This is the 4th 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.

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 network security topics. The curriculum focusses on how malicious users attack networks. The material is essential in later classes that will develop ethical hacking skills. Students are introduced to some key concepts in network security. Next, we provide an overview of network reconnaissance strategies.

We move on to the next stage of the network attack methodology, which is exploitation.

Next, we cover standard attack techniques, attacks such as Denial of Service, DNS attacks, and client-side attacks, and the tools used to carry out these exploitations. We conclude by focusing on the steps attackers take after they initially compromise a system.

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.

Describe how "social engineering" can be used to compromise security
Define the CIA triad
Identify and plan to manage risks in common situations
Define a threat tree and threat matrix and explain how they are used
Define an attack tree, explain how boolean and continuous node values are used in attack trees, and demonstrate how an attack tree can be used to determine vulnerabilities
Explain why it is important for network engineers to understand cyber attack strategies.
List and summarize the stages of network attack methodology
Identify the information an attacker might collect during network reconnaissance
Describe at least two "low tech" ways of performing reconnaissance on a target
Perform a WHOIS query and extract the IP address of a DNS server
List at least three publicly available tools used for gathering information on targets
Define port scanning and describe the process used to determine whether a port is open
Define a proxy server
Define IP spoofing, ingress filtering, and session hijacking
Define a Denial of Service attack and explain the difference between a DoS and DDoS attack
State the relationship between DoS attacks and geopolitical events
List at least two vulnerability attacks used in DoS attacks
Define SYN flooding and explain how it can be protected against
Describe what happens during a standard DDoS attack
Explain how DNS poisoning can be used in phishing attacks
Describe how URLs can be obfuscated to make a phishing attack more likely to succeed
List at least two tools used to assess vulnerabilities in networks
Summarize the typical goals of post-exploitation activity
Describe the strategies attackers use to maintain access to a compromised system
Define trojans, viruses, worms, and blended threats
List the typical objectives of trojan creators
Define rootkits
Give examples of common uses of Netcat
Define wrappers
Summarize common data exfiltration methods
Summarize how attackers can remove evidence of system compromise in Windows and Unix systems