Information Assurance and Security

 

Course Description

 

This course provides an overview of modern information assurance (IA) and security, with a focus on computer and network security. This course will give students basic and comprehensive understanding of security from both theoretical and practical perspectives, and it will cover key security problems and their possible solutions.

 

 

Specific topics covered include:

●     Security and privacy principles

●     Physical security

●     Personnel security

●     Contingency and disaster recovery planning

●     Information assurance policies

●     Authentication and access control

●     Administrative security controls

●     Risk analysis and management

●     Computer virus and malware

●     Network attacking attempts

●     Phishing

●     Social engineering

●     Software security

●     Definitions of software security

●     Traditional software vulnerabilities

●     Modern software vulnerabilities

●     Vulnerability discovery

●     Vulnerability mitigation

●     Secure software development

●     Laws and regulations about Information Assurance

●     Ethical hacking

 

 

Learning Outcomes

 

Learners completing this course will be able to:

●     Recognize common security threats and attacking attempts.

●     Identify typical vulnerabilities in programs.

●     Develop secure programs.

●     Analyze legal and ethical concerns of computer security activities.

●     Launch attacks in ethical hacking environments.

 

Estimated Workload/ Time Commitment Per Week

 

Average of 20 hours per week

 

Required Prior Knowledge and Skills

This course will be challenging, and students are expected to learn the necessary technologies on their own time. If you are not already proficient in the following areas, consider expanding your skills in these areas and taking this course at a later time.

 

Proficient Mathematical Skills and Theoretical Understanding:

●     Algebra

●     Linear Algebra

●     Algorithms

●     Data Structures

●     Computer Organization and Architecture

●     Operating Systems

●     Computer networking

 

Strong Application Skills:

●     Ability to effectively read C code

●     Ability to effectively read Python code

●     Confidence executing at least one programming language:

○     Python

○     Java

○     C#

○     C++

○     C

 

Note: The course project will be completed using the language that the student chooses. However, the course team will not be able to help the student if they choose any language that is not Python, Java, or C#.

 

Proficient Experience:

●     Clear understanding of theoretical and applied industry-relevant operating systems and computer networks (e.g., Ethernet, ARP, Routing, IP Addresses, Fragmentation, ICMP, UDP, TCP, and x86-64 assembly)

●     Experience reading technical specifications and documentation

 

 

Technology Requirements

 

Hardware

●     Personal computer with 8 GB RAM or higher and an x86-64 CPU. Must be able to install virtual machines on this computer. Computers with ARM processors (or any other architecture) will not work.

 

Software and Other

●     Reliable Internet connection with unrestricted access to key websites that are commonly used in software development activities (e.g., GitHub and StackOverflow)

●     Linux (Ubuntu 20.04 is recommended) (Ubuntu 20.04 LTS)

●     A virtual machine application, such as VMware, is recommended for non-Linux. users You can get VMware for free as an ASU student (strongly recommended) and install Ubuntu 20.04 in a VM.

●     Most reference code will be provided as a Python script. Therefore, Python is strongly recommended. Note: For some coursework, the course team will not be able to help you if you choose any language that is not Python, Java, or C#; therefore, to create the best learning experience, Python is strongly recommended. This is noted on the overview docs where it applies.

●     Browser (e.g., Chrome, FireFox, or Microsoft Edge), an HTTP request sender (curl), and Burp Suite

●     Ability to access AWS resources

●     You are strongly encouraged to use Python 3 and the scapy package

 

 

Textbook and Readings

 

At the graduate level, inquiry, research, and critical reading are part of the learning experience; however, this course does not have a required textbook. All content is available within the course.

 

Course Content

 

Instruction

Video Lectures Demonstration Videos

Live Events (e.g. Live Sessions hosted by the instructor of record and Virtual Office Hours hosted by the course team members)

 

Assessments

Assignments (graded, auto-graded) Individual Project (graded, auto-graded) Practice Quizzes (ungraded, auto-feedback) Graded Quizzes (graded, auto-graded) Practice Exam 1 (ungraded, auto-feedback) Exam 1 (proctored, graded, auto-graded)

Practice Exam 2 (ungraded, auto-feedback) Exam 2 (proctored, graded, auto-graded)

 

Details of the main instructional and assessment elements this course:

 

Lecture videos: The concepts you need to know will be presented through a collection of video lectures. You may stream these videos for playback within the browser by clicking on their titles or download the videos. You may also download the lecture slides that are used in the videos. The lecture slides, where available, are provided with the video. Demonstration videos and interview videos do not have accompanying slides.

