Viterbi School of Engineering

Informatics Program

Assistant Director: Winnie Callahan, Ed.D.

Faculty

Professors: Barry Boehm, Ph.D. (Computer Science, Industrial and Systems Engineering); Ramesh Govindan, Ph.D. (Computer Science, Electrical Engineering); Julia Higle, Ph.D. (Industrial and Systems Engineering); Carl Kesselman, Ph.D. (Industrial and Systems Engineering, Computer Science); Neno Medvidovic, Ph.D. (Computer Science); Shri Narayanan, Ph.D. (Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Linguistics, Psychology); Viktor Prasanna, Ph.D. (Electrical Engineering); Suvrajeet Sen, Ph.D. (Industrial and Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science); Cyrus Shahabi, Ph.D. (Computer Science); Gaurav Sukhatme, Ph.D. (Computer Science, Electrical Engineering); Milind Tambe, Ph.D. (Computer Science, Industrial and Systems Engineering); Priya Vashishta, Ph.D. (Physics, Computer Science, Biomedical Engineering)

Assistant Professor: Yan Liu, Ph.D. (Computer Science)

Research Professors: Herbert Schorr, Ph.D. (Computer Science); William Swartout, Ph.D. (Computer Science)

Research Associate Professor: Clifford Neuman, Ph.D. (Computer Science)

Senior Lecturers: Blaine Burnham, Ph.D.; Roger Schell, Ph.D.

Lecturer: Lyndon Pierson

Master of Cyber Security

Program Director: Blaine Burnham, Ph.D.

The Master of Cyber Security (MCBS) is intended for graduate students who desire to: obtain jobs in which computer network operations knowledge and skills are required and continue an education path toward a doctorate degree with focus on information security. It is also for individuals who are in degree programs or job fields that have some responsibility with information security and who desire enhanced knowledge and skills.

Upon completion of this program, students will have learned the fundamentals of developing, engineering and operating secure information systems. They will be well versed in the challenges and problems of secure operating systems, secure applications, secure networking, use of cryptography and key management. They will understand how to develop a security policy, and how policy drives technology decisions. Students will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to administer environments which require high levels of information security, both from the standpoint of the principles of information protection and the role and application technology has in meeting the goal of information protection. Students will understand the value of assets, the business model of threat, the threat matrix, mitigation strategy, and how all of this integrates with the core organizational mission. They will understand why some information security plans succeed and why others fail. Students will have hands-on experience in situations that simulate real-world scenarios with all technical and theoretical situations through extensive laboratory work, which will be designed by current and former information security practitioners.

Requirements for completion (27 units minimum)

Courses of Instruction

INFORMATICS PROGRAM (INF)

The terms indicated are expected but are not guaranteed. For the courses offered during any given term, consult the Schedule of Classes.

INF 520 Foundations of Information Security (3) Threats to information systems; technical and procedural approaches to threat mitigation; secure system design and development; mechanisms for building secure security services; risk management. Recommended preparation: Background in computer security preferred. Recommended previous courses of study include computer science, electrical engineering, computer engineering, management information systems, and/or mathematics.

INF 521 Application of Cryptography to Information Security Problems (3) Application of cryptography and cryptanalysis for information assurance in secure information systems. Classical and modern cryptography. Developing management solutions. Recommended preparation: Previous degree in computer science, mathematics, computer engineering, or informatics; understanding of number theory and programming background are helpful.

INF 522 Policy: The Foundation for Successful Information Assurance (3) Policy as the basis for all successful information system protection measures. Historical foundations of policy and transition to the digital age. Detecting policy errors, omissions and flaws. Recommended preparation: Background in computer security, or a strong willingness to learn. Recommended previous courses of study include degrees in computer science, electrical engineering, computer engineering, management information systems, and/or mathematics.

INF 523 Assurance in Cyberspace and Applied to Information Security (3) Assurance as the basis for believing an information system will behave as expected. Approaches to assurance for fielding secure information systems that are fit for purpose. Recommended preparation: Prior degree in computer science, electrical engineering, computer engineering, management information systems, and/or mathematics. Some background in computer security preferred.

INF 524 Distributed Systems and Network Security (3) Fundamentals of information security in the context of distributed systems and networks. Threat examination and application of security measures, including firewalls and intrusion detection systems. Recommended preparation: Prior degree in computer science, mathematics, computer engineering, or informatics. It is recommended that students have a working understanding of communication networks and computer architecture, and some programming facility.

INF 525 Trusted System Design, Analysis and Development (3) Analysis of computer security and why systems are not secure. Concepts and techniques applicable to the design of hardware and software for Trusted Systems. Recommended preparation: Prior degree in computer science, mathematics, computer engineering, or informatics; advanced knowledge of computer architecture, operating systems, and communications networks will be valuable.

INF 526 Secure Systems Administration (3) The administrator’s role in information system testing, certification, accreditation, operation and defense from cyber attacks. Security assessment. Examination of system vulnerabilities. Policy development. Recommended preparation: Previous degree in computer science, mathematics, computer engineering, informatics, and/or information security undergraduate program. Also, it is highly recommended that students have successfully completed course work involving policy and network security.

INF 527 Secure Systems Engineering (3) The process of designing, developing and fielding secure information systems. Developing assurance evidence. Completion of a penetration analysis. Detecting architectural weaknesses. Case studies. Recommended preparation: Previous degree in computer science, mathematics, computer engineering, or informatics; moderate to intermediate understanding of the fundamentals of information assurance, and distributed systems and network security. Knowledge and skill in programming.

INF 528 Computer and Network Forensics (3) Preservation, identification, extraction and documentation of computer evidence stored on a computer. Data recovery; cryptography; types of attacks; steganography; network forensics and surveillance. Recommended preparation: Previous degree in computer science, mathematics, computer engineering, or informatics; a working understanding of number theory and some programming knowledge will be helpful.