Computer Security: A Hands-on Approach
What you'll learn
- How to exploit software vulnerabilities, and launch attacks
- How to defend against various attacks and how to write secure code
- Practical skills in cybersecurity
- The fundamental problems of various software vulnerabilities
Requirements
- Have basic programming background.
- Understand basic operating system concepts, such as users, process, memory, etc.
Description
This course focuses on a variety of attacks on computer systems. Some of them are classical attacks, and some are quite new, such as the recently discovered Dirty COW, Meltdown, and Spectre attacks. The course emphasizes hands-on learning. For each attack covered, students not only learn how the attack work in theory, they also learn how to actually conduct the attack, in a contained virtual machine environment. The hands-on exercises developed by the instructor are called SEED labs, and they are being used by over 1000 institutes worldwide. The course is based on the textbook written by the instructor. The book, titled "Computer & Internet Security: A Hands-on Approach, 2nd Edition", has been adopted by over 120 universities and colleges worldwide.
Who this course is for:
- Students who are interested in learning both theory and hands-on skills in cybersecurity
- Software developers who are interested in improving the security of their programs
- Graduate and upper-division undergraduate students in computer science, computer engineering, and IT-related fields
Instructor
- 4.6 Instructor Rating
- 2,467 Reviews
- 11,653 Students
- 4 Courses
Dr. Wenliang (Kevin) Du, ACM Fellow and IEEE Fellow, is the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor of Teaching Excellence at Syracuse University. He got his PhD degree from Purdue University. He is currently a full professor (tenure track), teaching computer security for over 20 years. He promotes experiential learning in cybersecurity education. To provide students with hands-on experiences, funded by multiple grants from the National Science Foundation and over a period of 20 years, he has developed over 40 labs (called SEED labs). These labs are now being used by over 1100 universities, colleges, and high schools in 80 countries. He wrote a popular textbook on cybersecurity, which has been adopted by over 280 schools worldwide.
In 2010, his SEED project was highlighted by the National Science Foundation in a report sent to the Congress. The report highlights "17 projects that represent cutting-edge creativity in undergraduate STEM classes nationwide". Due to the impact of the SEED labs, he received the "2017 Academic Leadership" award from the 21st Colloquium for Information System Security Education. In 2019, Syracuse University bestowed upon him the Meredith Professorship, the university's most prestigious honor for teaching excellence.