Cybersecurity Graduate Certificate
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The entire world is dependent on information technology as a means of staying competitive in business, industry, the arts, personal communication and commerce of all types. The utilization and dependence of technology are continually experiencing new and ever-changing security risks to their information resources. New threats and risks are identified daily and require immediate attention in order to continue business operations. Security risks must be addressed if businesses and government are to thrive and survive in our ever-changing and rapidly expanding technology-driven world.
The Certificate Program in Cybersecurity is designed to provide individuals with an introduction to networking, risk and threat management, security architecture and ethical and security skills to effectively address the constantly changing threat landscape of concerns mentioned above. The courses in the certificate program will:
- Provide the individual with an introduction to building a secure and risk management technology environment
- Provide an overview of proper technology risk management practices
- Introduce the individual to an array of social and ethical issues that are incumbent upon those in providing security to technology and managing risk
- Help the individual to be able to identify new and existing threats and determine methods to mitigate them
- Provide the individual the skills to handle security incidents
Upon completion of the certificate program, the student will be better equipped to enter or continue as a professional in the risk management & information security field. Courses taken for the certificate can be applied toward the Master of Science in Cybersecurity degree.
Prerequisite Courses
The following prerequisites are required for students without professional experience or knowledge equivalent to the following courses. Additional prerequisites may be recommended by the program director. All prerequisite courses must be taken in the first trimester and completed with a grade of B or better.
This hands-on course will introduce programming using Python on Windows and Linux platforms. Topics covered include basic programming concepts, regular expressions, basic data structures and algorithms, Boolean operations, and basic programming constructs including variables and types, string, arrays, sequential and parallel execution, assignments, decision and branching, loops, functions, procedures and calls, and basic debugging techniques.
Students in this course will study networks and data communication concentrating on the Internet model. This is a laboratory-based course that includes projects implemented on both Unix and Windows machines using Wireshark. Students will review hex and binary number systems. Topics such as network architecture, the Internet protocol stack, LANs, WANs, and MANs, hardware, software, protocols, routing, circuit-switching and packet-switching networks, wireless networks, compression, and error handling are studied.
Required Foundational Courses
This laboratory-based course will focus on network defense concepts, tools and techniques. Topics such as defense in depth, network attacks, network hardening, firewalls, DMZ, VPN, proxy server, honeypots, secure network design, Data Loss Prevention, network forensics, and intrusion detection, prevention and response will be studied. This course will also cover network administration, network operations, and network security policies as they relate to network defense.
Prerequisite: Take CS-504 CS-505
This introductory course provides a holistic view on the security aspects of the cyber space ecosystem. The course introduces students to cybersecurity foundations and cybersecurity first principles. Topics include CIA (confidentiality, integrity and availability) and AAA (authentication, authorization and accounting) framework, threats and adversaries, vulnerabilities and risk management, security life-cycle, data security, access control and security models, privacy, legal and ethical issues.
This course addresses complex issues in measuring and managing security within an organization and plans to improve the security posture. Topics include security leadership and management, security life-cycle management, information assurance standards and compliance, security governance, policy & information security program development, incident response and risk management, cybersecurity ethics, and privacy policies, laws and regulations.
Prerequisite: Take CY-626
Elective Courses
Choose one of the courses below
This course introduces students to the security threat of computer hacking and system vulnerabilities and exploits. The course will introduce techniques and hacking skills that black-hat hackers use to compromise systems. The class will teach students how to perform white-hat hacker and ethical hacking techniques to safeguard a computer network.
Prerequisite: Take CY-622
In this course students will learn how to understand and differentiate between file systems and operating systems; explain in detail the FAT file system; be exposed to the NTFS file system; identify Windows and registry artifacts; understand hashing and its uses in digital forensics; understand Fourth Amendment considerations when searching and seizing digital evidence, chain of custody; use hardware write blockers to perform data acquisitions using methods and tools discussed in class; perform basic data recovery; understand file signatures and its uses and be introduced to memory (RAM) forensics and analysis.
Prerequisite: Take CS-505
Cloud computing is rapidly becoming a popular choice for hosting everything from entire operating systems, and software, to service (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) applications such as websites, databases, email, data backup, and so forth. The course will provide an introduction to securing cloud technologies and applying best practices. Learn the unique challenges posed by this type of platform and how to properly configure and secure cloud based assets.
Prerequisite: Take CY-622