Course: ECU 503 Security Analysis and Vulnerability Assessment

Purpose of Class:

Through groundbreaking penetration testing methods and techniques, Security Analysis and Vulnerability Assessment class helps students perform the intensive assessments required to effectively identify and mitigate risks to the security of the infrastructure.

Course Learning Outcomes:

  Students who successfully complete this class will be able to:

• Monitor, capture and analyze network traffic and identify the possible security breaches.
• Identify the various computer security issues and select suitable framework to evaluate security policies, procedures, and controls.
• Compare and contrast various network security assessment tools.
• Assess various network security techniques and design appropriate protection levels that adhere to network security ethics.

 Required Reading:

• Read the following chapters from the book “Penetration Testing: Security Analysis, 1st Edition” by EC-Council, ISBN-10: 1435483669
• Read the following chapters from the book “Penetration Testing: Communication Media Testing, 1st Edition” by EC-Council, ISBN-10: 1435483693
• Read the following chapters from the book “Penetration Testing: Procedures & Methodologies, 1st Edition” by EC-Council, ISBN-10: 1435483677

Additional Reading:

• A Practical Guide to Security Assessments, by Sudhanshu Kairab, published by Auerbach Publications © 2005, ISBN:9780849317064
• Assessing and Managing Security Risk in IT Systems by John McCumber , published by Auerbach Publications © 2005, ISBN:9780849322327
• SCENE OF THE Cyber Crime – Computer Forensics Handbook by Debra Littlejohn Shinder and Ed Tittel (ed), published by Syngress Publishing © 2002, ISBN:9781931836654
• Hack the Stack: Using Snort and Ethereal to Master the 8 Layers of an Insecure Network by Michael Gregg, published by Syngress Publishing © 2006, ISBN: 9781597491099
• Nessus Network Auditing, Second Edition” by Russ Rogers, published by Syngress Publishing, ISBN 13: 978-1-59749-208-9
• WarDriving: Drive, Detect, Defend: A Guide to Wireless Security” by Chris Hurley, Michael Puchol, Russ Rogers and Frank Thornton, published by Syngress Publishing © 2004, ISBN: 9781931836036
• Designing and Building Enterprise DMZs” by C. Tate Baumrucker et al, published by Syngress Publishing © 2006, ISBN:9781597491006
• Snort 2.1 Intrusion Detection”, Second Edition by Raven Alder et al, published by Syngress Publishing © 2004, ISBN:9781931836043
• Writing Security Tools and Exploits” by James C. Foster and Vincent Liu, published by Syngress Publishing © 2006, ISBN:9781597499972 

Week One:
Modules Covered:

• Module 01 - The Need for Security Analysis
• Module 02 - Advanced Googling
• Modules 03 - Security Analysis Framework

Outcome:

• Monitor, capture and analyze network traffic and identify the possible security breaches.
• Identify the various computer security issues and select suitable framework to evaluate security policies, procedures, and controls.

Week Two:
Modules Covered:

• Module 04 - TCP IP Packet Analysis
• Modules 05 - Advanced Sniffing Techniques

Outcome:

• Monitor, capture and analyze network traffic and identify the possible security breaches.
• Identify the various computer security issues and select suitable framework to evaluate security policies, procedures, and controls.

Week Three:
Modules Covered:

• Module 06 - Vulnerability Analysis with Nessus,
• Module 07 - Advanced Wireless Testing

Outcome:

• Monitor, capture and analyze network traffic and identify the possible security breaches.
• Identify the various computer security issues and select suitable framework to evaluate security policies, procedures, and controls.
• Compare and contrast various network security assessment tools.

Week Four:
Modules Covered:

• Module 08 - Designing a DMZ
• Module 09 - Snort Analysis

Outcome:

• Monitor, capture and analyze network traffic and identify the possible security breaches.
• Identify the various computer security issues and select suitable framework to evaluate security policies, procedures, and controls.
• Compare and contrast various network security assessment tools.
• Assess various network security techniques and design appropriate protection levels that adhere to network security ethics.

Week Five:
Modules Covered:

• Module 10 - Log Analysis

Outcome:

• Monitor, capture and analyze network traffic and identify the possible security breaches.
• Identify the various computer security issues and select suitable framework to evaluate security policies, procedures, and controls.
• Compare and contrast various network security assessment tools

Week 06
Modules Covered:

• Module 11 - Advanced Exploits and Tools

Outcome:

• Monitor, capture and analyze network traffic and identify the possible security breaches.
• Identify the various computer security issues and select suitable framework to evaluate security policies, procedures, and controls.
• Compare and contrast various network security assessment tools.
• Assess various network security techniques and design appropriate protection levels that adhere to network security ethics.

Weeks Seven and Eight: Summative Experiences

Introduction to Weeks: Weeks seven and eight are designed to provide cumulative experience while faculty and students are given the opportunity to finalize uncompleted work. For this course, students will engage in two summative assessments, a project and final examination.