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 5300: Advanced Protocols and Network Security

Credits: 3
Prereq: CPR E 3810 or CPR E 3310

Syllabus:  5300-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 5310: Information System Security

Credits: 3
Prereq: CPR E 4890 or CPR E 5300 or COM S 5860 or MIS 5350

Syllabus: 5310-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 5320: Information Warfare

Credits: 3
Prereq: CPR E 531

Syllabus: 5320-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 5330: Cryptography

Credits: 3
Prereq: MATH 3010 or CPR E 3100 or COM S 3300

Syllabus: 5330-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 5340: Legal and Ethical Issues in Information Assurance

Credits: 3
Prereq: Graduate classification; CPR E 5310 or INFAS 5310

Syllabus: 5340-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 5350: Steganography and Digital Image Forensics

Credits: 3
Prereq:  E E 5240 or MATH 3170 or MATH 4070 or COM S 3300

Syllabus: 5350-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 5360 Computer and Network Forensics

Credits: 3
Prereq: CPR E 4890 or CPR E 5300

Syllabus: 5360-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 5370: Wireless Network Security 

Credits: 3
Prereqr: Credit or enrollment in CPR E 4890 or CPR E 5300

Syllabus: 5370-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 5380: Reverse Engineering and Security Testing

Credits: 3
Prereq: COM S 3210 or CPR E 3810, COM S 3520 or CPR E 3080

Syllabus 5380-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 5390: Cyber Physical System Security for the Smart Grid

Credits: 3

Syllabus 5390-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 5590X: Security and Privacy in Cloud Computing

Credits: 3
Prereq:  COM S 3520 or CPR E 3080, and COM S 4860 or CPR E 4890 or CPR E 5300

(Cross-listed with Cpr E 5590X) 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 5600: Data-Driven Security and Privacy

Credits: 3
Prereq: CPR E 5310, COM S 4740 or COM S 5730

(Cross-listed with COM S 5600X and InfAs 5600X) 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 5620X: Secure Software Engineering

Credits: 3
Prereq: CPR E 3080 or COM S 3520

Syllabus: CprE 5620X 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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CPRE 5630: Advanced Data Storage Systems

Credits: 3
Prereq: No strict prerequisites, but knowledge of operating systems (e.g., CPRE 308) and C programming language is helpful; if you are not sure, please talk to the instructor.

Syllabus: CprE 5630 Syllabus

This course focuses on how to build reliable and secure storage systems for valuable digital data (e.g., financial transactions, scientific computations, family photos). The content covers the fundamentals of data storage technologies as well as the state of the art, including storage devices, file systems, and warehouse-scale big data storage, with an emphasis on design tradeoffs for reliability and security.
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CPR E 6310X: Cyber Security Operations Practicum (not offered at this time)

Credits: 3
Prereqs: CPR E 5320, CPR E 5340, 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 6320: Information Assurance Capstone Design (not offered at this time)

Credits: 3
Prereq: INFAS 5310, INFAS 5320, INFAS 5340

(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 6340X: Current Research Problems in Cyber Security

Credits: 3
Prereq: CPR E 5300, CPR E 5310, 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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