STKD6040 Ethical Hacking Course description

The topics covered in this course will prepare students who have interest in the security sector by introducing them to concepts in the ethical hacking field along with providing hands-on testing experience with the latest available tools. The labs will walk students through how to exploit commonly found vulnerabilities in the OWASP Top 10 and other common web and system vulnerabilities. This introductory course will contain labs that cover penetration testing, web application vulnerabilities and network security analysis. Each lab will be accompanied by a comprehensive document with step by step instructions for solving lab related problems, as well a video that would complement it.

Each lab will contain additional related problems that students should solve independently. These problems will test their knowledge and help them become proficient. The students will be given a short quiz after each lecture, their lab proficiency will be assessed to see if all lab goals are met and a final exam will be given at the end of the course.

Linux (CLI and GUI) and Windows experience. Students without prior experience in Linux may enroll in the course provided they complete a self-paced online Linux module which introduces and assesses Linux basics concepts prior to the first day of class. This module will be made available for all students who want to refresh their Linux skills prior to class.

No additional requirements to the general requirements for the Summer School.

After completing this course, the student should have the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

On successful completion of this course the student understands:

• the basic concepts of ethical hacking and the basics of cyber security concepts
• how crucial information gathering is to any successful ethical hacking
• how to find, compile and execute public exploits
• privilege escalation and how it is used

Skills

On successful completion of this course the student has:

• the ability to understand and defend against the common system-based vulnerabilities common exploited
• the ability to understand and defend against common web-based vulnerabilities
• the ability to perform ethical hacking against systems students are authorized to test
• experience how to set up labs and environments at home to continue learning
• the ability to perform security research and apply it towards challenges they are working on

General Competence

On successful completion of this course the student can:

• understand the basics of ethical hacking and take advanced courses
• utilize the knowledge they learned in this course to be better defenders in their personal lives or in their professional careers
• further advance in the security field of ethical hacking and work on certification or career opportunities

This course will take an instruction followed by lab-based approach. The labs are designed so that the student will be able to reset their environment and be able to attempt the labs as many times as they would like. The course participants will work independently in unique virtual environments set up just for them.

The course uses blended teaching: Four weeks in class with one lecture and lab environment introduced every day and eight weeks online.

The following required coursework must be approved before the student can take the exam:

Students need to individually complete 3 quiz and 4 lab assignments. Student scores will be tracked through the course with the quizzes and lab proficiency scores to see if they need additional instruction.

Final examination.

1. An individual oral presentation, which counts for 40% of the final degree
2. An individual final 3 000 - 5 000 word report, which counts for 60% of the final degree.

Each exam must be assessed to E or better for the course as a whole to be given a final grade.

The oral presentation cannot be appealed.

All support materials are allowed for both assessments.

The students will be getting one final mark based on the oral presentation and the final report. This final score will be graded on a grading scale from A to E (A is the highest grade and E the lowest) and F for fail.

Two examiners will be used, one of which can be external. External examiner is used regularly.