“Intro to the Challenge of Cybersecurity – Unit 3”

Unit 3 – “The Building Blocks of Cyberspace: Hardware, Software, and Networks”

20 Days

This unit provides an introduction to computer hardware, software, and operating systems. Students explore how hardware and software work together to achieve an overall objective. Students learn how devices communicate across the Internet and explore open source versus proprietary protocols. After these basic building blocks of cyberspace are defined, the unit introduces basic concepts of networks and networking. This unit includes introductory labs to introduce students to basic Linux commands and networking concepts. Finally, students examine the growth in society’s use of and reliance on computers and networks ranging from health, commerce, national defense, to entertainment and leisure.

“Intro to the Challenge of Cybersecurity – Unit 1 – Lesson 3”

Unit 1 – Lesson 3 – “Impact on Society”

3 Days

The third lesson of the unit starts with an exploration of how our lives are impacted by technology and cybersecurity. Social media, cloud computing, IoT devices have amplified voices, connected, and collected data points and shaped our lives. The last day of this lesson introduces students to an ethics scenario to make the critical connection between cybersecurity and ethical decision making.

“Intro to the Challenge of Cybersecurity – Unit 1 – Lesson 2”

Unit 1 – Lesson 2 – “CIA Triad”

3 Days

This lesson begins with a look at data storage in the cloud. Cloud computing provides convenience, but there are tradeoffs in security. Our digital lives are stored in data centers around the world. Securing that data leads us to a model for information security known as the CIA (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability) Triad.

“Intro to the Challenge of Cybersecurity – Unit 1 – Lesson 1”

Unit 1 – Lesson 1 – “Cyberspace and Cybersecurity”

4 Days

This lesson establishes an understanding of cyberspace and cybersecurity. Cyberspace has been described as virtual, global, borderless, interconnected, cultural, and social, yet its existence depends upon some very real, physical components. Our dependence upon cyberspace is why we need to understand it, and the challenges of securing it.

“Intro to the Challenge of Cybersecurity – Unit 1”

Unit 1 – “What is Cybersecurity?” 

11 Days

Unit 1 opens the topic of cybersecurity by examining some early hacks of telecommunication systems and the Internet. It begins with an exploration of early hacks and then transitions into what cyberspace is and engages students in the notion of cyberspace being a complex system. Next, the unit delves into what it means for the Internet to be an open architecture and explores how the openness of the Internet is both virtue and vice. The example of cloud storage is used to illustrate complexity. The unit brings sharp focus on why cybersecurity is needed and for whom cybersecurity is needed. Next, the unit offers the foundational model of CIA in a manner that both introduces these concepts and affords exploration of what they are and why they matter. The unit then explores how cybersecurity impacts the quality of people’s lives through an examination of digital participation worldwide and the rise of IoT. The unit ends with engaging students in the messy work of considering ethical obligations involved in cybersecurity and how complex systems are not easy to predict or model.

Test 2

Illustration for the “Intro to the Challenge of Cybersecurity” course.