About This Course:

The Python programming language is extremely powerful and commonly used to automate time-intensive activities/tasks for users. This makes Python a good skill to have for any job that requires automation to replace data in a file, rename multiple file names, update Excel spreadsheets or mine data from web pages. Python can be used as a steppingstone to enter some of the most exciting industries including data science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, software or full-stack development.

What You’ll Learn:

Translate requirements to solve problems computationallyWrite scripts using syntax and conventions in accordance with industry standard best practicesDevelop a fully functional program using industry-relevant tools

Meet Your Instructors:

Gwen Britton

Associate Vice President, SNHU Global Campus STEM & Business Programs at Southern New Hampshire University
Dr. Gwen Britton has over 25 years in both private industry and academia within the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) space. She has worked in varying positions spanning a gamut of content areas including software engineering, systems administration, network administration, data analysis, database administration and design, web development engineering, cyber-defense, mathematics and computer science.
Britton is passionate about expanding and growing STEM opportunities and access for individuals who otherwise would not have an opportunity to pursue a career in the STEM area. She has helped grow opportunities for non-traditional adult students from under-represented populations by spear heading virtual experiential learning opportunities and competitions in areas such as technology certification preparation, data analysis, internet of things and capture the flag. She has also helped organize and participate in events focused on under-represented K-12 student populations to engage and interest future STEM students in the field through events such as FIRST Robotics, the Hour of Code, Girls in Technology Day and the Science of Soccer.

Curtis George

Technical Program Facilitator for Computer Science at Southern New Hampshire University
Curtis George brings over 20 years of experience as a senior engineer working on various projects, from embedded systems for military aircraft to enterprise software for NASA/NOAA. Before working for SNHU, George worked as a senior software engineer for the NOAA Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System (CLASS) project. He worked as a senior application engineer with NASA to create software for satellites for predicting hazardous weather patterns (GOES-R and JPSS), developed a roleplaying game to acclimate international students to American campuses and even created an award-winning Spanish verb conjugation mobile application. George started his career in the Navy on a special operations boat where he earned a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement medal, National Defense Service medal, Navy Expeditionary medal and a Meritorious Unit Commendation medal. He has worked for SNHU as the technical program facilitator for computer science for over 5 years. George earned his Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from Chapman University and his Master of Science degree in computer science from Nova Southeastern University. He is currently a PhD candidate for computer science at Northcentral University, which he expects to finish in 2021.

About This Course:

This is the 8th course in the intermediate, undergraduate-level offering that makes up the larger Cybersecurity Fundamentals MicroBachelors Program. We recommend taking them in order, unless you have a background in these areas already and feel comfortable skipping ahead.

What You’ll Learn:

Discover credentials utilizing hash dumpsPerform pass-the-hash attacksDocument results of the penetration testUtilize currently exploited systems to gain access to others.Configure exploitation tools to pivot through a target environment

Meet Your Instructor:

Aspen Olmsted

Adjunct Professor at New York University Tandon School of Engineering Aspen Olmsted is an adjunct faculty member in the New York University Tandon School of Engineering in the Computer Science and Engineering department. Aspen's fulltime job is as an assistant professor and Graduate program director at the College of Charleston. He obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from The University of South Carolina. Before his academic career, he was CEO of Alliance Software Corporation. Alliance Software developed N-Tier enterprise applications for the performing arts and humanities market. Dr Olmsted’s research focus is on the development of algorithms and architectures for distributed enterprise solutions that can guarantee security and correctness while maintaining high-availability. In his Secure Data Engineering Lab, Aspen mentors over a dozen graduate and undergraduate students each year

About This Course:

This is the 8th course in the intermediate, undergraduate-level offering that makes up the larger Cybersecurity Fundamentals MicroBachelors Program. We recommend taking them in order, unless you have a background in these areas already and feel comfortable skipping ahead.

What You’ll Learn:

Apply methodology to penetration tests to ensure they are consistent, reproducible, rigorous, and under quality control.Analyze the results from automated testing tools to validate findings, determine their business impact, and eliminate false positives.Discover key application flaws.Use programming to create testing and exploitation scripts during a penetration test.Discover and exploit SQL Injection flaws to determine true risk to the victim organization.Create configurations and test payloads within other web attacks.Fuzz potential inputs for injection attacks.Explain the impact of exploitation of application flaws.Analyze traffic between the client and server application using tools.Discover and exploit Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attacks.

