Graduate Courses

All undergraduate courses are only taught on campus unless noted.

For a continually updated list please click here.

Graduate security courses

Course Descriptions


CYBSC 530: Advanced Protocols and Network Security

Credits: 3
Prereq: CPR E 381 or CPR E 331

Syllabus:  530-syllabus

(Cross-listed with Cpr E) Detailed examination of networking standards, protocols, and their implementation. TCP/IP protocol suite, network application protocols, IP routing, network security issues, attacks, and mitigation techniques.  Emphasis on laboratory experiments.
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CYBSC 531: Information System Security

Credits: 3
Prereq: CPR E 489 or CPR E 530 or COM S 586 or MIS 535

Syllabus: 531-syllabus

(Cross-listed with Cpr E) Computer, software, and data security: basic cryptography, security policies, multilevel security models, attack and protection mechanisms, legal and ethical issues.
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CYBSC 532: Information Warfare

Credits: 3
Prereq: CPR E 531

Syllabus: 532-syllabus

(Cross-listed with Cpr E) Computer system and network security implementation, configuration, testing of security software and hardware, network monitoring. Authentication, firewalls, vulnerabilities, exploits, countermeasures.  Study and use of attack tools. Ethics in information assurance. Emphasis on laboratory experiments.
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CYBSC 533: Cryptography

Credits: 3
Prereq: MATH 301 or CPR E 310 or COM S 330

Syllabus: 533-syllabus

(Cross-listed with MATH, Cpr E) Basic concepts of secure communication, DES and AES, public-key cryptosystems, elliptic curves, hash algorithms, digital signatures, applications. Relevant material on number theory and finite fields.
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CYBSC 534: Legal and Ethical Issues in Information Assurance

Credits: 3
Prereq: Graduate classification; CPR E 531 or INFAS 531

Syllabus: 534-syllabus

(Cross-listed with Cpr E, POL S) Legal and ethical issues in computer security. State and local codes and regulations. Privacy issues.
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CYBSC 535: Steganography and Digital Image Forensics

Credits: 3
Prereq:  E E 524 or MATH 317 or MATH 407 or COM S 330

Syllabus: 535-syllabus

(Cross-listed with Cpr E, MATH) Basic principles of covert communication, steganalysis, and forensic analysis for digital images. Steganographic security and capacity, matrix embedding, blind attacks, image forensic detection and device identification techniques. Related material on coding theory, statistics, image processing, pattern recognition.
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CYBSC 536 Computer and Network Forensics

Credits: 3
Prereq: CPR E 489 or CPR E 530

Syllabus: 536-syllabus

(Cross-listed with Cpr E) Fundamentals of computer and network forensics, forensic duplication and analysis, network surveillance, intrusion detection and response, incident response, anonymity and pseudonymity, privacy-protection techniques, cyber law, computer security policies and guidelines, court testimony and report writing, and case studies. Emphasis on hands-on experiments.
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 CPR E 537: Wireless Network Security 

Credits: 3
Prereqr: Credit or enrollment in CPR E 489 or CPR E 530

Syllabus: 537-syllabus

Introduction to the physical layer and special issues associated with the security of wireless networks. The basics of wireless communication systems (antennas and propagation, modulation, multiple access, channel modeling, specific security issues of the wireless link), jamming and countermeasures (spread spectrum technologies, channel coding, interleaving), authentication and confidentiality (basics of classic cryptography, common authentication and encryption algorithms). Detailed case studies on authentication, encryption and privacy flaws, and good practices based on the most common wireless technologies, including WiFi, GSM/3G, Bluetooth, and RFID. Individual or team-based class projects.
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CPR E 538: Reverse Engineering and Security Testing

Credits: 3
Prereq: COM S 321 or CPR E 381, COM S 352 or CPR E 308

Syllabus 538-syllabus 

(Cross-listed with INFAS). Techniques and tools for understanding the behavior of software/hardware systems based on reverse engineering. Flaw hypothesis, black, grey, and white box testing as well as other methods for testing the security of software systems. Discussion of counter-reverse engineering techniques.
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CPR E 539: Cyber Physical System Security for the Smart Grid

Credits: 3

Syllabus 539-syllabus

Introduction to cyber security, cyber physical system (CPS), and smart grid automation technologies; supervisor control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems; cyber risk modeling, vulnerability analysis, impact analysis, defense and mitigation techniques; cyber security of wide-area monitoring, protection, and control; security and privacy in advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), cyber security compliance and best practices, CPS security test-beds and attack-defense hands-on laboratory experiments.
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COM S 559X: Security and Privacy in Cloud Computing

Credits: 3
Prereq:  COM S 352 or CPR E 308, and COM S 486 or CPR E 489 or CPR E 530

(Cross-listed with Cpr E 559X) Overview of cloud computing models, security and privacy threats in cloud computing related to data and computation outsourcing, theoretical results and practical techniques for secure cloud computing and its applications.
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COM S 560: Data-Driven Security and Privacy

Credits: 3
Prereq: CPR E 531, COM S 474 or COM S 573

(Cross-listed with COM S 560X and InfAs 560X) Examination of applications of machine learning and big data techniques to various security and privacy problems, as well as secure and privacy-preserving machine learning algorithms.
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CPR E 562X: Secure Software Engineering

Credits: 3
Prereq: CPR E 308 or COM S 352

Syllabus: CprE 562X Syllabus

Fundamentals and techniques to design and implement software systems. Assessment of security vulnerabilities in software systems, exploitation of software vulnerabilities, and methods to secure vulnerable software. Secure coding practices, data analytics for security, microservices and cloud services security. Reverse engineering and security assessment of cyber physical systems.
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CPR E 631X: Cyber Security Operations Practicum

Credits: 3
Prereqs: CPR E 532, CPR E 534, and permission of instructor

(Cross-listed with INFAS) Practical experience in cyber operations. Cyber security threat analysis, malware analysis, and intrusion detection management. Cyber security data analysis methods. Pen testing tools and techniques. Weekly threat analysis briefings.
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CYBSC 632: Information Assurance Capstone Design

Credits: 3
Prereq: INFAS 531, INFAS 532, INFAS 534

Syllabus: 632-syllabus

(Cross-listed with Cpr E) Capstone design course which integrates the security design process. Design of a security policy. Creation of a security plan. Implementation of the security plan. The students will attach each other’s secure environments in an effort to defeat the security systems. Students evaluate the security plans and the performance of the plans. Social, political and ethics issues. Student self-evaluation, journaling, final written report, and an oral report.
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CYBSC 634X: Current Research Problems in Cyber Security

Credits: 3
Prereq: CPR E 530, CPR E 531, permission of instructor

Discussion of national cybersecurity/information systems security problems. Students will learn how to apply research techniques, think clearly about these issues, formulate and analyze potential solutions, and communicate their results. Working in small groups under the mentorship of technical clients from government and industry, each student will formulate, carry out, and present original research on current cybersecurity/information assurance problems of interest to the nation. This course will be run in a synchronized distance fashion, coordinating some activities with our partner schools and our technical clients.
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