Course description
What is the course about?
This course allows students/professionals with an interest or experience in Computer Network Security to further develop advanced skills and understanding of Computer Network/Internet security architectures, protocols, related techniques and research and development issues in the field.
What are the career prospects of the course?
Some examples of career opportunities after the successful completion of the course are listed below:
- Secure Networked Systems Development
- Secure Electronic/Mobile Commerce Applications Development
- Secure Middleware Development
- Networked Systems Security Evaluation
- Trusted Internet Service Providers
- Network Security Management
- Computer Crime Detection
- Mobile Devices Protection
- Network Security Consultancy
- Further Research by PhD
What are the course details?
The greatest challenge faced by those undertaking electronic commerce is about how to secure their computer systems operating on networks, particularly the Internet. The strong and urgent demand for effective security technologies and the corresponding initiatives are stimulating at fast growth of the computer security technology market with an estimated global value of £20 billion by 2005.
- The programme learning outcomes define that at the end of the programme, students should:
- Be aware of current and developing principles and practices of network security technologies.
- Have widened and deepened students' knowledge and skills in the areas of network security and its applications.
- Have been exposed to and applied a range of tools and techniques currently being used in the development of secure networked applications/systems.
- Have critically analysed and developed a major piece of work in the area.
- Be able to understand current research issues in the relevant aspects of network security technologies.
- Be able to study independently and have developed research methodology skills.
- The course consists of the following core and option modules:
SEMESTER 1 CORE MODULES
- Research Methods
- Computer Security
SEMESTER 1 OPTION MODULES
- Database Design and Technology
- IT Security Regulations and Standards
- Management of E-Business
- Computer Networks
- Web Development Technologies
- Software Agents
- Ubiquitous Computing
- Software Development - Java
- Forensic Computing
SEMESTER 2 CORE MODULES
- Internetworking
- Network Security
SEMESTER 2 OPTION MODULES
- Human Computer Interaction
- Multimedia Database Systems
- Network Intrusion Detection
- Advanced Topics in Network Security
- Mobile Computing
- Wireless Networks
- Networked Appliances
- Project Dissertation (to be described in section 6)
- In Semester 1, full-time students normally study two core modules listed above and two option modules selected. Part-time students normally study one core module in the first year (Computer Security) and one option module, and the other core module (Research Methods) and another option module in the second year.
- In Semester 2, full-time students normally study the two core modules listed above and two option modules selected. Part-time students normally study the two core modules in the first year, and two option modules in the second year.
- For Project Dissertation, students normally complete their projects by the end of August, after the completion of all the four core and four selected option modules.
Some details of the core modules and the brief summaries of the option modules for the course are given below:
RESEARCH METHODS
This module provides a grounding in research methods as they apply to
research in computing and information systems. It outlines essential
considerations when conducting experimental research, survey research,
field research, etc., and allows an opportunity to analyse research papers
and develop familiarity with research areas and approaches. It also
provides students with an opportunity to plan and develop an individual
research strategy suitable for a Master's dissertation.
Topics studied include a variety of research methods and processes,
general components of surveys and field studies, issues in problem
analysis, topical research sources, and the requirements of a dissertation.
COMPUTER SECURITY
This module develops an understanding of security threats and
vulnerabilities, and assesses the applicability of various techniques for
system protection. Students will be able to critically assess a variety of
generic security technologies for protection of computer systems. The
module promotes the use of appropriate methodologies and tools in the
analysis, design and management of secure systems.
Topics studied include the fundamentals of computer security and the
main security concepts. Personal, network and database security are
studied, including for instance access control, crypto key management,
authentication principles and techniques for multilevel security.
INTERNETWORKING
This module develops an understanding of global distributed multimedia
systems and skills in the development of such systems and supporting
networks. It also examines current issues and research aspects in
multimedia networking.
Topics studied include networking technologies for distributed
multimedia support, multimedia protocols, end to end system design
techniques, Quality of Service and multimedia scheduling, performance
issues and current internetworking solutions.
NETWORK SECURITY
This module offers an understanding of various securities vulnerabilities
and threats in computer networks and the importance of network
security. It develops the ability to carry out critical assessment of a variety
of security technologies for protection of computer networks. The
module promotes the use of appropriate security techniques to solve
network security problems.
Topics studied include the fundamentals of network security - security
concepts, security policies, security threats and vulnerabilities and
viruses-, cryptographic techniques, access control in computer networks,
intrusion detection, firewalls, IP security, web and email security.
FORENSIC COMPUTING
This module is intended for post-graduate students interested in the field
of forensic computing. The purpose of the module is to provide the
fundamental technical concepts and research issues essential for
computer forensic investigations within the organisation, law
enforcement or national security.
DATABASE DESIGN ANDTECHNOLOGY allows students to gain skills in
the development of database applications and to acquire an
understanding of advanced databases.
COMPUTER NETWORKS enables students to develop effective network
architectures at hardware and software levels and to gain practical
experience in communication protocols.
IT SECURITY REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS offers an awareness of
the security and legal implications in connection with information
systems and trading across jurisdictions.
UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING provides an understanding of contemporary
research in the research topics that make up the fields of
pervasive/ubiquitous computing.
WEB DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGIES examines modern computing
architectures suitable for the development of large-scale, web based
applications. It discusses the main concepts and technologies used in the
development of such applications.
SOFTWARE AGENTS offers an understanding of the mobile agent
paradigm and investigates the application of mobile agent systems to real
world problems.
MANAGEMENT OF E-BUSINESS provides students with an in-depth
knowledge of e-business capabilities, enabling technologies and their
management. Students will develop an ability to appraise critical business
issues associated with e-business and related technologies, and will be
able to assess concepts relevant to e-business life-cycle management.
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT-JAVA develops the skills needed for the
design and implementation of object-oriented applications using the Java
programming language.
HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION provides students with design
principles of user interfaces and multimedia techniques for building
systems with good interactivity and usability.
MULTIMEDIA DATABASE SYSTEMS examines the characteristics of
multimedia data, the current trends in multimedia database systems, and
the corresponding research issues.
NETWORK INTRUSION DETECTION offers an understanding of various
security vulnerabilities in and threats to computer networks. Critically
assesses the intrusion detection techniques and tools for protection of
networks.
ADVANCED TOPICS IN NETWORK SECURITY offers the opportunity for
students to experience cutting edge developments in network security
by studying recent academic research in this area.
MOBILE COMPUTING offers an advanced understanding of the theory
and practice of mobile computing and an in-depth study of devices,
applications and middleware services for support of mobile systems
design.
WIRELESS NETWORKS offers an advanced understanding of the theory
and practice of building wireless networks and an in-depth study of the
requirements of wireless communications as well as current research
topics in the field.
NETWORKED APPLIANCES offers the opportunity to apply knowledge
from a wide range of computing areas to the building of Networked
Appliances systems. It discuss how wireless networking technologies,
HCI principles and computer security can be adapted and/or applied.
KNOWLEDGE-BASED SYSTEMS provides an understanding of
knowledge-based information systems and the corresponding problem
solving technologies.
