MPCS 56520 Advanced Security Topics (Spring 2023)

Section	1
Instructor(s)	—
Location	None
Meeting Times
Fulfills	Elective

Syllabus

*Please note: This is the syllabus from the 2021/22 academic year and subject to change.*

Knowing how to defend means knowing how to attack. This course will focus on penetration testing, drawing on the core concepts from the ‘Introduction to Computer Security' course. Topics will include:

passive reconnaissance and OSINT,
active reconnaissance and enumeration,
scanning techniques,
vulnerability assessment,
exploitation techniques,
privilege escalation, and
lateral movement.

Labs will primarily use Kali linux.

Course Prerequisites

Core Programming
MPCS 56511 Introduction to Computer Security

Other Prerequisites

Students need to be able to run both Kali linux and the Metasploitable2 machine image - on VirtualBox or other virtualization environment.

MPCS 54001 Networks (recommended) or similar solid knowledge of TCP/IP, routing, and other networking concepts.
MPCS 53001 Databases (recommended) or similar understanding of relational database structure and SQL (structured query language).

This course requires competency in Unix and Linux. Please plan to attend the MPCS Unix Bootcamp (https://masters.cs.uchicago.edu/page/mpcs-unix-bootcamp) or take the online MPCS Unix Bootcamp Course on Canvas.

Overlapping Classes

This class is scheduled at a time that does not conflict with any other classes this quarter.

Eligible Programs

Masters Program in Computer Science MS in Computational Analysis in Public Policy (Year 2) MA in Computational Social Science (Year 2) Bx/MS in Computer Science (Option 2: Professionally-oriented - CS Majors) Bx/MS in Computer Science (Option 3: Profesionally-oriented - Non-CS Majors) MS in Molecular Engineering