General Information

Course Cross-listings

The course is cross listed as CSCI 3740.

Catalog Data

Introduces basic knowledge of the computer security area. Topics covered in this course include cybersecurity ethics, penetration testing, robust programming practices, and security lifecycle. Students will gain an understanding of ethics in cybersecurity with the tools for ethical decision-making, learn methods of exploiting vulnerabilities and perform penetration testing on a simple network, understand the characteristics of robust programming to implement programs that are free from vulnerabilities, and understand security-related concerns in a system lifecycle and how security principles can be applied to improve security throughout a system.

Course Format

This course will be conducted in person with two 75-minute sessions each week.

Course Objectives

This course is intended to provide students with insights into cybersecurity. Students will learn about legality and ethics in programming and cybersecurity, gain skills in assessing and testing for vulnerabilities, and learn about secure software development process techniques.

Prerequisites

• This course requires CSCI-2421 with a C- or higher grade.
  • Note: Each student must sign the online Prerequisites Agreement form to receive credit for the course.

Expected Knowledge

Required at the Course Start

Expected Knowledge at the Start of the Course: Understanding computer programming, compilation, program memory management, data structures, and basic algorithms.

Gained at the End of the Course

Students are expected to understand the basis of computer security, including ethics and policies, the foundation of robust programming, different types of vulnerabilities, and the basis of penetration testing.

Textbook

Computer Security; Art and Science by Matt Bishop. 2nd Edition. Published by Pearson. ISBN 978-0-321-71233-2. (required).

Topics

• Security Fundamentals.
• Ethics, Laws, Policies, and Compliance.
• Robust Programming and Design Principles.
• Cryptography.
• Vulnerabilities.
• Penetration Testing.
• Reconnaissance and Social Engineering.
• Network Security.
• Identity and Anonymity.

Course Procedures

Grading

• The Final Grade will be distributed among the assessments following the table below.

Assessment Group	Grade Pct.
Participation	10%
Homework	20%
Labs	30%
Exams	40%

Final Letter Grade

• We will use the following scale to convert your numerical grade to a letter grade:

Schedule & Readings

• The following schedule is tentative. However, we will try to adhere to it as much as possible.
  • Assigned readings must be completed before the lecture.