Syllabus for CYB-451

CLOUD SECURITY AND PRIVACY

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Cloud Security and Privacy provides an in-depth study of the security and privacy of cloud computing systems. Topics include cloud computing models, security risks associated with data and computation outsourcing, threat model, and cloud-based security controls and measures. The course also addresses the development of an audit to ensure operational integrity and protection of customer data in cloud-based resources, and it examines the internet of things (IoT) in the context of cloud security and privacy.

COURSE TOPICS

Cloud computing essentials and security, privacy, and trust baselines
Threats and risk assessment for cloud services
Securing the cloud infrastructure
Safeguards and countermeasures
Incident response and disaster recovery
Industry standards, regulations, audit, certificates, and compliance
Advanced cloud computing security topics

COURSE OBJECTIVES

After completing this course, students should be able to:

CO1 Appraise cloud computing architectures.

CO2 Identify the threats, risks, vulnerabilities, side-channel attacks, and privacy issues associated with cloud-based IT services.

CO3 Implement safeguards and countermeasures for cloud-based IT services.

CO4 Configure cloud services.

CO5 Apply security architectures that assure secure isolation of physical and logical infrastructures.

CO6 Analyze industry security standards, certificates, regulatory mandates, audit policies, and compliance requirements.

COURSE MATERIALS

You will need the following materials to complete your coursework. Some course materials may be free, open source, or available from other providers. You can access free or open-source materials by clicking the links provided below or in the module details documents. To purchase course materials, please visit the University's textbook supplier.

Required Textbook (e-book format)

Vacca, J. R. (Ed.). (2016). Cloud computing security: Foundations and challenges. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group.

ISBN-13: 978-1482260953

Required Open Educational Resources

Cloud Security Alliance. (2011). Security guidance for critical areas of focus in cloud computing (v3.0).
European Union Agency of Network and Information Security. (2009, November 20). Cloud computing risk assessment.
Kocher, P., Horn, J., Fogh, A., Genkin, D., Gruss, D., Haas, W., Hamburg, M., Lipp, M., Mangard, S., Prescher, T., Schwarz, M., & Yarom, Y. (2018). Spectre attacks: Exploiting speculative execution.
Lipp, M., Schwarz, M., Gruss, D., Prescher, T., Haas, W., Fogh, A., Horn, J., Mangard, S., Kocher, P., Genkin, D., Yarom, Y., & Hamburg, M. (2018). Meltdown: Reading kernel memory from user space.
Jansen, W., & Grance, T. (2011). Guidelines on security and privacy in public cloud computing (NIST Special Publication 800-144).
Joint Task Force. (2018). Risk management framework for information systems and organizations: A system life cycle approach for security and privacy (NIST Special Publication 800-37, Revision 2).

COURSE STRUCTURE

Cloud Security and Privacy is a three-credit, online course consisting of six modules. Modules include an overview, topics, learning objectives, study materials, and activities. Module titles are listed below.

Module 1: Cloud Computing Essentials
Course objectives covered in this module: CO1
Module 2: Risk Analysis and Mitigation
Course objectives covered in this module: CO2
Module 3: Access Control and Cryptographic Key Management
Course objectives covered in this module: CO3, CO5, CO6
Module 4: Amazon Web Services and Security
Course objectives covered in this module: CO3, CO4, CO5

Module 5: Secure Cloud Architecture
Course objectives covered in this module: CO1, CO5
Module 6: Cloud Security Standards, Compliance, and Certificates
Course objectives covered in this module: CO6

ASSESSMENT METHODS

For your formal work in the course, you are required to participate in online discussion forums, complete written assignments and a student progress assessment, take quizzes, and complete a final project. See below for details.

Consult the Course Calendar for due dates.

Promoting Originality

One or more of your course activities may utilize a tool designed to promote original work and evaluate your submissions for plagiarism. More information about this tool is available in About SafeAssign.

Discussion Forums

You are required to complete six graded discussion forums. The discussion forums are on a variety of topics associated with the course modules. In addition, there is one ungraded, but required, Introductions Forum in Week 1.

