Course content
Individuals and organizations in the modern society depend on computer networks – the so-called Internet. But with this dependency comes vulnerabilities from failures, threats and attacks, and the potential for loss or misappropriation of important data.
This course provides students with a business background with knowledge and understanding of the Internet and the potential threats to individual and organizational security and privacy in our heavily interconnected IT systems. It also provides the students with knowledge about potential countermeasures and how to apply them.
The course combines technical and managerial perspectives on cybersecurity and privacy. It covers the structure and functionality of the Internet, basic cryptography, as well as organizational and managerial aspects of information security and privacy.
The course also covers the implications of the rise of AI in terms of both security, privacy, ethics, and regulation. This includes an academic approach to using AI by using a critical focus on explainability, transparency and validity in working with AI.
Course Structure: The first part of the course covers key concepts including computer networks, CIA, and threats and attacks (e.g., ransomware, denial-of-service, social engineering, etc.) along with technical protection mechanisms (e.g., cryptographic methods, firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, etc.) and managerial security practices (e.g., security policy, staffing, access control models, etc.). The second part of the course covers key concepts in privacy (e.g., privacy concerns, law and ethics, surveillance capitalism, economics of privacy, privacy decision making, etc.) and covers practical implications at the individual, organizational, and governmental level.
The course requires no prior knowledge of IT or computer networks. Technical concepts and terms are introduced with comprehensive explanations and demonstrated with hands-on exercises.
See course description in course catalogue