CS 562

Cybersecurity Fundamentals

This course introduces students to networking and the Internet protocol stack; Vulnerable protocols such as HTTP, DNS, and BGP; Overview of wireless communications, vulnerabilities, and security protocols; Introduction to cryptography; Discussion of cyber threats and defenses; Firewalls and IDS/IPS; Kerberos; Transport Layer Security, including certificates; Network Layer Security.

Cybersecurity emphasizes prevention of attacks that are perpetrated using the Internet. It includes application security, information security, and network security. Because the foundations of cybersecurity rely so heavily on knowledge of networking, this course will cover networking background before discussing details of cybersecurity.

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 CyberSecurity certificate. After successfully completing the entire certificate program (4 courses), students should be able to pass the CompTIA Security+ Certification ExamLinks to an external site..

Upon successful completion of this course, students will:

  • Gain experience with the online course system.
  • Explain the general architecture of the Internet, including the main functions of end systems and routers.
  • Describe the basic client-server architecture and how typical network applications (web, email) fit into the architecture.
  • Explain how web pages are requested and delivered using HTTP.
  • Explain in general how DNS enables our use of the Internet and, in particular, how hosts determine the IP address of network servers.
  • Explain how MAC addresses are used and assigned to a packet as it traverses a network.
  • Differentiate between wireless LANs and wired LANs.
  • Explain how IP CIDR addressing is performed and how an IP address is assigned from a group of available addresses.
  • Explain the core functions of TCP including details of connection setup.
  • Analyze and differentiate among types of malware and attacks.
  • Analyze and differentiate among types of wireless attacks and application attacks.
  • Identify vulnerabilities potentially present in DNS, databases, and web applications.
  • Summarize general cryptography concepts.
  • Describe how certificates can be used for authentication and encryption.
  • Explain how firewalls and VPNs can be used to protect a network.

Course Material

Please provide a brief overview of your work within this course, explaining how you engaged with the above learning outcomes. You will want to include examples of your assignments that demonstrate your practice with these concepts, explaining what you did and how it helped you learn. You may include embedded versions of your material, pictures, audio explaining your work, a video, so on (Tutorials: Adding and Embedding Media, Plugin: Simple YouTube Embed, More). Remember that you are trying to convince an unfamiliar audience that you 1) have working knowledge of these concepts 2) can demonstrate your skill in relation to these concepts 3) they want to spend time learning more about your knowledge and skills. Finally, you will want to indicate how you can use this knowledge in the future, specifically within your chosen discipline.

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