Basic Ideas in Computing Security

Overview

This course teaches fundamental concepts in computing security, focusing on cross-cutting concepts spanning: vulnerability metrics and terminology, utilizing open source intelligence, authentication mechanisms/factors, and authorization & access control protocols. You can expect to gain fundamental conceptual knowledge as well as practical skills needed by everyone, not least those who are entering the field of Cybersecurity -- this will put you on the path to completing the Intro to Computing Security Specialization. Learners from all backgrounds will benefit, especially those who have little experience with Unix access control and the command-line shell. The course offers a unique insight into many diffferent areas of research and practice in the world of cybersecurity. This course can be taken for academic credit as part of CU Boulder’s Masters of Science in Computer Science (MS-CS) degrees offered on the Coursera platform. This fully accredited graduate degree offer targeted courses, short 8-week sessions, and pay-as-you-go tuition. Admission is based on performance in three preliminary courses, not academic history. CU degrees on Coursera are ideal for recent graduates or working professionals. Learn more: MS in Computer Science: https://coursera.org/degrees/ms-computer-science-boulder

Syllabus

Cybersecurity Landscape

An introduction to the world of cybersecurity terminology, objectives, and the contrast between vulnerabilities/bugs and weakness enumeration in the security community. Learn how vulnerabilities are scored using objective, quantitative measures of impact.

Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)

Discover what organizations keep track of known, actively exploited vulnerabilities and malware campaigns, and how to use that information to make decisions affecting critical systems. We discuss how prioritization is not always a simple quantitative procedure. Also find out how to use public tools to quickly check any un-trusted files, URLs, and file signatures against hundreds of anti-malware engines and community notes.

Authentication

What are the main factors of authentication based on? What is multi-factor authentication, and how does it relate to authentication protocols? How can authentication factors be vulnerable even when based on advanced tech?

Authorization

Maintaining access control is a critical feature of security and a driving force of all cryptographic systems. Here we explore two basic forms of authorization models (Mandatory and Discretionary), and dive into the world of Unix filesystem access control as an example of the latter.