Special Topics (Cybersecurity)

First Semester AY 2026-2027

About

Catalog Description

Course Number and Section CMSC 191 EF
Course Title Special Topics (Cybersecurity)
Description Concepts in protecting computer systems and networks from attacks.
Prerequisites CMSC 125 and CMSC 131 or COI
Credit 3 units

Aim

This course aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills in identifying threats and vulnerabilities as well as developing protection mechanisms for computer systems and networks.

Objectives

At the end of this course the student should be able to:
  1. explain the fundamental concepts in computer systems security: confidentiality, integrity, availability, asset, threat, attack, policy, mechanism;
  2. find and identify software, platform, and network security vulnerabilities;
  3. develop and use exploits for security vulnerabilities;
  4. perform incident response and digital forensics after a security breach;
  5. apply secure programming practices;
  6. design, implement, and deploy secure network and web services; and
  7. explain and evaluate the legal and ethical implications of security attacks and breaches.

Topics (based on ACM's 2023 CS Curriculum Guidelines: Security)

  1. SEC-Foundations: Foundational Security
  2. SEC-SEP: Society, Ethics, and the Profession
  3. SEC-Coding: Secure Coding
  4. SEC-Crypto: Cryptography
  5. SEC-Engineering: Security Analysis, Design, and Engineering
  6. SEC-Forensics: Digital Forensics
  7. SEC-Governance: Security Governance
Specific topics
  • Why Computer Security is challenging?
  • Computer Security Strategy
  • Symmetric Encryption
  • Asymmetric Encryption
  • Software Security
  • Database Security
  • Penetration Testing
  • Buffer Overflow Attacks
  • TCP/IP and attacks
  • DNS and attacks
  • Malicious Software
  • IT Security Management and Risk Assessment
  • IT Security Controls, Plans, and Procedures
  • Human Resources Security

Evaluation/Grading(Tentative)

Exercises 45%
Quizzes 10%
CTF Exam 25%
Written Exam 20%
Total 100%
Passing grade is 55%. No grade of 4.0 will be given. Grading scale is shown below.
0.00 54.99 5.0
55.00 59.99 3.0
60.00 64.99 2.75
65.00 69.99 2.5
70.00 74.99 2.25
75.00 79.99 2.0
80.00 84.99 1.75
85.00 89.99 1.5
90.00 94.99 1.25
95.00 100 1.0

Attendance Policy

Attendance will be checked every meeting. Students with four(4) or more absences will be automatically dropped from the course.

Collaboration Policy

Honor Code

  • Properly acknowledge help received.
  • No looking at solutions/programs from previous years.
  • No sharing of code with other students.
  • Be ready to explain your code.

Google Classroom:

Staff

Name Role Email
Joseph Anthony C. Hermocilla Instructor jchermocilla@up.edu.ph

Schedule

Week Date Topic Learning Materials Laboratory
1 Aug 3-7 COURSE OVERVIEW AND ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS
2 Aug 10-14 The Confidentiality-Integrity-Availability triad
3 Aug 17-21 (Aug 21 - Ninoy Aquino Day) Environment Variables and Set UID
4 Aug 24-28 Shellshock
5 Aug 31-Sep 4 (Aug 31 - National Heroes Day) Buffer Overflow
6 Sep 7-11 Secret-Key Encryption
7 Sep 14-18 (Sep 17 - Los Banos Day) Public-Key Infrastructure
8 Sep 21-25 Cross-Site Scripting
9 Sep 28-Oct 2 SQL Injection
10 Oct 5-9 TCP/IP Attacks
11 Oct 12-16 Local DNS Attacks
12 Oct 19-23 Penetration Testing
Oct 29-31 READING BREAK
13 Nov 2-6 Malware Analysis
14 Nov 9-13 (Buffer Week)
15 Nov 16-20 (Buffer Week)
16 Nov 23-27 CTF EXAM
Finals Week Dec 1-7 WRITTEN EXAM

Resources

Main Resources

  • Lecture: [STA]:Stallings, W. and Brown, L. (2024). Computer Security: Principles And Practice (5th ed.) Pearson Education Inc.
  • Labs: SEED Labs

Supplementary Textbooks

  • Wenliang Du.(2017).Computer Security: A Hands-on Approach.
  • Goodrich, M., & Tamassia, R. (2010). Introduction to computer security. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company
  • Pfleeger, C. P., & Pfleeger, S. L. (2002). Security in computing. Prentice Hall Professional Technical Reference.
  • Gollmann, D. (2011). Computer Security. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Bishop, M. (2006). Introduction to computer security. Pearson Education India.
  • Bishop, M. (2003). Computer Security: Art and Science. ISBN: 0-201-44099-7. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
  • Kaufman, C., Perlman, R., and Speciner, M. (2002). Network security: private communication in a public world. Prentice Hall Press.
  • Jon Erickson. (2008). Hacking: The art of exploitation. No Starch Press, Inc.
  • Michael Sikorski and Andrew Honig.(2012). Practical Malware Analysis. No Starch Press, Inc.

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