Objectives and competences
The aim is to introduce students to the concepts and practices of modern cybersecurity. The course provides general information on the main aspects of cybersecurity that we encounter daily. In addition to basic concepts such as maintaining information confidentiality, integrity and authentication, the course also addresses modern mechanisms in use today. Students will acquire the theoretical foundations of the field (basic knowledge and technologies) and learn about cybersecurity's state-of-the-art building blocks.
Content (Syllabus outline)
• Principles and goals of information security and related threats.
• Cryptography basics for assuring confidentiality, integrity and authentication,
• The public key infrastructure: concepts and building blocks, digital certificates and signatures.
• Authentication methods (what you know, what you have, who you are),
• Password operation and password cracking (e.g. dictionary attacks, brute force attacks)
• Password managers and multi-factor authentication (MFA)
• Biometric-based identity management
• Identity, authentication and authorisation at operating system level
• Malware and malware defence
• Introduction to web security (TLS protocol, HTTP/HTTPS protocol, secure (end-to-end) communication protocols, etc.)
Learning and teaching methods
• lectures,
• lab work,
• individual work.
Intended learning outcomes - knowledge and understanding
On completion of this course, the student will be able to
• understand the principles and techniques of cryptography;
• understand how digital certificates and signatures work and how to use them;
• understand how different authentication methods work;
• distinguish between different types of attacks;
• demonstrate the building blocks of secure (online) communication.
Transferable/Key skills and other attributes:
• Communication skills: oral lab work defence and manner of expression at the written examination.
• Use of information technology a systematic approach to solving cybersecurity problems, deployment and use of software solutions to protect ICT systems.
• Problem-solving: use of tools related to cybersecurity.
Readings
• Marko Hölbl In Lili Nemec Zlatolas, Gesla, overjanje in digitalno podpisovanje : učno gradivo [na spletu]. Maribor : Fakulteta za elektrotehniko, računalništvo in informatiko. 2022. Pridobljeno s: https://dk.um.si/IzpisGradiva.php?lang=slv&id=83411
• C. Easttom: Computer Security Fundamentals, 4th Edition, Pearson, Boston, 2020.
• T. Rains: Cybersecurity Threats, Malware Trends, and Strategies, Packt Publishing, Birmingham, 2020