 

Discussion Forums: Discussion forums are present each week in the course, and there are designated forums for each project, assignment, and exams, so targeted questions of interest can be asked and categorized in specific spaces. Although the course team is engaged in these discussions, the forums are spaces to clarify, support, and enrich student-to-student communication and learning. If you have specific questions that you would like the instructor to consider addressing in the weekly Live Events, please indicate your request in your post.

 

Practice Quizzes: To help you prepare for other assessments in the course, you will be able to take practice quizzes prior to taking graded quizzes. Note that practice quizzes are not present in all weeks by design; they are only present in weeks that have graded quizzes. Designed to support your learning and prepare you for the graded quiz experience, practice quizzes are ungraded quizzes to test your knowledge of the concepts presented in all the lecture videos for that week. You may take your time, review your notes, and learn at your own pace because practice quizzes are untimed. You may retake these as often as you would like at any point in the course. You are encouraged to read the feedback, review your answer choices, and compare them to the correct answers. With the feedback as your guide, you are encouraged to use these as opportunities to study for other assessments and tasks in the course. You may engage with your peers in the discussion forums to address questions, share resources and strategies, and provide feedback to help one another learn. If you have specific questions that you would like the instructor to consider addressing in the weekly Live Events, please indicate your request in your post.

 

Graded Quizzes: Timed graded quizzes are included at the end of several weeks when there is not an assignment or project present. They are designed to assess you on a given week’s content. Review the course outline closely. Graded quizzes typically include 10 multiple choice questions. You will have 45 minutes to complete each quiz. Once you open the quiz, your testing session begins, and you must complete it in a single session. You will be allowed one (1) attempt to take and complete each quiz. There is a 12% grade penalty for each day late past the deadline. For academic integrity purposes, the exact answers will not be shared, which includes which questions students got correct and incorrect.

Practice Exams: Our goal is to prepare you for the timed, proctored final exam experience. To do this, we have designed the practice exam questions so they follow the same question style used in Exam 1 and Exam 2. You may engage with your peers in the discussion forums to address questions, share resources and strategies, and provide feedback to help one another learn. If you have specific questions that you would like to be considered to be addressed in the weekly Live Events, please indicate your request in your post.

 

Practice Exam Details

●     Single-answer, multiple choice questions

●     Unlimited time

●     Unlimited number of attempts

●     Full feedback

 

Proctored Exams: You will have two (2) timed, proctored exams. No late exams will be permitted and will result in an automatic score of 0 points. For academic integrity purposes, the exact answers will not be shared, which includes which questions students got correct and incorrect.

 

Exam 1 Details

●     Content covered: Weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4

●     Question type(s): single answer, multiple-choice questions

●     Availability: 12:01AM AZ Time on Monday, November 9, 2020 - Sunday, November 15, 2020 at 11:59 PM AZ Time

●     Time: 2 hours = 120 minutes

●     Attempts: You will be allowed one (1) attempt to take and complete the exam. Once you open the exam, your testing session begins and you must complete it in a single session.

●     Proctoring: You need to set up your proctoring at least 72 hours prior to the exam. Due to high-volume testing windows, you are strongly encouraged to schedule by Sunday, October 18, 2020. ProctorU is an online proctoring service that allows students to take exams online while ensuring the integrity of the exam for the institution. Additional information and instructions are provided in the Welcome and Start Here section of the course. The exam proctor will input the exam password.

 

Exam 2 Details

●     Content covered: Weeks 5, 6, and 7

●     Question type(s): single answer, multiple-choice questions

●     Availability: 12:01AM AZ Time on Monday, November 30, 2020 - Sunday, December 6, 2020 at 11:59 PM AZ Time

●     Time: 2 hours = 120 minutes

●     Attempts: You will be allowed one (1) attempt to take and complete the exam. Once you open the exam, your testing session begins and you must complete it in a single session.

●     Proctoring: You need to set up your proctoring at least 72 hours prior to the exam. Even though this exam is much later in the semester, due to high-volume testing windows, you are strongly encouraged to schedule by Sunday, October 18, 2020. There is no penalty if you have to schedule later. ProctorU is an online proctoring service that allows students to take exams online while ensuring the integrity of the exam for the institution. Additional information and instructions are provided in the Welcome and Start Here section of the course. The exam proctor will input the exam password.

 

Exam 1 and 2 Allowances: Both exams are closed resource exams. No materials, resources, technologies, or communication is permitted during the exams.

 

●     Hardcopy and/or digital books and/or reference materials (all): None

●     Calculators (all): None (calculations may be achieved by hand)

●     Notes in any format of any kind (all): None

●     Web (all): None

●     Software (all): None and all virtual machines must be closed prior to starting proctoring

●     Other technologies, devices, and means of communication (all): None

●     Scratch paper, whiteboard, and writing utensils: unlimited amount of blank scratch paper, writing utensils (e.g., pens, pencils, markers, and/or highlighters; please have extra ones should you run out of ink, the pencil breaks, etc.), and eraser(s). If using a whiteboard, students may have erasable whiteboard markers and what is needed to erase writing on the whiteboard.

●     Other: Students are to independently take the exam in a single session without leaving the testing space (e.g., no bathroom breaks) to ensure proctoring of the entire session.

 

Assignments and Projects: This course includes six (6) individual assignments and one (1) project. All are provided to students in the first week of the course, so you can review what is expected and design your own learning schedules to complete these on time. They will be re-introduced in the week each is due. A submission area is provided at the end of each week they are due. Review the Technology Requirements for this course to ensure you have what is needed to complete the assignments and project. Assignments and the project may be submitted an unlimited number of times. There is an automatic 6% grade penalty for each day late.

 

List of Assignments and Project

●     Week 3 Assignment: Caesar Cipher

●     Week 3 Assignment: Esper Cipher

●     Week 4 Assignment: UDP Spoofing

●     Week 4 Assignment: TCP Spoofing

●     Week 5 Assignment: Pwn Them All

●     Week 6 Project: Fuzz Them All

●     Week 6 Assignment: Finding Crashes

 

Course Grade Breakdown

*This is an MCS Portfolio eligible course.

 

Grade Scale

 

NOTE: You must earn a cumulative grade of 70% to earn a "C" in this course.

 

The instructor reserves the right to adjust individual grades based on, but not limited to, violations of academic integrity.

 

Live Events

 

Live Sessions - Weekly

Live Sessions are a valuable part of the learning experience because students can meet with the course instructor and fellow classmates to learn more about course topics, special topics within the field, and discuss coursework. The official weekly schedule for these events will be announced once the course starts. If you are able to attend these Live Sessions, you are strongly encouraged to do so. If you have specific questions or topics of interest that you would like to be discussed during the live events, please indicate your request in your discussion forum post. Although it may not be possible to address all requests live, the instructor is interested in tailoring the live events to your questions and interests. The instructor will be following a set agenda, so please be mindful of that when engaging in the live session.

 

Live Sessions hosted by the faculty will be recorded and uploaded to the course.

 

Live Sessions Expectations

The environment should remain professional at all times. Inappropriate content/visuals, language, tone, feedback, etc. will not be tolerated, reported and subject to disciplinary action. Review the Policy Regarding Expected Classroom Behavior section of the syllabus and the Student Code of Conduct for more detailed information.

 

Virtual Office Hours - Weekly

Virtual Office Hours offer a chance for students to get their questions answered from the course team. The official weekly schedule for office hours will be announced once the course starts.

 

Virtual office hours are recorded, but not uploaded into the course.

 

Virtual Office Hour Expectations

Although the course team is responsive to trends in the discussion forums and mcsonline emails, these sessions focus on addressing students’ specific questions related to content: clarifications, reteaching, assessment review, etc. These sessions are not intended to address program or course design questions or feedback. Teaching assistants do not have the authority to weigh in or make decisions regarding those items, so please do not include those at this time. These sessions are specific to helping students learn materials and understand various course assessments. Feedback of that nature is best addressed in the communication channel: mcsonline@asu.edu and please include it in your course survey.

The environment should remain professional at all times. Inappropriate content/visuals, language, tone, feedback, etc. will not be tolerated, reported and subject to disciplinary action. Review the Policy Regarding Expected Classroom Behavior section of the syllabus and the Student Code of Conduct for more detailed information.

 

Course Schedule

 

Week # and Name

Begin Date

12:01 AM AZ Time

End Date

11:59 PM AZ Time

 

Week 1: Foundations of Information Assurance and Security

Monday, October 12, 2020

Sunday, October 18, 2020

 

Week 2: Physical Security, Personnel Security, Authentication, and Access Control

Monday, October 19, 2020

Sunday, October 25, 2020

 

Week 3: Cryptography

Monday, October 26, 2020

Sunday, November 1, 2020

 

Week 4: IA in Information Systems

Monday, November 2, 2020

Sunday, November 8, 2020

 

Exam 1

Monday, November 9, 2020

Sunday, November 15, 2020

 

Week 5: Web Security

Monday, November 9, 2020

Sunday, November 15, 2020

 

Week 6: Software Security

Monday, November 16, 2020

Sunday, November 22, 2020

 

Week 7: Privacy and Ethical Issues

Monday, November 23, 2020

Sunday, November 29, 2020

 

Exam 2

Monday, November 30, 2020

Sunday, December 6, 2020

 

*Grades are due December 7, 2020-December 14, 2020. (Please see the ASU Academic

 Calendar for additional information.)

 

Assignment and Project Deadlines

Unless otherwise noted, all graded work is due on Sundays by 11:59 PM Arizona time. An example of “otherwise noted” would be a course announcement when the course is running. Assignments and the project may be submitted an unlimited number of times. There is an automatic 6% grade penalty for each day late.

 

Assignment and Project Deadlines

●     Week 3 Assignment: Caesar Cipher due by Sunday, November 1, 2020 at 11:59 PM AZ Time

●     Week 3 Assignment: Esper Cipher due by Sunday, November 1, 2020 at 11:59 PM AZ Time

●     Week 4 Assignment: UDP Spoofing due by Sunday, November 8, 2020 at 11:59 PM AZ Time

●     Week 4 Assignment: TCP Spoofing due by Sunday, November 8, 2020 at 11:59

PM AZ Time

●     Week 5 Assignment: Pwn Them All due by Sunday, November 15, 2020 at 11:59 PM AZ Time

●     Week 6 Project: Fuzz Them All due by Sunday, November 22, 2020 at 11:59 PM AZ Time

●     Week 6 Assignment: Finding Crashes due by Sunday, November 22, 2020 at 11:59 PM AZ Time

 

Course Outline with Assignments

 

Week 1: Foundations of Information Assurance and Security

Lesson 1: Introduction Lesson 2: Security Principles Lesson 3: Security Strategies

Lesson 4: Mission Assurance and Risk Management

Lesson 5: IA Policies, Contingency, and Disaster Recovery Planning

 

Assignments

❏    Practice Quiz

❏    Graded Quiz (Due by Sunday, October 18, 2020 at 11:59 PM AZ time)

12% grade penalty for each day past the deadline.

For academic integrity purposes, the exact answers will not be shared, which includes which questions students got correct and incorrect.

 

Week 2: Physical Security, Personnel Security, Authentication, and Access Control

Lesson 1: Physical and Personnel Security

Lesson 2: Authentication Lesson 3: Access Control

 

Assignments

❏   Practice Quiz

❏   Graded Quiz (Due by Sunday, October 25, 2020 at 11:59 PM AZ time)

12% grade penalty for each day past the deadline.

For academic integrity purposes, the exact answers will not be shared, which includes which questions students got correct and incorrect.

Week 3: Cryptography

Lesson 1: Introduction to Cryptography Lesson 2: Common Crypto Algorithms Lesson 3: Bad Crypto

Lesson 4: Common Weaknesses in Crypto Uses

 

Assignments

❏   Caesar Cipher (Due by Sunday, November 1, 2020 at 11:59 PM AZ Time)

6% grade penalty for each day past the deadline.

❏   Esper Cipher (Due by Sunday, November 1, 2020 at 11:59 PM AZ Time)

6% grade penalty for each day past the deadline.