Meet Your Instructor:

Aspen Olmsted

Adjunct Professor at New York University Tandon School of Engineering Aspen Olmsted is an adjunct faculty member in the New York University Tandon School of Engineering in the Computer Science and Engineering department. Aspen's fulltime job is as an assistant professor and Graduate program director at the College of Charleston. He obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from The University of South Carolina. Before his academic career, he was CEO of Alliance Software Corporation. Alliance Software developed N-Tier enterprise applications for the performing arts and humanities market. Dr Olmsted’s research focus is on the development of algorithms and architectures for distributed enterprise solutions that can guarantee security and correctness while maintaining high-availability. In his Secure Data Engineering Lab, Aspen mentors over a dozen graduate and undergraduate students each year

About This Course:

This is the 6th course in the intermediate, undergraduate-level offering that makes up the larger Cybersecurity Fundamentals MicroBachelors Program. We recommend taking them in order, unless you have a background in these areas already and feel comfortable skipping ahead.

What You’ll Learn:

Explain what information is collected and analyzed through network security monitoring, and why monitoring is importantDefine network security monitoringSummarize the policies used in network security monitoringDefine an Intrusion Detection System/Intrusion Prevention System, and provide a real-world analogy for an IDSDefine the base rate fallacy and summarize an exampleSummarize the options for deploying an IDSDescribe common strategies attackers use to evade an IDSList potential indicators of a security attackDefine honeypots and honeynets and list their benefits to organizationsSummarize the goals of a firewallList and define four types of firewallsSummarize an example of a filtering ruleExplain the primary function of NATSummarize the advantages and disadvantages of proxy gatewaysExplain the process for setting up firewalls using IPTables and Netfilter in LinuxList the steps in an incoming packet’s journey through a Linux firewallSummarize the challenges that led to the development of IPv6 and explain how IPv6 addresses those challengesList the differences in IPv4 and IPv6 services and headersDifferentiate between IPv4 and IPv6 address formatsList and define IPv6 address typesList the differences between IPv4 and IPv6 address provisioningList the differences between DHCPv4 and DHCPv6Summarize dual-stack techniques for IPv4 and IPv6 devicesIdentify security threats common to IPv4 and IPv6, as well as threats exclusive to IPv6Describe how reconnaissance methods will change under IPv6List tools that can be use to compromise IPv6 networksDescribe the security considerations needed in dual-stack host environments

Meet Your Instructor:

Aspen Olmsted

Adjunct Professor at New York University Tandon School of Engineering Aspen Olmsted is an adjunct faculty member in the New York University Tandon School of Engineering in the Computer Science and Engineering department. Aspen's fulltime job is as an assistant professor and Graduate program director at the College of Charleston. He obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from The University of South Carolina. Before his academic career, he was CEO of Alliance Software Corporation. Alliance Software developed N-Tier enterprise applications for the performing arts and humanities market. Dr Olmsted’s research focus is on the development of algorithms and architectures for distributed enterprise solutions that can guarantee security and correctness while maintaining high-availability. In his Secure Data Engineering Lab, Aspen mentors over a dozen graduate and undergraduate students each year

About This Course:

This is the 5th course in the intermediate, undergraduate-level offering that makes up the larger Cybersecurity Fundamentals MicroBachelors Program. We recommend taking them in order, unless you have a background in these areas already and feel comfortable skipping ahead.

