Cyber Security Fundamentals (AIT 660) Dr. Massimiliano Albanese, Department of Information Sciences and Technology Fall 2018. Mondays, 4:30 pm - 7:10 pm, Nguyen Engineering Building 1107, Fairfax Campus Office hours. By appointment |
Catalog Description
The course introduces fundamental security principles and real-world applications of cyber security. Topics covered in the course include access control, common classes of attacks, monitoring, attack and intrusion detection, basic cryptography, computer security models, legal and privacy issues, and risk analysis. The course also provides students with opportunities to gain hands-on experience with several security tools (e.g., protocol analyzers).
Course Goals
Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
Prerequisites
Registration in MS, Applied IT program or permission of Instructor.
Course Format
The course will employ lectures, in class-quizzes to assess progress, and a final exam. Students will be required to give a group presentation at the end of the course.
Textbooks and Reading Materials
CISSP: Certified Information Systems Security Professional Study Guide, 6th edition or CISSP: Certified Information Systems Security Professional Study Guide, 7th edition |
The required textbook is available electronically through the Safari Tech Books Online collection. You can access this book by following these steps:
Course Outline
Below is an outline of the 15 weekly class meetings.
Course Tools
The following tools will be used in this course.
Additional Resources & Information
Below is a list of additional and useful resources.
Grading Policy
Grading will be based on class participation, assignments, and exams. Points for course activities will accrue as follow:
Activity | Points |
Class participation (≠ class attendance) | 100 |
In-class quizzes (3 @ 70 points each) | 210 |
Group Presentation | 100 |
Final exam | 150 |
Total | 560 |
Final letter grades are assigned as follows. Breakpoints may be adjusted depending on overall class performance.
Point % range | Letter grade |
97% - 100% | A+ |
93% - 96.9% | A |
90% - 92.9% | A- |
87% - 89.9% | B+ |
83% - 86.9% | B |
80% - 82.9% | B- |
70% - 79.9% | C |
0% - 69.9% | F |
Extra Credits. Students who wish to recover credits lost in other course activities can volunteer to prepare and give short presentations (4-5 content slides, 8-10 minutes) on a topic of their choice. Each short presentation will earn up to 25 points, for a maximum of two presentations per student during the entire course. Students must notify the instructor in advance of their intention to give an extra credit presentation. Time and topic of the presentation must be approved by the instructor. Student giving an extra credit presentation must submit their slides to the instructor no later than 3pm on the day of the presentation. The last day to give an extra presentation is November 19, 2018. Students passing the CISSP exam will earn 50 bonus points. No other extra credit opportunities beyond those mentioned here will be offered to students.
Attendance. Regular attendance is strongly recommended. Students will be held responsible for all material covered in class. Quizzes and exams are given on the dates specified on the course schedule. Absence from taking any quiz/exam will result in a score of zero, unless cleared in advance with the instructor and arranged for a makeup session. Excusable absences are normally related to unavoidable and documented emergency situations.
Final Grades. Final grades are non-negotiable, and cannot be disputed once posted. Any request to adjust grades after they have been posted will be denied unless there has been a factual error on the instructor's side.