Devanshi Goyal knew she wanted to pursue a career in cybersecurity since she was an undergraduate student. Now, armed with a master’s degree, she’s ready to live that dream.

Goyal is a recent graduate of Northeastern’s Master of Science in Information Assurance (MSIA ’18) program, recently renamed the Master of Science in Cybersecurity. After she completed her undergraduate degree in computer science from the University of Delhi, she immediately came to the United States to further her education in information security.

“I was always a technology enthusiast, but my curious nature led me to explore the world of cybersecurity,” Goyal says.

While an undergraduate, learning about security fundamentals and participating in hackathons helped her realize the importance and beauty of the field. “The ever-increasing scope and demand of skilled security professional was another driving force to pursue this as a career,” she adds.

Goyal chose Northeastern’s program because it ranks among the top programs in the nation for cybersecurity. “The course curriculum was very exciting and the concept of co-op was the most attractive point which lured me to Northeastern,” she says.

As a student, she was able to take full advantage of both these components. Her favorite courses were Network Security Practices taught by Professor Kevin Amorin and Computer Systems Security taught by Professor Jose Sierra.

“The professors did a great job at explaining the concepts and creating interesting and challenging lab environments,” she notes. Goyal recommends those two courses, as well as Applied Cryptography, Software Security Practices, and Risk Management to fellow students.

Goyal says all of the courses she took helped her to prepare for job interviews. During the program, she completed a co-op at Akamai Technologies, a content delivery network and cloud service provider in Cambridge. At the time, Akamai was conducting an audit, so she was exposed to major regulatory standards while working within the Security Compliance group. She was able to leverage her opportunity at the company to improve her analytical, research and interpersonal communication skills.

“The co-op program at Northeastern is an extremely helpful way to get a full-time job post-graduation,” Goyal adds. She currently works at Fidelity Investments in Boston as an IT Audit Analyst, where she is able to apply knowledge she learned from her degree.

“The MSIA program is structured in such a way that it provides well-rounded knowledge about basic as well as advanced topics of cybersecurity which are very much relevant in industry,” she says. “A student can start off with foundational courses and move up to the advanced ones to get a strong hold on information security concepts.”

In the future, Goyal envisions herself becoming a Certified Information Systems Security Professional. “There are abundant opportunities in the field of cybersecurity and having a master’s degree makes you stand out in the crowd.”