What You’ll Learn:

Define and apply a substitution cipherDefine cryptanalysisExplain at a high level the process by which a plaintext message is encrypted, transmitted, and decrypted.Describe at least two strategies for breaking an encryption schemeIdentify the differences between public key encryption, symmetric key encryption, and hashingList and summarize the characteristics of good ciphersDescribe the vulnerabilities of stream ciphersDefine AES and explain why it is recommended over 3DESDefine cipher block chainingList the steps in creating an RSA public/private key pairExplain why RSA is secureDefine message integrity and explain how it is ensuredDefine IPSec and list its servicesDefine authentication header and ESPExplain the primary goal of IKE and describe its sub-protocolsSummarize the five steps of IPSec OperationSummarize the history of SSLExplain how closure alerts can prevent a truncation attackIdentify the protocols that make up the SSL architectureDescribe how SSL/TLS provides protected channelsState the differences between IPSec and SSL VPN connectionsExplain why it’s important to consider Layer 2 securityDefine common Layer 2 attacksIdentify tools used in Layer 2 attacksDescribe countermeasures to Layer 2 attacks and security best practices to prevent attacksExplain the differences between the 2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrumsProvide definitions of basic wireless termsExplain how 802.11ac differs from earlier 802.11 standardsIdentify and define the types of 802.11 framesList and define the states of 802.11 sessionsList the steps in establishing an 802.11 sessionSummarize the existing wireless security protocols and state which protocols should not be usedSummarize WPA, WPA Enterprise, and generalized WiFi attacks

Meet Your Instructor:

Aspen Olmsted

Adjunct Professor at New York University Tandon School of Engineering Aspen Olmsted is an adjunct faculty member in the New York University Tandon School of Engineering in the Computer Science and Engineering department. Aspen's fulltime job is as an assistant professor and Graduate program director at the College of Charleston. He obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from The University of South Carolina. Before his academic career, he was CEO of Alliance Software Corporation. Alliance Software developed N-Tier enterprise applications for the performing arts and humanities market. Dr Olmsted’s research focus is on the development of algorithms and architectures for distributed enterprise solutions that can guarantee security and correctness while maintaining high-availability. In his Secure Data Engineering Lab, Aspen mentors over a dozen graduate and undergraduate students each year

About This Course:

This is the 4th course in the intermediate, undergraduate-level offering that makes up the larger Cybersecurity Fundamentals MicroBachelors Program. We recommend taking them in order, unless you have a background in these areas already and feel comfortable skipping ahead.

What You’ll Learn:

Describe how “social engineering” can be used to compromise securityDefine the CIA triadIdentify and plan to manage risks in common situationsDefine a threat tree and threat matrix and explain how they are usedDefine an attack tree, explain how boolean and continuous node values are used in attack trees, and demonstrate how an attack tree can be used to determine vulnerabilitiesExplain why it is important for network engineers to understand cyber attack strategies.List and summarize the stages of network attack methodologyIdentify the information an attacker might collect during network reconnaissanceDescribe at least two “low tech” ways of performing reconnaissance on a targetPerform a WHOIS query and extract the IP address of a DNS serverList at least three publicly available tools used for gathering information on targetsDefine port scanning and describe the process used to determine whether a port is openDefine a proxy serverDefine IP spoofing, ingress filtering, and session hijackingDefine a Denial of Service attack and explain the difference between a DoS and DDoS attackState the relationship between DoS attacks and geopolitical eventsList at least two vulnerability attacks used in DoS attacksDefine SYN flooding and explain how it can be protected againstDescribe what happens during a standard DDoS attackExplain how DNS poisoning can be used in phishing attacksDescribe how URLs can be obfuscated to make a phishing attack more likely to succeedList at least two tools used to assess vulnerabilities in networksSummarize the typical goals of post-exploitation activityDescribe the strategies attackers use to maintain access to a compromised systemDefine trojans, viruses, worms, and blended threatsList the typical objectives of trojan creatorsDefine rootkitsGive examples of common uses of NetcatDefine wrappersSummarize common data exfiltration methodsSummarize how attackers can remove evidence of system compromise in Windows and Unix systems

Meet Your Instructor:

Aspen Olmsted

Adjunct Professor at New York University Tandon School of Engineering Aspen Olmsted is an adjunct faculty member in the New York University Tandon School of Engineering in the Computer Science and Engineering department. Aspen's fulltime job is as an assistant professor and Graduate program director at the College of Charleston. He obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from The University of South Carolina. Before his academic career, he was CEO of Alliance Software Corporation. Alliance Software developed N-Tier enterprise applications for the performing arts and humanities market. Dr Olmsted’s research focus is on the development of algorithms and architectures for distributed enterprise solutions that can guarantee security and correctness while maintaining high-availability. In his Secure Data Engineering Lab, Aspen mentors over a dozen graduate and undergraduate students each year

About This Course:

This is the 3rd course in the intermediate, undergraduate-level offering that makes up the larger Cybersecurity Fundamentals MicroBachelors Program. We recommend taking them in order, unless you have a background in these areas already and feel comfortable skipping ahead.

