Information Systems Security

This course introduces learners to the professional writing, collaboration and presentation skills needed to be successful in their chosen field. Learners will gain an understanding of the strategies and competencies required for effective communication with an emphasis on developing the interpersonal skills needed to perform as part of a high-functioning team. Coursework will require learners to work in individual and collaborative settings.

Equivalents:

• COMM 265

This introductory course provides students with a grounding in basic switching, routing and general protocols. These are analyzed and implemented from both a functionality and vulnerability viewpoint. The configuration of defensive and offensive tools is practiced in the lab environment.

This introductory course gives students a firm grounding in strategy fundamentals from a military and cyber-warfare viewpoint. Topics include implications of economics and politics on strategy, tactics vs strategy, writings of classic strategic thinkers from ancient to current times and methods of critically analyzing situations and strategic plans. These fundamental concepts are applied to modern cyber-warfare and industrial espionage using case studies and essays.

This introductory course provides students with the basic programming principles applicable to program design and exploitation. Principles are illustrated using an intermediate, compiled language such as C. The examination of program data structures and execution flow is emphasized in the lab using debuggers and how basic program instructions are implemented in assemblers.

This course examines scripted and object-oriented languages' structure, implementation, and use. The labs and assignments will emphasize the crafting of tools for various conditions.

Pre-requisites:

• ITSC 204
• ITSC 205

Through the detailed examination of ARM and X86 assembly language, the structure of CPUs, Trusted Platform modules, peripherals, memory subsystems and bootloaders will be examined. Exploits to each of these subsystems will be discussed. The labs will emphasize the use of subsystems using both C and assembler.

Pre-requisites:

• ITSC 202

Operating systems form the support structure used by all computing resources. Topics include memory management, interrupt handling, systems call structure, file systems, process management, and sockets. The labs will focus on the basic algorithms and the vulnerabilities caused by implementation-specific issues and best defensive practices.

Pre-requisites:

• ITSC 202

This course examines industrial and business protocols' implementation, strengths, and weaknesses. Topics include networking security protocols, advanced routing and intrusion detection/prevention.

Pre-requisites:

• ITSC 200

This course introduces students to various enterprise and industrial wireless protocol standards and exploitation techniques. The lab will focus on using offensive and defensive wireless tools to harden systems in various environments.

Pre-requisites:

• ITSC 206

This course introduces students to web technologies, emphasizing web application hardening and exploitation. Topics include application auditing, proxies, web attacks, server hardening, man-in-the-middle attacks, secure application protocols and data exfiltration.

Pre-requisites:

• ITSC 200
• ITSC 202

This course provides students with practical, hands-on experiences with the analysis and neutralization of malware. Topics include disassemblers, cloaking/obfuscation, malware design, packing techniques, infection vectors and polymorphism.

Pre-requisites:

• ITSC 203
• ITSC 304

This is a laboratory-based course and provides hands-on ethical hacking. Students will work independently in laboratories that focus on implementing techniques for vulnerability management, exploitation, post-exploitation, detection, monitoring and hardening operating systems to protect and mitigate risks. A final penetration testing project will be implemented to apply knowledge and skills learned in the course.

Pre-requisites:

• ITSC 204
• ITSC 205

This course provides students with practical, hands-on experience with the Internet of Things (IoT) systems. Topics include industrial wireless network exploitation, tamper-proof mechanisms, encryption key exchange, JTAG debugging, component identification, logic analyzers and oscilloscopes, firmware retrieval and analysis, sensor systems and common system architectures.

Pre-requisites:

• ITSC 203

This advanced course provides students with the tools and processes for collecting and evaluating evidence found in computer systems. The emphasis is on the complexity of investigating incidents forensically and soundly, consistent with current Canadian and international laws. Topics include identifying and preserving evidence, chain of custody, file and log analysis, proper legal documentation, memory forensics and identifying malware within a system being examined.

Pre-requisites:

• ITSC 304
• LAWG 200

Many modern businesses are required to comply with Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards. At the core of PCI is encryption. The fundamentals of modern encryption and the PCI standard, auditing and penetration testing techniques will be discussed.

Pre-requisites:

• ITSC 302

This course examines the business and computing infrastructure needed to protect an organization from attacks. Topics include physical security, risk analysis, disaster recovery, data security controls, security models, access controls and security testing frameworks.

Pre-requisites:

• LAWG 200

This course provides a general overview of persuasion and manipulation techniques, an introduction to neuro-linguistic programming, basic human psychology and improvisational acting. The course aims to allow an entry-level penetration tester to infiltrate an organization to conduct security testing successfully.

Pre-requisites:

• ITSC 205
• LAWG 200

This introductory course provides students with a basic understanding of the structure of both the Canadian and Alberta legal systems. Topics include copyright, intellectual property, contract, evidence collection, privacy law and their effect on security professionals. The application of the law will be contrasted with ethical guidelines enforced on security practitioners.

Pre-requisites:

• COMM 256
• ITSC 201

In this capstone course, you will investigate issues across many different subject areas or domains of knowledge, connect with community issues or problems and create a solution. Your project should demonstrate the technical and professional skills learned in the program and beyond. You must apply your creativity and problem-solving abilities to a real-world context.

Pre-requisites:

• ITSC 203
• ITSC 301
• ITSC 304
• ITSC 307
• ITSC 309

This introductory course is in data analysis for students in engineering technology programs. Students apply techniques to organize, display, analyze and report data. Outcomes include methods of descriptive and inferential statistics. Students will be exposed to software-based methods in laboratory sessions using industry-grade data. Some advanced topics of analysis are selectable toward the end of the course.

This cooperative work term course provides the opportunity to apply your classroom learning in a practical workplace setting and gain valuable industry experience. This course is optional.

Pre-requisites:

• ITSC 204
• ITSC 205
• ITSC 206
• ITSC 302
• LAWG 200