Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course, students should be able to:
1. explain cybersecurity concepts, its methods, elements, and terminologies of cybersecurity
-cyber, security, threat, attack, defence, and operations;
2. describe common cyber-attacks and threats, cybersecurity issues, challenges and
proffered solutions, and build an enhanced view of main actors of cyberspace and cyber
operations;
3. apply the techniques for identifying, detecting, and defending against cybersecurity
threats, attacks and protecting information assets;
4. explain the impact of cybersecurity on civil and military institutions, privacy, business and
government applications;
5. identify the methods and motives of cybersecurity incident perpetrators, and the
countermeasures employed by organisations and agencies to prevent and detect those
incidences and software application vulnerabilities; and
6. state the ethical obligations of security professionals, evaluate cybersecurity and national
security strategies to the typologies of cyber-attacks that require policy tools and domestic
response, and define the cybersecurity requirements and strategies evolving in the face
of big risk.
Course Contents
Basic concepts: cyber, security, confidentiality, integrity, availability, authentication, access
control, non-repudiation and fault-tolerant methodologies for implementing security. Security
policies, best current practices, testing security, and incident response, Risk management,
disaster recovery and access control. Basic cryptography and software application
vulnerabilities. Evolution of cyber-attacks. Operating system protection mechanisms, intrusion
detection systems, basic formal models of security, cryptography, steganography, network
and distributed system security, denial of service (and other) attack strategies, worms,
viruses, transfer of funds/value across networks, electronic voting, secure applications.
Cybersecurity policy and guidelines. Government regulation of information technology. Main
actors of cyberspace and cyber operations. Impact of cybersecurity on civil and military
institutions, privacy, business and government applications; examination of the dimensions of
networks, protocols, operating systems, and associated applications. Methods and motives of
cybersecurity incident perpetrators, and the countermeasures employed by organisations and
agencies to prevent and detect those incidences. Ethical obligations of security professionals.
Trends and development in cybersecurity. Software application vulnerabilities. Evolution of
cybersecurity and national security strategies, requirements to the typologies of cyber-attacks
that require policy tools and domestic response. Cybersecurity strategies evolving in the face
of big risk. Role of standards and frameworks.