What You’ll Learn:

Define Same-Origin PolicyDescribe SQL Injection and Common defensesDescribe Cross Site Request Forgery (XSRF) and Common DefensesDescribe Cross Site Scripting (XSS) and Common DefensesDiscuss different definitions of PrivacyDefine anonymityDefine contextual integrityDescribe Differential PrivacyDescribe Mix NetworksDescribe how Tor Provides AnonymityDefine Digital CertificatesDescribe the Trusted Platform Module (TPM)Describe DNS AmplificationDistinguish between Watermarking and SteganographyDescribe How Bit-Coin Prevents an Attacker from Faking a ChainDescribe Why Minors Validate TransactionsDescribe Why BitCoin Mining Consumes So Much Power and Some AlternativesDescribe Threats to the BitCoin EcoSystem

Meet Your Instructor:

Aspen Olmsted

Adjunct Professor at New York University Tandon School of Engineering Aspen Olmsted is an adjunct faculty member in the New York University Tandon School of Engineering in the Computer Science and Engineering department. Aspen's fulltime job is as an assistant professor and Graduate program director at the College of Charleston. He obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from The University of South Carolina. Before his academic career, he was CEO of Alliance Software Corporation. Alliance Software developed N-Tier enterprise applications for the performing arts and humanities market. Dr Olmsted’s research focus is on the development of algorithms and architectures for distributed enterprise solutions that can guarantee security and correctness while maintaining high-availability. In his Secure Data Engineering Lab, Aspen mentors over a dozen graduate and undergraduate students each year

About This Course:

This is the 2nd course in the intermediate, undergraduate-level offering that makes up the larger Cybersecurity Fundamentals MicroBachelors Program. We recommend taking them in order, unless you have a background in these areas already and feel comfortable skipping ahead.

What You’ll Learn:

Describe Strengths and Weaknesses of Data Encryption Standard (DES)Describe Strengths and Weaknesses of Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)Describe Public Key CryptographyDescribe Asymmetric Key AlgorithmsDefine Hash FunctionsDescribe Public Key SignaturesDescribe the Benefits of the Different Types of AuthenticationDefine access controlApply four types of access control (Discretionary, Mandatory, Role Based, and Unix/Linux File Access Control)Describe the use of the SetUID permission in Unix/LinuxAnalyze an access control scenario using an Access Control MatrixDifferentiate between ACL and CapabilitiesDescribe the use of a Reference MonitorDescribe the Security Mechanisms built into Chromium OSGive Examples of Covert Channels including both Timing Channels and Storage ChannelsDescribe the Purpose of an Operating System (OS)Differentiate between Type 1 and Type 2 HypervisorsDescribe Containers and their PurposeDescribe Sandbox Computation

Meet Your Instructor:

Aspen Olmsted

Adjunct Professor at New York University Tandon School of Engineering Aspen Olmsted is an adjunct faculty member in the New York University Tandon School of Engineering in the Computer Science and Engineering department. Aspen's fulltime job is as an assistant professor and Graduate program director at the College of Charleston. He obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from The University of South Carolina. Before his academic career, he was CEO of Alliance Software Corporation. Alliance Software developed N-Tier enterprise applications for the performing arts and humanities market. Dr Olmsted’s research focus is on the development of algorithms and architectures for distributed enterprise solutions that can guarantee security and correctness while maintaining high-availability. In his Secure Data Engineering Lab, Aspen mentors over a dozen graduate and undergraduate students each year

About This Course:

This is the 4th course in the intermediate, undergraduate-level offering that makes up the larger Programming and Data Structures MicroBachelors program. We recommend taking them in order, unless you have a background in these areas already and feel comfortable skipping ahead.

  1. Introduction to Programming in C++
  2. Advanced Programming in C++
  3. Introduction to Data Structures
  4. Advanced Data Structures

These topics build upon the learnings that are taught in the introductory-level Computer Science Fundamentals MicroBachelors program, offered by the same instructor.

