CS 462/562, Cybersecurity Fundamentals, Fall 2013

Course Delivery

This is an asynchronous, online course, meaning that there are no regularly scheduled physical meeting times. I will hold weekly office hours on campus and be available online at regular times during the week. The course will be delivered using a combination of Blackboard and ODU's Distance Learning PLE (personal learning environment).

Is an online course for you? Take this short quiz to determine how suited you are for an online course.

CRNs

Since this is an online course, there are separate CRNs based on where you are:

On-campus or in Hampton Roads: CS 462 (CRN 19338), CS 562 (CRN 19341)
Outside of Hampton Roads, but in Virginia: CS 462 (CRN 19339), CS 562 (CRN 19342)
Outside of Virginia: CS 462 (CRN 19340), CS 562 (CRN 19343)

Catalog Course Description

This course introduces the basic components and concepts needed for understanding cybersecurity. These include basics and security vulnerabilities of networks, operating systems, databases, and distributed systems. In addition, some fundamentals for cybersecurity will be introduced and discussed.

Requirements

Prerequisites: The main prerequisite for this course is CS 270 – Computer Architecture.

Required Textbook: Wu and Irwin, Introduction to Computer Networks and CyberSecurity, 2013

Note: This textbook is quite large (1300+ pages and about the size of a dictionary), so I would recommend purchasing or renting the e-book version instead of the hardcopy. Most of the course material will come from the textbook, so it is required.

Computer/Internet: As this is an online-only course, you must have access to a computer with high-speed Internet. If you are an on-campus student, you may use the university computer labs. Otherwise, you must provide your own computer and Internet access.

Course Objectives

After completing this course, students should have a strong foundation in the principles of the Internet architecture, an awareness of vulnerabilities in the Internet protocol stack, and an introduction to issues in cybersecurity. They should be prepared to take follow-on courses in the CS graduate online CyberSecurity certificate. After completing the entire certificate program (4 courses), students should be able to pass the CompTIA Security+ Certification Exam.

This course has the following objectives:

Explain the general architecture of the Internet, including the role of end systems, routers, and the Internet protocol stack
Identify security vulnerabilities in DNS and outline their potential defenses
Identify security vulnerabilities in databases and outline their potential defenses
Identify security vulnerabilities in the BGP Internet routing protocol and outline their potential defenses
Identify security vulnerabilities in web applications and outline their potential defenses
Analyze and differentiate among types of malware and attacks
Describe various techniques used to protect networked systems from attack

Course Outline

The course will be divided into three units, with the first two units covering networking background and the third unit covering cybersecurity basics.

Module 1 - Orientation

Unit 1 - Introduction to the Internet Architecture

Module 2 - Information Networks
Module 3 - The Application Layer
Module 4 - The Domain Name System (DNS)
Module 5 - Assessment (Exam)

Unit 2 - Internet Protocol Stack

Module 6 - The Data Link Layer and Ethernet
Module 7 - Wireless Networks, The Network Layer, and Internet Routing
Module 8 - The Transport Layer
Module 9 - Assessment (Exam)

Unit 3 - Cybersecurity

Module 10 - Cybersecurity Overview
Module 11 - Cryptography
Module 12 - Cyber Threats
Module 13 - Firewalls, Intrusion Detection System/Intrusion Prevention System (IDS/IPS)
Module 14 - Network Access Control
Module 15 - Transport Layer Security and Network Layer Security

Final Exam

Course Responsibilities

As with online courses, you are responsible for keeping up with required activities and readings. Each week, you will have reading assignments, a homework assignment, and discussion questions that allow you to interact with your classmates. There will be no programming assignments.

Your time commitment should be the same as for a regular on-campus course. Plan for 1 hour of study for every 3 hours of credit, so roughly 10 hours/week for this course.

Michele C. Weigle