Cybersecurity

The security of information and infrastructure is increasingly critical to any organization. Awareness of governing legislation, standards, and best practices ensure that security professionals can meet the expectations and requirements of their organization and environment. Classes will cover current standards and regulations before discussing and conducting security audits and compliance assessments.

In our highly-interconnected world, practical information security requires an understanding of the ways software and hardware interact in our systems and networks. This course explores the fundamental components of complex information systems, including network protocols, software architecture, data storage, and connections to external systems. Analysis and practical exploration of network communications will illustrate these concepts.

Organization information systems are under continuous threat from external and potentially internal entities. Understanding the methods used by attackers is critical in developing an effective strategy to mitigate attacks. Through discussion and practical application, this course will examine vulnerabilities and exploits of common hardware and software systems. Issues surrounding embedded devices and the Internet of Things will also be discussed.

Secure access to systems and information requires secure identification of authorized users and systems. Increasingly, organizations need to introduce identity management as a critical component of the enterprise security space. Through authentic and interactive examples combined with hands-on assignments, students will gain extensive knowledge of information system authorization, authentication, accounting, and cryptographic standards.

The most vulnerable and difficult to secure elements of any information system are the human beings who regularly interact with it. This course discusses the implications of human behavior on cybersecurity, how to identify social engineering attacks, and how to educate members of an organization to assist in strengthening system security.

Organizations are faced with a barrage of cyberattacks on a daily basis. The impact of these attacks can have dramatic and far-reaching effects on the ability of an organization to maintain operational viability. To mitigate the impact of interruption to operations, organizations must plan how to address such incidents. This course will provide students with the knowledge to develop mitigation strategies in the form of cybersecurity programs, incidents response plans, and disaster recovery plans.

While understanding the motives and tactics of cyber-attackers is critical in today's cybersecurity framework, it is equally important to understand the organization's information systems and the potential risks they pose. Students will learn to manage risk using an integrated approach to determining the risk profile an organization, performing security assessments, and cataloging the results in a risk register.

This course is designed to provide students with the skills and knowledge necessary to conduct original research in the field of cybersecurity. Students will learn how to identify and analyze current trends and developments in cybersecurity, and how to develop original research proposals that address key challenges and questions in the field. This course will prepare students with a solid foundation in cybersecurity research and will equip them with the ability to contribute to the development of practices to improve the security of information systems and networks.

Finding the balance between technology security and business needs is a constant struggle. Through the application of IT Service Management principles, an organization will be able to achieve this balance by ensuring processes and policies are aligned with business needs. Students will study the principles of IT Service Management and how security policies and procedures effect processes such as supply chain management. This course will focus on methods to help an organization achieve balance between business needs and IT security.

Maintaining and updating cybersecurity infrastructure is necessary, but on its own is not enough to be able to anticipate and respond to emerging threats. Understanding and applying forensic principles to investigate an attack or breach can assist in preventing a recurrence and to pursue legal action against the attacker. This course will introduce students to penetration testing, forensic investigation, and the art of threat hunting.