Information Assurance Center

The infrastructures of operating systems and networks are the fundamental technologies that support enterprise information systems. Students in this course examine the components of computer systems, their underlying operating systems, and their data communications networks. They critically investigate the services these components provide and draw implications for the large-scale enterprise. Students sharpen communication and critical-thinking skills through weekly discussions on related topics, such as modularity, abstraction, threading, virtual memory, internet protocol, atomicity, and concurrency control.

Contemporary software development principles continue to evolve. In this course, students explore contemporary software development concepts and tools. Through application assignments designed to contextualize theories presented in the course, students apply object-oriented techniques, usability principles, and design for reuse. Students have the opportunity to acquire knowledge requisite to the development of sound, maintainable, and extensible software.

The principles of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data while it is being stored, processed, or communicated guide the policies and practices of information assurance. In this course, students investigate the theory of information security and data protection, study common system risks and vulnerabilities, and follow best practices to protect computer and data assets. These practices address organizational policies, access controls, software and network design, and logging and auditing.

This course covers the security governance structure that organizations employ to manage risks. Various laws, regulations, and organizational objectives are typically mapped to organizational policies and translated into procedures, practices, standards, and guidelines. Students examine appropriate organizational structures for providing oversight and managing security throughout the enterprise.

This course provides an in-depth study of techniques for defending IT infrastructure against attack. Students explore tools for configuring and testing system and network security and examine administrative and operational countermeasures. Students discuss a range of active responses to a security breach.

Security professionals need to understand the legal context of their work: Many laws apply to IT crimes, and botched investigations can have serious consequences. This course presents the types of offenses and their consequences under the law. Investigations of breaches must be conducted methodically and with great care. Students examine the various types of cyber offenses and techniques for investigating them as well as ethical uses of information and computing resources in organizations.

Individual, group, and organizational behavior can have an enormous effect on safety and security. Because security professionals often observe that security is more dependent on people than on technology, they must have a clear understanding of human factors. This course examines advanced topics in the practice of information assurance, such as using social psychology to implement security.

This course covers information security issues in an organizational context, recognizing the increasing stakes in keeping systems safe from tampering and disclosure. Topics include management structures and processes for enterprise information security; information security in the supply chain; legal, regulatory, audit, and policy issues; risk management; and the business case for information security. (Prerequisites: NSEI 6841.)

Students survey some of the fundamental issues and techniques in information systems security, preparing students to analyze and solve problems. Topics include issues of authentication and authorization, common vulnerabilities and attacks, prevention and detection, information security best practices, and information security and privacy technologies.