PROFESSIONAL BACHELOR PROGRAM

Cyber Security Specialist

Develop the skills to assess cyber threats, strengthen organizational security, and lead cybersecurity teams and projects. The program prepares you for the Swiss federal examination at Professional Bachelor level.

For optimal preparation, it includes IT Fundamentals, Networking & Infrastructure Fundamentals, Cybersecurity Fundamentals, and Cyber Security Professional training.

Next start dates

12 November 2026

Duration

12 months

Language

English

Program fee

CHF 15’900.– payable in 6 and 12 instalments

Format & Language

Fully Online, in English

Diploma

Cyber Security Specialist with Professional Bachelor

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Who is this program for?

This program is designed for IT and security professionals aiming to advance their career through the Swiss federal diploma of higher education in Cyber Security.

Requirements

A. Apprenticeship / Bachelor in ICT + 2 years of work experience in the technical IT field.
B. Matura / High school diploma + 4 years of work experience in the technical IT field.

No prior education?

Then you need to have + 6 years of work experience in the technical IT field.
If you have a different background that you feel still applies, please contact us; we will gladly clarify your admission in advance.

CHECK YOUR ELIGIBILITY

Degree and recognition

This program prepares you for the federal examination to obtain Cyber Security Specialist federal diploma (NQF Level 6). This diploma is equivalent to a bachelor’s degree and is recognized in Switzerland and Europe.

University degrees

Academic Diploma

Bachelor (NQF Lv.6)

Focus on theory, less flexible

Issued by universities and higher schools

Minimum 6 semester of onsite study

Tertiary degrees

Professional Bachelor / Federal Diploma

Cyber Security Specialist (NQF Lv.6)

Practice-oriented, industry-driven content

Issued by the State Secretariat SERI / SBFI

Specialized hands-on Hacking Lab training

Got a question? Let’s talk

CTI, vulnerabilities scanning, and advisory

Covers frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK and teaches you how to assess, rate, and communicate vulnerabilities effectively.

Network security detection and defensive engineering

Focuses on securing, monitoring, and analyzing network environments using encryption, scanning, and defensive strategies.

Data security analytics and SIEM

This content focuses on key cybersecurity defenses: integrity via hash algorithms, endpoint and network detection (AV/EDR, honeypots, WAFs).

Incident response and recovery

Trains you to prepare, triage, and manage cybersecurity incidents through practical response playbooks and recovery procedures.

Web application testing

Explores web application vulnerabilities, content security policies, and hardening techniques to secure web environments.

Python and data anonymization

Introduces Python programming and practical methods for anonymizing and processing data securely.

Digital forensics and malware analysis

Provides hands-on experience in evidence handling, memory forensics, and malware detection using tools like Volatility and YARA.

Communication and leadership

Develops professional communication, teamwork, and leadership skills essential for managing cybersecurity projects and teams.

Business administration and IT project

Builds business and management competencies including budgeting, cost control, and IT project planning aligned with security goals.

Get ready for the exam

Prepares participants for the Swiss Federal Exam through focused review sessions and exam simulations.

Learning content

By the end of the program, you will have the technical and managerial skills required to safeguard digital environments, detect and respond to threats.

Practical benefits

Apply the knowledge at work from day one, enhance your professional value.

Objectives and format

Andragogical approach: Practice-driven, learner-centered

Learning objectives

Cyber threat intelligence

Network and security operations

Data, email, and endpoint security

Web application and system security

Learning formats

Live classes

Ethical hacking lab

Exam simulations

Community workshops

Technical requirements

Laptop with min. 12GB RAM

Access to hacking lab and online campus

Internet connection, headphones, web cam

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Your instructor

Alejandro Guinea

Senior instructor

Alejandro, a cyber leader from Guatemala, teaches the essentials of Cybersecurity and Python. His extensive hands-on experience supports both your exam preparation and future career development.

Marco Agostini

Instructor

Marco, a security professional at the Swiss National Cybersecurity Center, focuses on key topics with a special emphasis on offensive security.

Matthias Gsteiger

Instructor

As a former best-in-class CSS student, Matthias is your lead instructor for Hands-on sessions in the advanced cybersecurity part. You will spend a lot of time with Matthias in our practical Hacking Labs.

Harun Duzgun

Instructor

Harun was among the top Cybersecurity Specialist candidates of his year. Today, he shares his expertise across cybersecurity domains to support your preparation for the Federal Exam.

Nick James

Senior instructor

Nick James brings over 25 years of experience at the intersection of leadership, business and technology. As founder of Eighty20, Nick helps people unlock their full potential through coaching, senior advisory, training, workshops and hands-on transformation leadership. Formerly, Nick led the Agile transformation of Julius Baer as Managing Director and was a BCG Partner and Associate Director.

Investment overview

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What makes us unique?

