Cyber Security Basics: A Hands-on Approach

Overview

Are you tired of hearing that your computer has a virus? Or that your email account has been hacked? Now, is the time for you to protect yourself by understanding the basics of cyber security.

This computer science course presents an introduction to cyber security showing different aspects of this discipline. You will learn what the main existing cyber security threats are and how to protect yourself against them. The course presents a practical approach in which all required material will be provided to allow you to better understand attacks and establish appropriate countermeasures.

Taught by instructors with years of experience in the field of computer security, this course will pave the way to the security area of IT-related professions.

Syllabus

Lecture 1. Cybersecurity: an overview
This lecture introduces the impact of cybersecurity nowadays, as well as some examples of cyberthreats that motivate the relevance of this area of study. Types of cyberthreats, such as cybercrime or cyberwarfare, are later described, together with an overview of the current cyberthreat landscape. Finally, some well-known cybersecurity events are presented.

Lecture 2. Computer forensics
This lecture introduces computer forensics, that is the technique focused on the analysis and preservation of evidences in a particular computer device after an attack occurs. Common forensic traces are defined, namely traces left by deleted files, hidden data and fake emails.

Lecture 3. Assembly programming: towards reversing
This lecture introduces the main concepts of reverse engineering, that is, the ability to take an executable element and try to figure out how it works. The definition of this technique is introduced. After some theoretical knowledge, examples of disassembling C codes and decompiling codes in different languages, namely Java and C, are presented.

Lecture 4. Cyberdefense
This lecture introduces the main concepts of cyberdefense together with common applied tools. After presenting this topic, firewalls are outlined. The following part involves the description of Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs). Security Information and Event management (SIEM) systems, which refer to a general approach to manage cyberdefense, are finally presented.

Lecture 5. Malware and Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs)
This lecture explains the main concepts related to malware and Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), together with the main techniques to achieve their identification. The definition and types of malware, APTs and some real cases are introduced.

Lecture 6. Vulnerabilities and exposures
This last lesson presents vulnerabilities description and management. It describes and gives examples of the most common vulnerabilities at software, network and web level. The definition, use and application of penetration testing (pentesting) are also presented, as well as some examples applying the well-known tool Metasploit. Repositories of vulnerabilities are finally introduced.