Information Security - Introduction to Information Security

This is the 1st course in the intermediate, undergraduate-level offering that makes up the larger Cybersecurity Fundamentals MicroBachelors Program. We recommend taking them in order, unless you have a background in these areas already and feel comfortable skipping ahead.

1. Information Security - Introduction to Information Security
2. Information Security - Authentication and Access Control
3. Information Security - Advanced Topics
4. Network Security - Introduction to Network Security
5. Network Security - Protocols
6. Network Security - Advanced Topics
7. Penetration Testing - Discovering Vulnerabilities
8. Penetration Testing - Exploitation
9. Penetration Testing - Post Exploitation

These topics build upon the learnings that are taught in the introductory-level Computer Science Fundamentals MicroBachelors program, offered by the same instructor.

This is a self-paced course that provides an introduction to information security and cybersecurity. Among the topics covered are Security Design Principles, Threat Modeling, and Security Policy. Students gain a broad overview of Information Security and Privacy (ISP) through high-level ISP concepts. We discuss both traditional design principles and principles that were developed to design secure systems. We'll talk about several examples of insecure design and techniques to improve the design. We take an in-depth dive into creating models to measure potential threats. We also talk about risk and ways of managing and measuring the risk to assets. We conclude by taking an in-depth look at different security policy models, including the Bell-La Padula (BLP) Model, the Biba Integrity Model, Lipner's Model, and Clark-Wilson Integrity Model. Next, we consider the practical aspects of the implementation of the policy models.

Industry Certification Preparation

This program covers much of the material that is assessed on the CompTIA’s Security+ certification exam. Upon program completion, verified track learners will receive a 36% discount code for the CompTIA Security+ exam.

1. Define the three major terms in cybersecurity (Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability)
2. Differentiate between threats, vulnerabilities, and attacks
3. Articulate different security mechanisms.
4. Describe the specification, design, & implementation of secure systems
5. Describe How to Design Security
6. Enumerate the Fundamental Design Principles
7. Describe Principles of Secure Design
8. Analyze Security, Privacy, Ethics & Legal Issues related to design
9. Enumerate the Security Life Cycle
10. Describe Threat Modeling
11. Analyze Threats using Ranking
12. Apply Attack Trees
13. Discuss the meaning of "security policy"
14. Outline the elements of security policy
15. Differentiate between security policy types, models, and levels
16. Define and compare five security models (Bell-La Padula Model, Biba Integrity Model, Lipner’s Model, Clark-Wilson Integrity Model and Chinese Wall Model)
17. Apply multilevel security policies

Week 1 - Introduction to Information Security

Week 2 - Security Design Principles

Week 3 - Threat Modeling

Week 4 - Security Policy

Week 5 - Final Exam