Real-world challenges

All of our students are provided with private Virtual Machines and Hacking Labs of Swiss Cyber Institute and ICT Berufsbildung for a practical and personalized learning experience.

Learn anytime, anywhere

We have two start dates per year: May and November. The courses are fully digital, and you can attend this course while working full time, from anywhere in Switzerland as well as other countries.

End-to-end support

We’re here to help. From eligibility checks with ICT-Berufsbildung to all administrative and bureaucratic tasks — we support you so you can focus entirely on your cyber security journey.

Networking

Access a network of world-class academics, industry experts, and peers to connect and develop ideas — putting theory into practice.

Download our brochure

FAQ

A Cyber Security Specialist is a practice-oriented security professional who protects mission critical assets across human, perimeter, network, endpoint, application, and data layers using a defence in depth approach.

They typicall work in:

Security Operations Centers
Incident response teams
IT and network security teams
Public institutions and medium to large private companies

Their work includes threat analysis, vulnerability prioritisation, monitoring, incident response, digital forensics, advisory reporting, and translating technical risks into business impact.

The program builds operational capability across:

Cyber Threat Intelligence foundations such as ATT and kill chain
Risk and vulnerability management using CVE, CVSS, DREAD
Network traffic analysis with Wireshark and tcpdump
Detection and SIEM basics
Web application testing and hardening
Digital forensics and malware triage
Security communication under pressure
Advisory and structured reporting
IT project management and financial controlling

Strong emphasis is placed on defensible reasoning and structured reporting under exam conditions.

The curriculum is built on three pillars:

60% technical and hacking labs
20% leadership and communication
20% IT project management and business administration

The program includes 220 hours of lectures and 300 hours of hacking lab.

The program is fully online and instructor-led. It includes:

Live sessions, 4 hours per session
Guided labs
Exam simulations embedded throughout
Structured reported practice
Oral exam preparation
Group workshops
Quiz and cheat sheets

English

Swiss Cyber Institute is the only school that provides this course in English. Knowledge of English is required for the study of technical literature as the first part of the federal examination is set exclusively in English. Regardless if you are living in the German, French, or Italian part of Switzerland, you can enroll in our program.

The program is specifically aligned with the ICT Berufsbildung Cyber Security Specialist federal examination. It integrates structured exam simulations with grading criteria and debrief sessions focused on accuracy, speed and defensible reasoning. Students work in a guided lab environment that mirrors exam conditions and typical reporting tasks. The program is delivered through the Swiss Cyber Institute Online Campus and provides access to a specialised hacking lab, exam ready study packs, and structured workflows that reflect federal exam expectations. Students also benefit from the broader Swiss Cyber Institute community and networking opportunities (meet ups several times per year, Global Cyber Conference).

We have two start dates in a year:

Every May – 3 semesters / 18 months program

(live sessions in every two weeks)

Every November – 2 semesters / 12 months program

(live sessions in every week)

The faculty and program content are the same, the only difference is the frequency of the live classes.

A. Apprenticeship / Bachelor in ICT + 2 years of work experience*

or

B. Matura / High school diploma + 4 years of work experience*

or

C. No prior education + 6 years of work experience*

*Job examples: ICT Engineer, IT Support / Consultant, Solutions Engineer, DevOps, SysAdmin, Web Developer, Cloud, UX/UI, SoftDev, Network Admin, Cybersecurity, Data Analyst / Admin, QA, etc. Not exhaustive.

These requirements must only be fulfilled at the time of the federal examination.

If you do not meet these requirements, you can still join the program, collect the required work experience and participate in the federal exam even 7 years after the course start.

The program prepares you for the Swiss federal examination for Cyber Security Specialist at Professional Bachelor level. Upon successfully passing the federal examination, you receive the officially recognised Swiss federal diploma.

For optimal participation in Cyber Security Specialist classes, we recommend using a Windows PC or a MacBook (until the end of 2019) with an Intel processor. Due to new regulations that exclude external IP addresses for the federal examination, we recommend that students set up a local hacking lab as a virtual machine on their computer. Setting up such virtual machines is technically demanding for newer MacBooks with M1-M4 processors and generally for devices with ARM technology. Windows devices with Intel or AMD processors offer the most flexible solution for participating fully in both program modules and the exam.

Yes. Students receive personalised education advisory and onboarding support, continuous learning and performance support, exam admission assistance, and structured preparation for both written and oral components of the federal examination. The program also includes masterclasses and scenario based simulations to reinforce applied competence.

The program costs a total of CHF 15’900. After you attend the federal examination, you will be refunded half of the program fee by the Swiss Federal Government, regardless of your result in the exam. Further details can be found on the web page of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SBFI.

The examination fee for the federal diploma will be around CHF 3,200, according to ICT Berufsbildung (May 2019). This fee is invoiced by the examiner and must be paid before the November exam.

Program fee includes: