Methodological instructions before conducting pre-graduate internship

Abstract

Pre-graduate internship for full-time students of the second (master's) level of study in the specialty F5 (125) “Cybersecurity and information protection” according to the educational and professional program “Cybersecurity” is part of the basic disciplines. It must be completed within the deadlines established in the educational process schedule and is a key stage in their preparation. Conducting a pre-graduate internship is crucial for cybersecurity masters as it acts as a bridge between academic education and professional activities. Pre-graduate internship under the educational and professional program "Cybersecurity" is aimed at deepening and consolidating theoretical knowledge obtained at the university, as well as acquiring practical skills necessary for successful professional activity. Internship allows the student to adapt to real working conditions, become familiar with the organizational structure of the enterprise and the specifics of solving practical tasks in the field of information security, which provides an opportunity to collect material for writing a master's thesis. Practical training provides an opportunity to apply the knowledge gained during training to solve real-world cybersecurity problems. Students do not just learn concepts, but learn to apply them, for example, when conducting pentests, security audits, or responding to incidents. This allows them to understand how secure systems function and what challenges arise in the real world. During the internship, key professional competencies are formed that cannot be fully acquired in the classroom, which include: analytical skills: the ability to analyze vulnerabilities, identify threats and assess risks for a specific infrastructure; skills in working with tools: mastering professional software and equipment used for monitoring, protection and security analysis; soft skills: teamwork, effective communication with colleagues and management, responsibility and ability to work under stress. Practice is the basis for writing a master's thesis. Students collect and systematize information, conduct experiments, analyze data that become the empirical basis of their research. At the same time, there is an opportunity to investigate information protection methods at a specific enterprise, conduct their comparative analysis, identify shortcomings and suggest ways to eliminate them. This allows you to make the work not just theoretical, but applied and scientifically sound. Methodological guidelines for completing pre-graduate internships under the educational and professional program "Cybersecurity" contain detailed information on the procedure for organizing internships, requirements for reporting documentation, as well as criteria for evaluating results. Compliance with these recommendations will ensure successful completion of the internship and highquality preparation of the master's qualification work. During the internship, there is an opportunity to independently set research tasks, look for ways to solve them, and also propose innovative approaches to solving cybersecurity problems. This contributes to the development of critical thinking and the ability to constantly improve, which is extremely important in a dynamically changing field.