This course introduces the cybersecurity-centric programming and networking concepts. Students will develop problem solving skills by using low-level programming languages (including C and assembly) and learn fundamentals of network protocols. This course is the technical base for students to take cybersecurity major courses.
- Programming Fundamentals
- Understanding basic programming concepts (variables, data types, operators, control flow)
- Familiarity with basic syntax and structure of programming languages (e.g., Python, C, Java)
- Knowledge of functions, loops, and conditionals to control program flow
- Understanding data structures (e.g., arrays, lists, dictionaries, sets) and their use in security programs
- Secure Coding Practices
- Writing secure code by identifying and avoiding common vulnerabilities (e.g., buffer overflows, input validation issues)
- Ensuring proper input validation to prevent SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and command injection
- Using parameterized queries and prepared statements to prevent SQL injection
- Implementing output encoding to avoid XSS and other injection attacks
- Proper error handling to avoid information leakage through error messages
- Cryptography and Encryption
- Understanding basic encryption algorithms (e.g., AES, RSA, DES)
- Implementing symmetric and asymmetric encryption in code
- Understanding the difference between hashing (e.g., SHA-256) and encryption
- Using cryptographic libraries to implement encryption in applications (e.g., OpenSSL, PyCryptodome)
- Implementing password hashing using strong hashing algorithms (e.g., bcrypt, Argon2)
- Network Security Programming
- Writing programs for network communication using protocols like TCP/IP and UDP
- Using sockets in programming to establish secure communication (e.g., in Python or C)
- Implementing SSL/TLS encryption for securing data in transit
- Writing code to detect and prevent MITM (Man-in-the-Middle) attacks
- Creating network monitoring tools to detect vulnerabilities or threats in network traffic