* UCLA's Beat 'SC Bonfire. Notice the sheer number of students recording the event and sharing with their friends in real time. In our current world, the internet has connected everyone, but this also introduces new problems regarding online safety.

" Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Nelson Mandela

Description

This course is an preliminary introduction to the field of cybersecurity. We will study a variety of topics that are important for a regular consumer of technology. This course has great relevance in our current society: cyber attacks and data leaks are becoming more mainstream. A shared belief in the journalism field is that "nothing is more important to democracy than an educated electorate"; the same can be said for education in cybersecurity. It is more important than ever for everyone to be cybersecurity-aware.

Note: This class does not require any background knowledge in programming or computer science, and is open to all students; my goal is to give everyone an opportunity to be cybersecurity-aware in our growing internet-connected world!

Link to Course Syllabus

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(This is for anyone not enrolled but interested in following along with the course)

Course Schedule

* Each week's slides will be put on the website after class!

Week 1		Introduction & Motivations for the Class
		Why is cybersecurity so important? Everything you need to know about Congress’ decision to expose your data to internet providers This is why you should update your iPhone today
Week 2		Hacking in Popular Culture
		CS 88S on Hacker News Immaculate perception: Jerry Kang at TEDxSanDiego 2013 A Hospital Paralyzed by Hackers
Week 3		Phishing, Social Engineering, Various malwares
		Google Translate used by spammers to bypass Anti-Spam filters Amazon’s customer service backdoor The MySpace Worm that Changed the Internet Forever
Week 4		Password, Authentication, Password Managers
		So, You Want to See Some Strong Passwords? Cracking eHarmony's Unsalted Hashes with CrackStation Should you should use a password manager?
Week 5		Web Browsing, Encryptions, VPNs
		DNS Explained Public-key Cryptography Analogy VPNs for Beginners - What you need to know
Week 6		Protecting yourself: apps, methods, practices
		Final Project Spec Check if a site's connection is secure What constitutes a strong password?
Week 7		Your Data in the Cloud
		How Europe Protects Your Online Data Differently Than the U.S. Amazon Go is about way more than groceries The bright side of sitting in traffic: Crowdsourcing road congestion data
Week 8		Symantec Tech Talk
		Microsoft Issues WanaCrypt Patch for Windows 8, XP What is Ransomeware? A Guide To The Global Cyberattack's Scary Method Symantec's Summary of WannaCry
Week 9		Cybersecurity and the Internet of Things (IoT)
		Black Hat 2015: Jeep Cherokee Hack Explained A Murder Case Tests Alexa’s Devotion to Your Privacy Mirai “internet of things” malware from Krebs DDoS attack goes open source
Week 10		Privacy, US Government, Future of Cybersecurity
		Apple's FBI Battle is Complicated. Here's What's Really Going On Harvard Rescinds Acceptances for At Least Ten Students for Obscene Memes Harvard withdraws 10 acceptances for ‘offensive’ memes in private group chat

Policies

Class participation. Participation is extremely important for acquiring knowledge in this course! I always welcome questions and any other input from you—your active participation in this course will enhance your learning experience and that of the other students. Ask my anything, anytime.

Academic honesty. The students are expected to fully abide by UCLA's student conduct policies, including Section 102.01 on academic honesty. You will find a wealth of helpful materials here, including the Use of Copyrighted Material. Academic dishonesty will be promptly reported to the Dean of Students' Office for adjudication and disciplinary action.

***website design inspired by Prof. Alexander Sherstov's CS 181 website.

Copyright © 2017 Frank Chen. All rights reserved.