Written Assignments

You are required to complete six written assignments. The written assignments are on a variety of topics associated with the course modules.

Quizzes

You are required to complete four quizzes. The quizzes are on a variety of topics associated with the course modules.

Student Progress Assessment

You are required to submit a document (in MS Word format) that addresses six topics related to the first four modules of the course. This assessment is separated into two parts but should be submitted as one document through the Student Progress Assessment link. Part 1, worth 80% of the assessment grade, includes topics 1 through 4 and is based on a scenario. Part 2, worth 20% of the assessment grade, includes topics 5 and 6.

Statement about Cheating

You are on your honor not to cheat on this assessment. In relation to this assessment, cheating means:

Copying and pasting or in any way directly copying responses or parts of responses from any other source into your assessment. This includes but is not limited to copying and pasting from other documents or spreadsheets, whether written by yourself or anyone else.
Plagiarizing answers.
Asking anyone else to assist you by whatever means available while you complete the assessment.
Copying any part of the assessment to share with other students.

If there is evidence that you have cheated or plagiarized in your assessment, the assessment will be declared invalid and you may fail the course.

Final Project

This is a hands-on project in which you learn to create and use cloud services. You will use Amazon Web Services (AWS) as the primary platform. You will discuss ways to monitor services with CloudWatch; security, identity, and compliance features such as IAM and Cognito; and intelligent threat-detection services such as GuardDuty.

You will need to create a free AWS account to complete your final project. You can do so at the following link: AWS Free Tier

The following video shows the kind of information you’ll need to provide to set up a new account. While setting up the account itself is free, and 12 months of usage is free (more than enough to complete your coursework), you will be required to indicate a form of payment (such as a credit card) to be charged only if you exceed the free usage time period. The video explains this requirement.

AWS Free Account Info

Create your account early in the course, preferably by Week 2.

GRADING AND EVALUATION

Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:

Online discussions (6)—20%
Written assignments (6)—20%
Quizzes (4)—10%
Student progress assessment (Modules 1–4)—20%
Final project: Amazon Web Services (AWS)—30%

Week 3: Cloud Security Services—5%
Week 5: Cloud Access Services—5%
Week 8: Cloud Monitoring Services—5%
Week 9: Virtual Private Cloud and Security—5%
Week 11: Final Project Progress Report—5%
Week 12: Final Project Report—5%

All activities will receive a numerical grade of 0–100. You will receive a score of 0 for any work not submitted. Your final grade in the course will be a letter grade. Letter grade equivalents for numerical grades are as follows:

A	=	93–100	C+	=	78–79
A–	=	90–92	C	=	73–77
B+	=	88–89	C–	=	70–72
B	=	83–87	D	=	60–69
B–	=	80–82	F	=	Below 60

To receive credit for the course, you must earn a letter grade of C or better (for an area of study course) or D or better (for a course not in your area of study), based on the weighted average of all assigned course work (e.g., exams, assignments, discussion postings).

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

First Steps to Success

To succeed in this course, take the following first steps:

Read carefully the entire Syllabus, making sure that all aspects of the course are clear to you and that you have all the materials required for the course.
Take time to read the entire Online Student Handbook. The Handbook answers many questions about how to proceed through the course and how to get the most from your educational experience at Thomas Edison State University.
Familiarize yourself with the learning management systems environment—how to navigate it and what the various course areas contain. If you know what to expect as you navigate the course, you can better pace yourself and complete the work on time.
If you are not familiar with web-based learning be sure to review the processes for posting responses online and submitting assignments before class begins.

Study Tips

Consider the following study tips for success:

To stay on track throughout the course, begin each week by consulting the Course Calendar. The Course Calendar provides an overview of the course and indicates due dates for submitting assignments, posting discussions, and scheduling and taking examinations.
Check Announcements regularly for new course information.

ACADEMIC POLICIES

To ensure success in all your academic endeavors and coursework at Thomas Edison State University, familiarize yourself with all administrative and academic policies including those related to academic integrity, course late submissions, course extensions, and grading policies.

For more, see: