Cybersecurity Operations Online Master's Degree Program

Understanding risk and identifying the threats organizations face are essential skills for today's information security professionals. In this course that introduces students to the graduate degree program, students learn to compute impact scores for vulnerabilities, classify data, and use Champlain College Online's virtual environment to explore how to use IOCs (Indicators of Compromise).

Security controls are used to maintain confidentiality, integrity and availability of systems and typically enterprise architectures are built using frameworks. Students move beyond defense in depth and breadth strategies and "learn by doing" in this course, working in the virtual environment with tools like Nmap, Open-AduIT, Splunk, and more.

Hands-on labs and assignments using Kali Linux, Metasploitable, Nessus and Armitage build on previously acquired knowledge of threat and vulnerability classification in this course that allows students to use the knowledge of a vulnerability to perform threat analysis. Vulnerability and patch management processes are also addressed.

It's not a question of if an incident will take place, but when. Organizations must assume they will suffer a breach, data loss or other security event that will impact operations. Students learn to prioritize events, develop and document an incident response plan, and identify the role of forensic investigations in incident response as well as use tools to perform USB and memory forensics exercises.

Game theory provides a framework for understanding complicated problems and predicting outcomes. In this course, students evaluate security threats and vulnerabilities using game theory principles. Discussions, quizzes and assignments introduce students to concepts and strategies like Nash Equilibrium and strict dominance.

Scripting languages like Python can help security professionals extend available tools but also create new tools to address specific needs. Extensive labs in this course have students attacking MD5 hashes, web scraping, parsing security logs and breaking a cipher.

An excellent primer for the capstone, this course is jam-packed with hands-on activities! Students use the virtual environment to test open source software, compare Nmap, netcat and Angry IP Scanner, test WordPress vulnerability scanners, and experiment with Armitage attacks on Metasploitable. Also, students learn to document findings with reporting tools in Kali Linux and even write a test plan.

Are you ready for a challenge? This course teaches students to evaluate malware samples to determine their infection vector, identify strategies used by malware to remain present on systems, and recommend solutions to prevent and detect malware attacks. Students work with malware samples throughout the course on virtual machines. Use caution!

Today's adversaries are organized and well-funded which is why security professionals must understand their tactics and targets. Students in this course learn to distinguish cyberwarfare from cybercrime, and the differences between nation-states and APTs (Advanced Persistent Threats). The methods may differ but the target stays the same, especially when social engineering is involved.

This exciting capstone class is where students get to "talk the talk and walk the walk" of information security professionals. Broken into two virtual teams that must defend and attack multiple devices on two networks, students spend three weeks working in a virtual environment. They must configure firewalls, patch systems, maintain services and exploit vulnerabilities in an attempt to gain access and then persistence. Opportunities to reflect and assess performance are also part of the WarGames Capstone experience.