 

 

Week 4: IA in Information Systems

Lesson 1: Introduction to Network Security Lesson 2: Common Attacks on Networks Lesson 3: Modern Security Threats

Lesson 4: IA in Outsourcing and Open-source Software Lesson 5: IA in Cloud Computing

 

Assignments

❏   UDP Spoofing due by Sunday, November 8, 2020 at 11:59 PM AZ Time

6% grade penalty for each day past the deadline.

❏   TCP Spoofing due by Sunday, November 8, 2020 at 11:59 PM AZ Time

6% grade penalty for each day past the deadline.

 

Week 5: Web Security

Lesson 1: Web Security Overview Lesson 2: HTML

Lesson 3: Common Vulnerabilities in Web Applications Lesson 4: Phishing

Lesson 5: Vulnerability Discovery

 

Assignments

❏ Pwn Them All (Due by Sunday, November 15, 2020 at 11:59 PM AZ Time)

6% grade penalty for each day past the deadline.

 

Exam 1

Available from Monday, November 9, 2020 at 12:01AM AZ Time - Sunday, November 15, 2020 at 11:59PM AZ Time

100% grade penalty for each day past the deadline.

No late exams accepted.

For academic integrity purposes, the exact answers will not be shared, which includes which questions students got correct and incorrect.

 

Week 6: Software Security

Lesson 1: Software Security Overview

Lesson 2: Common Vulnerabilities in Software

Lesson 3: Memory Model, X86-64 Assembly Language, and Debugging Lesson 4: Buffer Overflows

Lesson 5: Vulnerability discovery

 

Assignments

❏   Fuzz Them All (Due by Sunday, November 22, 2020 at 11:59 PM AZ Time)

6% grade penalty for each day past the deadline.

❏   Finding Crashes (Due by Sunday, November 22, 2020 at 11:59 PM AZ Time)

6% grade penalty for each day past the deadline.

 

Week 7: Privacy, IA Management, and Ethical Issues

Lesson 1: Privacy and Social Networks Lesson 2: Ethical Hacking

 

Assignments

❏   Practice Quiz

❏   Graded Quiz (Due by Sunday, November 29, 2020 at 11:59 PM AZ time)

12% grade penalty for each day past the deadline.

For academic integrity purposes, the exact answers will not be shared, which includes which questions students got correct and incorrect.

❏   Optional: Portfolio Inclusion Report for ASU MCS Degree

❏    Course Survey

 

Exam 2

❏   Practice Exam 2

❏   Exam 2 (Available from Monday, November 30, 2020 at 12:01AM AZ Time - Sunday, December 6, 2020 at 11:59PM AZ Time)

No late exams accepted. 100% grade penalty.

For academic integrity purposes, the exact answers will not be shared, which includes which questions students got correct and incorrect.

 

Policies

All ASU and Coursera policies will be enforced during this course. For policy details, please consult the MCS Graduate Handbook and the MCS Onboarding Course.

 

Absence Policies

 

There are no required or mandatory attendance events in this online course. Live Events, both Live Sessions hosted by the faculty and Virtual Office Hours hosted by the course team do not take attendance.

 

Students are to complete all graded coursework (e.g., assignments, project, and exams). If exceptions for graded coursework deadlines need to be made for excused absences, please reach out to the course team by Sunday, October 18, 2020 using the mcsonline@asu.edu email address (these need to be built into the course). Review the exam availability windows and schedule accordingly. The exam availability windows allow for your own flexibility and you are expected to plan ahead. Personal travel does not qualify as an excused absence and does not guarantee an exception.

 

Review the resources for what qualifies as an excused absence and review the late penalties in the Assignment Deadlines section of the syllabus and the course:

a.       Excused absences related to religious observances/practices that are in accord with ACD 304–04, “Accommodation for Religious Practices”

b.       Excused absences related to university sanctioned events/activities that are in accord with ACD 304–02, “Missed Classes Due to University-Sanctioned Activities”

c.        Excused absences related to missed class due to military line-of-duty activities that are

in accord with ACD 304–11, “Missed Class Due to Military Line-of-Duty Activities,” and SSM 201–18, “Accommodating Active Duty Military”

 

Policy Regarding Expected Course Behavior

 

The aim of education is the intellectual, personal, social, and ethical development of the individual. The educational process is ideally conducted in an environment that encourages reasoned discourse, intellectual honesty, openness to constructive change, and respect for the rights of all individuals. Self-discipline and a respect for the rights of others in the university community are necessary for the fulfillment of such goals. An instructor may withdraw a student from a course with a mark of “W” or “E” or employ other interventions when the student’s behavior disrupts the educational process. For more information, review SSM 201–10.

