Course overview
In this course, students will be introduced to real-world cyber security challenges that organisations face, and learn to apply knowledge and skills gained through other Computer Science courses to address them. The challenges will be examined both from the attacker's perspective (how systems are exploited) and the defender's perspectives (how to secure systems or respond to threats). Common attack and defence strategies for software, web applications, networks, operating systems, cryptographic systems and humans will be explored. The course will also introduce cyber security management concepts, including security operations, risk management, security engineering and security architecture, as well as provide guidance on different career paths specialising in cyber security. This course focuses on hand-on activities, and students are encouraged to participate in public and industry cyber security challenges, including capture-the-flag competitions.
Course learning outcomes
- Describe career paths in cybersecurity and corresponding required skills, certifications and aptitudes.
- Demonstrate ability to undertake basic security assessment, including vulnerability scanning and network/web penetration testing.
- Describe the role of an information security in an organisation, and main components of information security management frameworks to effectively manage risks.
- Demonstrate basic skills in computer forensic analysis, including binary file analysis and reverse engineering.
- Demonstrate the ability to reason about ethical concerns during cybersecurity-focusedactivities.