Module overview
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Design and analyse simple networks and the protocols they use
- Explain the fundamental concepts underlying computer networks
- Critically analyse a cyber attack and identify effective countermeasures
- Assess network systems and technologies
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- Principles of networking protocols
- The Internet architecture and the layered TCP/IP networking model
- Network services, design, operation and security
- Approaches to making systems and networks more robust to attack
- The cyber threat landscape, including actors
- The importance of taking a multi-disciplinary approach to cyber security
- Issues surrounding privacy and anonymity
Syllabus
Internet architecture
- The TCP/IP layered model
- Protocols, design principles, standardisation, IETF
- Naming and addressing
Link-layer
- Transmission theory and protocols
- Ethernet networks, switches
- Wireless networks
Network layer
- Routing, link state and distance vector algorithms
- Subnet, site and ISP routing perspectives
- IPv6
Network services
- Quality of service (QoS)
- IP multicast, reliable multicast
- Host configuration, service discovery, zero-configuration networking
- DHCP, DNS
Transport layer
- TCP, UDP
Network design and operation
- Infrastructures; enterprise/campus, ISP/home networks
- Network monitoring and management
- Virtual network environments
Applications
- Web/HTTP, Email/SMTP
Fundamental Security Concepts
- Cyber actors
- Cyber attacks, and the Kill Chain model of the cyber attack life cycle
Principles of Cryptography
- Public Key Infrastructure
- Secure communication
- User authentication
- Privacy and data anonymisation
Cyber Threat Landscape
- Corporate security
- Advanced Persistent Threats
- Social Engineering
- Cyberwarfare
- Hacktivism
- Security of Critical infrastructures
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
The content of this module is delivered through lectures, the module website, directed reading and pre-recorded materials.
Students work on their understanding through a combination of independent study and preparation for timetabled activities, along with formative assessments in the form of coursework assignments.
Students work on their practical skills and technical understanding in technical laboratories and assessed laboratories.
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Completion of assessment task | 5 |
| Specialist Laboratory | 10 |
| Follow-up work | 18 |
| Lecture | 36 |
| Preparation for scheduled sessions | 5 |
| Revision | 16 |
| Wider reading or practice | 60 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
LL Peterson and BS Davie (2008). Computer Networks, a Systems Approach. Morgan Laufman.
L. Parziale et al (2006). TCP/IP Tutorial and Technical Overview. IBM Redbooks.
Graham, J., Howard, R. and Olson, R (2011). Cyber Security Essentials. CRC Press.
Clarke, R.A (2012). Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do about it. ECCO Press.
Andress, J. (2013). Cyber Warfare: Techniques, Tactics and Tools for Security Practitioners. Syngress.
D. Comer and D. Stevens (1993). Internetworking with TCP/IP Volume III: Client-Server Programming and Applications. Prentice Hall.
A Tanenbaum, D. J. Wetherall (2010). Computer Networks. Pearson.
Hadnagy, C. (2011). Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking. Wiley.
Assessment
Assessment strategy
This module is assessed by a combination of coursework, assessed laboratories and a final assessment in the form of a computer aided examination.
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Laboratory Exercises | 20% |
| Examination | 80% |