasoning and Evidence Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| AIC 130 | Secure Programming and Application Security Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| AIC 131 | Cryptography and Applied Cryptographic Engineering Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| AIC 132 | Network Defence and Architecture Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| AIC 133 | Cyber Law, Data Protection and Professional Ethics Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| COP 190 | Workplace Immersion (4 weeks, recess term) Performance | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 201 | Ethics, Society and the African Context Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| AIC 210 | Security Operations and Threat Detection Practicum Performance | 5 | 1-0-8 |
| AIC 211 | Offensive Security and Penetration Performanc | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| AIC 212 | Digital Forensics and Incident Response Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| AIC 213 | Identity, Access and Digital Trust Systems Both | 3 | 1-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 202 | Human Advantage: Argument, Writing and Teams Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 290 | Co-operative Education Placement I (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| AIC 230 | Security of Machine Learning Systems Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| AIC 231 | Governance, Risk, Compliance and Audit Objective | 3 | 2-2-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 301 | AI Fluency II: Building, Evaluating and Auditing Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 390 | Co-operative Education Placement II (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| AIC 310 | Cloud and Container Security Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| AIC 311 | Financial Crime, Fraud and Payments Security Both | 3 | 1-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 302 | Enterprise, Employability and Financial Literacy Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| FDC 401 | AI Fluency III: Domain Deployment, Governance and Assurance Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| FDC 402 | Capability Portfolio and Day One Preparation Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| AIC 330 | Cybersecurity Capstone: Live Defence Engagement (client verified) Performance | 8 | 0-2-14 |
| AIC 331 | Threat Intelligence and Adversary Emulation Performance | 4 | 1-0-6 |
Total credit units: 132
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Coursework + project + integrated exam
Work-integrated learning
12 months paid co-operative education
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity and Digital Trust
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum explorer
Drill into the degree, step by step
Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.
Step 1, choose a year
Step 2, choose a term
TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1
Year 1 · this step is worth 22 CU
Cumulative
22
Programme total
132
22 CU of 132 CU completed by the end of this step (17%)
Step 3, choose a course
Pick a course to see the detail
Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.
The twelve Forward capabilities
What this programme develops in you
Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.
- C1Intelligent Systems FluencyLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C2Quantitative and Evidential ReasoningLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C3Ethical and Contextual Judgement CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C4Communication and PersuasionLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C5Disciplinary Mastery CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C6Technical Production and Craft CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C7Problem Framing and Systems ThinkingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial LiteracyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace Performance CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C12Stewardship and Public ContributionLevel 4 of 4, Leading
Critical capabilities for this programme: Ethical and Contextual Judgement · Disciplinary Mastery · Technical Production and Craft · Professional Conduct and Workplace Performance. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.
Programme Learning Outcomes
What you will be able to do
Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.
- PLO 1Defend a real network and application estate: monitor detect, triage, contain, eradicate and recover.
- PLO 2Conduct an authorised penetration test to professional scope and rules of engagement, and write the report a client will act on.
- PLO 3Apply cryptographic primitives and protocols correctly and identify the specific ways they are misused in practice.
- PLO 4Conduct a forensically sound investigation, preserving evidence to a standard admissible in Ugandan proceedings.
- PLO 5Assess and defend machine learning systems against poisoning, extraction, evasion and prompt injection attacks.
- PLO 6Design identity, authentication and authorisation architectures appropriate to low documentation populations and mobile first users.
- PLO 7Apply the Ugandan and continental legal and regulatory framework governing data protection, interception and computer misuse.
- PLO 8Communicate risk to a board in financial rather than technical terms.
- PLO 9Operate under the professional and ethical constraints of the security profession, including disclosure and lawful authority.
Why this programme exists
Uganda is digitising public services, payments and identity faster than it is producing people qualified to defend them, and the shortage is acute at exactly the level — hands on defensive operations — where the region's degree programmes are weakest. This programme is built around a permanent cyber range in which students defend and attack live infrastructure from the first semester. It uniquely includes the security of machine learning systems themselves as a full stream rather than a lecture, because the systems the next decade must defend are learned rather than programmed, and conventional security curricula have no vocabulary for model poisoning, prompt injection or training data extraction.
Admission requirements
UACE with two principal passes, at least one in Mathematics, Physics, Economics or Computer Studies, plus UCE with five passes including Mathematics and English. Alternative pathways: Foundation Year, diploma entry with advanced standing, mature age entry and recognition of prior learning, all governed by Part A5 and Part G. Online applicants additionally complete the compulsory Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.
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