Curriculum for Computer Networking & Cybersecurity Degree

In this course, students will learn the foundational concepts of cybersecurity. The course will cover system and data security principles. Students will explore the organizational, societal, and global implications of cybersecurity with a focus on ethics, risk management, and adversarial analysis.

This course will introduce students to operating system concepts and other forms of systems software. Students will learn about standard operating systems functional components such as memory, process/thread, file system, input/output, storage and device management. Additional topics include data representation, imaging, virtualization, and the history/future of systems software. Hands-on experiential learning will be used to reinforce concepts.

Students will be introduced to networking technology and the integral part it plays in business and society. Organizations expect the communication in information systems will be reliable, effective, and secure. Topics include network protocols, services, and topologies, information security, high-speed LAN/WAN topologies, client-server technology, security vulnerabilities, network troubleshooting Students will gain factual, conceptual, and applied knowledge regarding network communications, security, technology evolution, infrastructure components, management functions, business processes, and design issues.

This course is a thorough review of the foundational protocols used on the Internet and modern enterprise networks. With a focus on protocols aligned with the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and OSI models, students will explore the development and structure of protocols, their role in data communications, and integration within network-based applications. Students will engage in hands-on activities aimed at protocol analysis, network troubleshooting, and protocol-related security concerns.

Students learn how to deploy, administer, and troubleshoot common operating systems environments. They gain experience in systems administration functions and issues as well as common network services. Students develop a conceptual understanding of each operating system function and network service and learn how to plan, implement, and administer each. Topics include user access and privileges, DHCP, DNS, remote access, file services, update and patch management, security and remote management.

This project-oriented course focuses on the tasks and issues involved in the administration of distributed computing environments. Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) systems are covered, with emphasis on using cross-platform authentication. Network services including host based firewalls, DHCP, DNS, Mail, and Web services are covered. Content includes Enterprise File Services, Distributed administration of multiple systems, and network monitoring and management tools. Hands-on experience will include projects based upon representative technology from each of these areas.

This course provides an introduction to computer and data network security. Students will examine the rationale and necessity for securing computer systems and data networks, as well as methodologies for implementing security, security policies, best current practices, testing security, and incident response.

Students will be introduced to the foundational technologies and security principles of web-based applications. This includes communication protocols, data formatting standards, client and server-side scripting, databases programming, and interactions within a tiered-application architecture. Students will gain a perspective on the importance of web applications in the modern enterprise with a focus on security threats, common vulnerabilities, and the practical application of security controls to mitigate those risks.

Students will learn how to integrate programming into operating system management. They will learn how to automate systems administration functions and connectivity testing. Powershell and Linux shell scripting will be explored to manage and monitor operating system processes and functions. Students will create programs that can be reused in production networks.

Students will gain a global and comprehensive understanding of information assurance. We will discuss international information assurance issues, information assurance models, security architectures, risk assessment, incident response, cryptography, government and business guidelines and criteria, compliance, audits, business continuity, and disaster recovery. We will examine the inter-relationships between these topics and the goal of achieving a balance between information assurance and systems performance.

Students will examine network-based threats, whether originating from the Internet or the local LAN, and learn about ways to protect, detect, and defend the enterprise network from such attacks. The relationship between user network policy and securing the network will also be explored. Students will participate in hands-on experiments and demonstrate their understanding of subject matter via labs, projects and presentations

Students in this course will integrate concepts from the previous courses in the security sequence into a comprehensive perspective of security for an information system. The security topics will include hardware, software, malware, protocols, threat models, services, analysis, social engineering, employee responsibility, recovery, incident response, and prevention. Students will gain practical experience in securing an operational network while maintaining necessary services.