This is a self-paced course that continues in the development of C++ programming skills. Among the topics covered is the development of more advanced command-line programs that utilize file processing, linked lists, stacks, queues, trees, binary search trees, and tree balancing algorithms to solve problems. Several implements are presented in the development of each data structure, including hash maps, AVL, and red and black trees. Students learn how to utilize and program these data structures through the lectures and the labs. C++ programming material is presented over eight weeks of interactive lectures with quizzes to assess your understanding of the material. Students will experience hands-on practice writing C++ programs through twenty-two lab challenges.

This course focuses on the efficiency of different data structures to solve various computational problems. A data structure is a collection of data values, the relationships among them, and the functions or operations that can be applied to the data. The data structures and algorithms learned in this class are the foundation of modern programming.

What You’ll Learn:

  1. Design and develop programs that utilize linked lists to store data internally.
  2. Design and develop programs that utilize stacks and queues to manage collections of data
  3. Utilize binary search trees and balanced trees to implement fast retrieval of data from a collection of data stored in memory.

Meet Your Instructor:

Aspen Olmsted

Adjunct Professor at New York University Tandon School of Engineering Aspen Olmsted is an adjunct faculty member in the New York University Tandon School of Engineering in the Computer Science and Engineering department. Aspen's fulltime job is as an assistant professor and Graduate program director at the College of Charleston. He obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from The University of South Carolina. Before his academic career, he was CEO of Alliance Software Corporation. Alliance Software developed N-Tier enterprise applications for the performing arts and humanities market. Dr Olmsted’s research focus is on the development of algorithms and architectures for distributed enterprise solutions that can guarantee security and correctness while maintaining high-availability. In his Secure Data Engineering Lab, Aspen mentors over a dozen graduate and undergraduate students each year

About This Course:

This is the 3rd course in the intermediate, undergraduate-level offering that makes up the larger Programming and Data Structures MicroBachelors program. We recommend taking them in order, unless you have a background in these areas already and feel comfortable skipping ahead.

  1. Introduction to Programming in C++
  2. Advanced Programming in C++
  3. Introduction to Data Structures
  4. Advanced Data Structures

These topics build upon the learnings that are taught in the introductory-level Computer Science Fundamentals MicroBachelors program, offered by the same instructor.

This is a self-paced course that continues in the development of C++ programming skills. Among the topics covered is the development of more advanced command-line programs that utilize Pointers, Dynamic Storage, Recursion, Searching, Sorting to solve problems. Students learn how to use and program these data structures through the lectures and the labs. C++ programming material is presented over eight weeks of interactive lectures with quizzes to assess your understanding of the material Students will experience hands-on practice writing C++ programs through fourteen lab challenges.

Students will not only learn to use data structures to organize, manage, and storage in formats that enable efficient access and modification. A data structure is a collection of data values, the relationships among them, and the functions or operations that can be applied to the data.

What You’ll Learn:

  1. Demonstrate a basic understanding of object-oriented programming by using structures and classes in software projects.
  2. Use object-oriented programming techniques to develop executable programs that include elements such as inheritance and polymorphism.
  3. Apply basic searching and sorting algorithms in software design.
  4. Apply single-and multi-dimensional arrays in software.
  5. Demonstrate a basic understanding of programming methodologies, including object oriented, structured, and procedural programming.
  6. Design and develop programs that recursion to solve problems that can be expressed with recurrence.

Meet Your Instructor:

Aspen Olmsted

Adjunct Professor at New York University Tandon School of Engineering Aspen Olmsted is an adjunct faculty member in the New York University Tandon School of Engineering in the Computer Science and Engineering department. Aspen's fulltime job is as an assistant professor and Graduate program director at the College of Charleston. He obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from The University of South Carolina. Before his academic career, he was CEO of Alliance Software Corporation. Alliance Software developed N-Tier enterprise applications for the performing arts and humanities market. Dr Olmsted’s research focus is on the development of algorithms and architectures for distributed enterprise solutions that can guarantee security and correctness while maintaining high-availability. In his Secure Data Engineering Lab, Aspen mentors over a dozen graduate and undergraduate students each year