Course

Special Topics in CyberSecurity

Faculty
Commerce & Business Administration
Department
Computing Studies & Information Systems
Course code
CSIS 4490
Credits
3.00
Semester length
15 Weeks
Max class size
35
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Course designation
None
Industry designation
CCSP,CEH,CFCE,CHFI,CISA,CISM,CISSP,CRISC,GCFA,GCFE,GSEC,OSCP
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
The course explores timely and emerging topics that are relevant to cybersecurity. Topics can be gleaned from current issues, such as cloud computing, digital forensics, compliance, software development, IoT, and other contemporary issues in cybersecurity. Both the management and the technical aspect of each cybersecurity issue will be examined and critically analyzed. Students will be given a chance to formulate strategic responses to resolve these issues or improve the situation. The course is research-oriented.
Course content
  1. Overview of cybersecurity Issues
  2. Current techniques used to address cybersecurity incidents
  3. Analysis of current and timely cybersecurity news and issues
  4. Formulation and Implementation of cybersecurity solutions
  5. Analysis on related cybersecurity case studies
  6. Effective presentations of cybersecurity solutions to technical and lay-person audiences
Learning activities

The methods of instruction for this course will include lectures, seminars, demonstrations, and hands-on assignments/projects.

Means of assessment

Assessment will be in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy.

Research Assignments

10% - 15%

Midterm Exam*

25% - 30%

Project  

20% - 25% 

Final Exam *

30% - 35%

Total 

100% 

* Practical hands-on computer exam

In order to pass the course, students must, in addition to receiving an overall course grade of 50%, also achieve a grade of at least 50% on the combined weighted examination components (including quizzes, tests, exams).

Students may conduct research as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans, which can require obtaining Informed Consent from participants and getting the approval of the Douglas College Research Ethics Board prior to conducting the research.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, the successful student will be able to:

  1. Examine recent cybersecurity issues and be able to critically analyze the gaps that lead to the situation.
  2. Analyze and evaluate the current and emerging best practices in cybersecurity.
  3. Evaluate an organization's cybersecurity posture and be able to devise strategies to improve its status.
  4. Design countermeasures and solutions that would have prevented the cybersecurity issue or recommend strategies that could mitigate the problem's impact.
  5. Present cybersecurity solutions in a language understood by stakeholders with no technical background.
Textbook materials

Course Materials to be provided by the instructor and/or approved textbooks from the department

Requisites

Prerequisites

Min grade C in any 2 of (CSIS 4440, 4450, 4460, 4470)

Corequisites

Courses listed here must be completed either prior to or simultaneously with this course:

  • No corequisite courses

Equivalencies

 

 

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer details for CSIS 4490
Alexander College (ALEX) ALEX CPSC 2XX (3)
Athabasca University (AU) AU COMP 4XX (3)
College of New Caledonia (CNC) CNC CSC 2XX (3)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) No credit
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU COMP 3XXX (3)
University Canada West (UCW) UCW CPSC 3XX (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC) UNBC CPSC 345 (3)
University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) UFV COMP 4XX (3)
Yorkville University (YVU) YVU GES 3XXX (3)

Course Offerings

Winter 2025