CYS 1010 - INTRODUCTION TO CYBERSECURITY

credits: 3.0
In today’s world, no one is safe from cyber-attacks, but everyone can be prepared. This course will teach you how malicious actors use social skills and technology to facilitate cyber attacks and provide you with the tools and information you need to defend against those attacks. Whether you pursue one of the many available jobs in cybersecurity or just want to secure your own privacy, you’ll learn how to make the Internet safer. This online class has optional live sessions. Course Topics: Personal Online Privacy and Security: Students will understand how their own data is used and targeted and practice practical techniques to limit their online privacy and security risks. Identifying Emerging Cybersecurity Threats: Students will explore emerging threats such as social engineering, phishing, fraud, identify theft and ransomware, as well as common system vulnerabilities. Using Cybersecurity Tools: Students will install and use a range of open-source tools to mitigate and limit their own cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Cybersecurity Risk Assessment: Students will understand how their own data is used and targeted and practice practical techniques to limit their online privacy and security risks. Talking About Cybersecurity: A critical part of cybersecurity is awareness. Students will practice communicating cybersecurity risks and best practices to others to help ensure best practices are adopted. The first three weeks of the course are the onboarding period, where assignments will take less time than normal and will slowly ramp up in difficulty. By week four the workload will be fairly consistent week-to-week. Objectives: A) Identify and effectively communicate emerging cybersecurity risks that pose a threat to online privacy and security; B) Apply an industry standard Cybersecurity Framework to adequately mitigate cybersecurity risk; C) Install and configure open-source cybersecurity tools to protect your online privacy and security. Method of Evaluation: Onboarding Assignments 50 5%; Discussions 240 (8 x 30) 24%; Quizzes 100 (5 x 20) 10%; Labs 250 (5 x 50) 25%; Final Project 360 36%.