Unlocking Information Security

Offered By: Tel Aviv University via edX

Course Description

Overview

Nominated for the 2020 edX Prize

Information Security is everywhere: as the world becomes more and more digitized, so it becomes more and more hackable. Cyber attacks, data breaches, and even cyber warfare are all very real - so it's infinitely important to understand how hackers think and act, and how we can fight back.

Needless to say, the demand for professionals that are knowledgeable in information security is exploding, and careers in the field are amongst the highest paying in the industry. Even so, it's a challenging skill to master - information security is a battle of wits between attackers and defenders, so you really do have to learn from the best.

Israel is well known as a leader in the field, and "Unlocking Information Security" endorsed by Check Point Ltd., is the first Israeli academic MOOC covering the topic. From their work in the academia, industry and Israeli intelligence corps, the instructors of the course possess an extensive experience in the field.

Completing this program will teach you the necessary knowledge and skills needed to become a better and more vigilant professional in the high-tech industry. You will learn about the different ways in which computer systems can be vulnerable, as well as many useful mitigation techniques, including the most important cryptographic tools; you will take a hard look “under the hood” of operating systems and the Internet, understand how they can be exploited and how they can be secured; and most importantly, you will understand the principles of secure computer systems and the mindsets of both attackers and defenders.

Syllabus

Courses under this program:
Course 1: Unlocking Information Security I: From Cryptography to Buffer Overflows

Learn how systems are hacked and defended.

Course 2: Unlocking Information Security II: An Internet Perspective

Continue learning how systems are hacked and defended.

Courses

321 reviews
5 weeks, 4-6 hours a week, 4-6 hours a week
View details

Information Security is everywhere: as the world becomes more and more digitized, so it becomes more and more hackable. Cyber attacks, data breaches, and even cyber warfare are all very real - so it is infinitely important to understand how hackers think and act, and how you can fight back.

In this course, which is the first part of the Unlocking Information Security program, you will learn the basic terminology and concepts in the field of information security. You will explore different types of vulnerabilities through famous examples of design flaws, implementation bugs and social engineering.

You will then move on to discover the art of cryptography, from ancient times to the modern era, and learn about famous ciphers, how they can be cracked, and what can be done to thwart such attacks. Next, you will learn about an important aspect of cryptography that involves no secrets at all: hash functions. You will understand what they are, how they can be used, and how they can be attacked.

You will then combine everything you've learned and take a critical view of different authentication schemes: passwords, challenge-response systems and biometrics. Finally, you will learn about the most critical vulnerability of all times - Buffer Overflow.

This course was produced at Tel Aviv University by TAU Online - learning innovation center.
52 reviews
7 weeks, 4-6 hours a week, 4-6 hours a week
View details

Information Security is everywhere: as the world becomes more and more digitized, so it becomes more and more hackable. Cyber attacks, data breaches, and even cyber warfare are all very real - so it's infinitely important to understand how hackers think and act, and how you can fight back.

In this course, which is the second part of the Unlocking Information Security program, you will turn your attention to the Internet: you'll start by learning about the inherent vulnerabilities lurking in the multiple layers of the Internet's protocol stack and then meet the first line of internet defenses. Next, you'll take an in-depth look at the modern cryptographic concepts that are at the core of internet security and discover the mathematical miracle that makes them possible.

With all this in mind, you will take a deep survey of the world wide web; understand the various technologies behind websites, how web servers and web browsers interact, how they can be attacked, and how they should be defended. Finally, you will learn about viruses, worms and trojans: what they are, how they spread, hide and attack, and the arms-race between them and the anti-virus industry.

This course was produced at Tel Aviv University by TAU Online - learning innovation center.

Taught by

Avishai Wool and Dan Gittik