Cyber Security Operations and Leadership (CSOL)

CSOL 500 | FOUNDATIONS OF CYBER SECURITY

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

This course will feature a comprehensive overview of concepts and tools essential to the cybersecurity professional and provide a review of the five types of cybersecurity techniques. The student will explore the history and evolution of cybersecurity as well as the future trends while identifying the roles leaders can play in enhancing, supporting, and promoting cybersecurity in organizations. The course will outline a taxonomy of modern cyber terminology. This course will also set the stage for the program by explaining and instilling the “Business of Cyber” as a cybersecurity professional. The student will learn to view information as an asset to the organization, learn types of cybersecurity attacks, what are threat actors and threat vectors, the various roles of a cyber-professional, and the beginnings of designing a cybersecurity program. The student will also identify different types of threats to information and to the infrastructure and the operations that support it.

CSOL 501 | NEW STUDENT ORIENTATION

Units: 0 Repeatability: No

This orientation course introduces students to the University of San Diego and provides important information about the program. Throughout the orientation, students will learn to successfully navigate through the online learning environment and locate helpful resources. Students will practice completing tasks in the online learning environment as preparation for success in their online graduate courses. This orientation course will be available to students as a reference tool throughout the entirety of your program.

CSOL 510 | APPLIED CRYPTOGRAPHY

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

This course will provide an introduction to modern applied cryptographic theory and practice, and how cryptography is used to support information security missions. It will be based upon open literature discussions that are most similar or applicable to advanced multi-level security systems and military grade defenses.

CSOL 520 | ENTERPRISE SECURITY ARCHITECTURE

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

This course will introduce the student to the importance of architectural and network security at the enterprise level. Security architecture frameworks will be used to explore enterprise security architectures. Students will identify threats to today’s networks and learn to identify appropriate security tools to safeguard these networks. The course will discuss how to evaluate the complexities of securing new types of networks such as cloud configurations and the Internet of Things.

CSOL 530 | GOVERNANCE & RISK IN CYBERSECURITY

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

This course discusses and explains the fundamentals of risk governance, the processes to follow, compliance regulation, and the security controls to implement for specific cybersecurity environments and situations. Information and information systems are subject to serious threats that can have adverse impacts on organizational operations (including mission, functions, image, and reputation). Cyber-attacks are often aggressive, well-organized, well-funded, and in a growing number of documented cases, very sophisticated. There is also a geopolitical part to cybersecurity as well that is discussed throughout this course. Successful attacks on public and private sector information systems can affect organizational assets, individuals, other organizations, and the Nation by compromising the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of information being processed, stored, or transmitted by those systems. This can result in serious damage to the national and economic security interests of the United States.

CSOL 540 | CYBERSECURITY LAW & POLICY

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

This course provides students with a foundational background and understanding of the core concepts and principles of privacy and cybersecurity. The course will explore the history of cyber-crime, and will cover areas related to litigation and enforcement, law, policy, compliance, consumer data privacy and big data compliance, EU data protection, and HIPAA privacy and security.

CSOL 560 | SECURE SOFTWARE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

This course will provide an in-depth study of the principals and tenets of the design and development process of secure software used to provide enhanced cyber security. It will review the traditional models of software development, with the idea that a developer or project manager must strategize for security before starting development. Students will understand how to gather and plan for security requirements in development. The course will explore how vulnerabilities can be mapped and planned for. Students will understand how to run an effective development process, culminating with implementation, and how to review and test software. Finally, the course will introduce the concept of software assurance and its role in the cyber security paradigm.

CSOL 570 | FUNDAMENTALS OF BLUE TEAM OPERATIONS

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Active defense of an enterprise is not only the responsibility of the equipment, applications, and security processes of an organization but is ultimately driven by Blue Team actions. Whether as a team, designated position, or assigned set of additional responsibilities, understanding and performing Blue Team actions are essential aspects of an effective cybersecurity program. Some of the fundamental concepts for Blue Team operations include “Defending the Castle” by environment and threat landscape awareness, establishing “normal” vs “abnormal” for your environment, understanding Threat Hunting tools and techniques (including intel and open-source research), as well as the components of some of the more significant threats to your organization such as lateral movement, malware, ransomware, and Command & Control. This course will also briefly introduce the concepts and relationships between the Blue Team with the related White, Red, and Purple Teams.

CSOL 580 | CYBER THREAT INTELLIGENCE

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

This course will present and discuss how information superiority and information dominance is key to influencing operations associated with establishing and maintaining cyber security. Topics include an overview of current and historical intelligence efforts and how those processes in various domains (human, electronic, digital) apply to cyber operations and security. The course specifically includes the exploitation of “big data” and multi-format information collections (text, video, structured/unstructured) to support cyber situation awareness. It will feature discussions of modern versus classic data collection methods and Intelligence examples from current events.

CSOL 590 | CYBER INCIDENT RESPONSE AND COMPUTER NETWORK FORENSICS

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

This course will introduce the principles and general practice of incident response, including an overview to digital and network forensics. It will define what constitutes an incident, what is meant by incident response, the attack lifecycle, and goals of incident response. The course will discuss building an incident response team, the steps in the process, and preparing for incident response. Students will understand the process of detecting and characterizing an incident, collecting and analyzing data, and the process of remediation. The course will then provide a deeper dive into the practice digital forensics, specifically focusing on computer, mobile, network, and database forensics. It will outline the investigative and analysis process, survey tools, digital evidence, and briefly touch on the law.

CSOL 599 | CAPSTONE: REAL-WORLD CYBERSECURITY CASE STUDY

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Prerequisites: CSOL 500 with a minimum grade of C-

In the final course of the program, students demonstrate the specialized knowledge, principles, and strategies learned throughout the program by critically assessing a real-world cybersecurity problem. The Capstone is the culmination of all coursework from the program to prepare students to develop into skilled cybersecurity professionals. The final project is centered on a case study relating to a current cybersecurity issue, trend, and/or event.