 

If you identify something as unacceptable classroom behavior on the class platform (e.g., Coursera discussion forum) or communication channels (e.g., Zoom, virtual live session, virtual office hours, Slack, etc.), please notify the course team using the mcsonline@asu.edu email. In the discussion forums, you can also flag the post for our attention. For more specifics on appropriate participation, please review our Netiquette infographic.

 

Our classroom community rules are to:

●     Be professional

●     Be positive

●     Be polite

●     Be proactive

 

Academic Integrity

 

Students in this class must adhere to ASU’s academic integrity policy, which can be found at https://provost.asu.edu/academic-integrity/policy. Students are responsible for reviewing this policy and understanding each of the areas in which academic dishonesty can occur. In addition, all engineering students are expected to adhere to both the ASU Academic Integrity Honor Code and the Fulton Schools of Engineering Honor Code. All academic integrity violations will be reported to the Fulton Schools of Engineering Academic Integrity Office (AIO). The AIO maintains a record of all violations and has access to academic integrity violations committed in all other ASU colleges/schools.

 

Specific academic integrity announcements for this class:

Security is a field that honors integrity to the maximum extent. As an introductory course to security, this course has a zero-tolerance policy towards academic integrity violations. Any academic integrity violations will lead to a failure of this course (no refunds) with a failing grade (F), and the violation will be reported to the university.

 

Copyright

 

All course content and materials, including lectures (Zoom recorded lectures included), are copyrighted materials and students may not share outside the class, upload to online websites not approved by the instructor, sell, or distribute course content or notes taken during the conduct of the course (see ACD 304–06, “Commercial Note Taking Services” and ABOR Policy 5-308 F.14 for more information).

 

You must refrain from uploading to any course shell, discussion board, or website used by the course instructor or other course forum, material that is not the student's original work, unless the students first comply with all applicable copyright laws; faculty members reserve the right to delete materials on the grounds of suspected copyright infringement.

 

Policy Against Threatening Behavior (SSM 104-02)

 

Students, faculty, staff, and other individuals do not have an unqualified right of access to university grounds, property, or services. Interfering with the peaceful conduct of

university-related business or activities or remaining on campus grounds after a request to leave may be considered a crime. All incidents and allegations of violent or threatening conduct by an ASU student (whether on- or off-campus) must be reported to the ASU Police Department (ASU

PD) and the Office of the Dean of Students.

 

Disability Accommodations

 

Suitable accommodations will be made for students having disabilities. Students needing accommodations must register with the ASU Student Accessibility and Inclusive Learning Services and provide documentation of that registration to the instructor. Students should communicate the need for an accommodation in sufficient time for it to be properly arranged. See ACD 304-08 Classroom and Testing Accommodations for Students with Disabilities.

 

Harassment and Sexual Discrimination

 

Arizona State University is committed to providing an environment free of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation for the entire university community, including all students, faculty members, staff employees, and guests. ASU expressly prohibits discrimination, harassment, and retaliation by employees, students, contractors, or agents of the university based on any protected status: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and genetic information.

 

Title IX is a federal law that provides that no person be excluded on the basis of sex from participation in, be denied benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity. Both Title IX and university policy make clear that sexual violence and harassment based on sex is prohibited. An individual who believes they have been subjected to sexual violence or harassed on the basis of sex can seek support, including counseling and academic support, from the university. If you or someone you know has been harassed on the basis of sex or sexually assaulted, you can find information and resources at https://sexualviolenceprevention.asu.edu/faqs.

 

Mandated sexual harassment reporter: As a mandated reporter, I am obligated to report any information I become aware of regarding alleged acts of sexual discrimination, including sexual violence and dating violence. ASU Counseling Services, https://eoss.asu.edu/counseling, is available if you wish to discuss any concerns confidentially and privately.