Cyber Security with Placement

The advance of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), such as the internet, mobile computing, IoT (Internet of Things) and AI, have blurred the boundary between the physical world and cyber space. A massive amount of digital data is now being generated, collected, stored, processed, transmitted and shared constantly across many different systems, people and organisations. In such a 'big data' world, how can we protect our privacy and ensure others respect our privacy? What privacy-enhancing tools and techniques can be used and how well do they work? In addition to privacy concerns, cybercrime and other forms of online harms have increasingly become more prevalent; they are highlighted by many as major threats to all citizens and the society at large. What legal efforts have been made to protect us and what more can be done? What legal considerations do cyber security experts need to know about and how can they utilise and integrate these legal aspects in their work? This module will guide you through all such questions to grasp the latest development on privacy and cyber law and to be able to apply such knowledge in practical scenarios where privacy and legal considerations are important factors.

Nowadays, we live our lives in a highly digitalised and networked world. Similarly, most (if not all) of modern organisations rely on computers, the internet, cloud services or other digital devices and systems to manage their data, processes, workforce and other assets. In such a highly digitalised and networked world, how can organisations manage the security of their data, systems, processes and other assets? You will gain a systematic understanding of many important aspects of information security management, such as what standard processes and practices to follow, how to assess and manage risks, how to manage AAA (authentication, authorisation and accountability), how to understand the complicated cyber law landscape to ensure legal compliance, how to ensure security controls and processes are usable for all, and how to foster a people-centric culture for information security among staff. Such systematic understanding will equip you with crucial socio-technical skills needed for being a confident and well-informed information security manager at any organisation you choose to work for.

Remember the dancing men and how Sherlock Holmes unravelled the cryptic message using the frequency of letters? Such mechanisms are ubiquitous in the digital age -- when you are shopping online, transacting with your bank or simply using an end-to-end secure messaging system on your phone. This module will delve into Cryptology -- the science of creating such secure mechanisms of communication and ways in which they can be used, circumvented or broken. Starting from classical systems to contemporary technological advancements of the post-quantum world, you shall explore the fundamental principles, the nuances of their implementation and applications. Through a blend of theoretical lectures and hands-on exercises of building or attacking systems from the scratch, you shall gain insights into the complexities of cryptographic algorithms, key management, digital signatures, and secure communication channels. Moreover, you shall study the broader aspects of systems security, encompassing topics such as authentication, authorisation, and accountability. You will develop a holistic understanding of cybersecurity challenges and strategies for mitigating risks in contemporary computing environments. Overall, you will not only be equipped with the technical expertise to protect digital assets but also with a broader understanding of the societal implications of cryptology and systems security.

Have you ever wondered what happens to a computer network when it is under cyber-attack? Do you know the different types of cyber-attacks that can be performed on computer networks? Have you thought about the stakeholders involved in cyber-attacks? Do you know how to protect your computer network from possible cyber-attacks? These questions – and many more – will be covered in this module. Various threats and countermeasures will be discussed, along with recent computer network technology trends and novel protocols. It is pretty much impossible to prevent every attack, therefore, we need to learn from past cyber-attacks (e.g., how attackers gained access, what vulnerabilities they exploited, how they moved within the network, what they gained) to be prepared to deal with them when they occur, adopting a defence-in-depth strategy. You will learn about network threats and vulnerabilities, as well as tools and techniques that can help you secure and protect your computer network.

The use of AI has been rapidly increasing in the past years, and AI is now everywhere. The amount of digital data available has helped AI techniques evolve into the age of deep learning and large models. For many years, AI has found many applications in cyber security such as intrusion detection and spam detection. More recently, how to make AI systems securer, privacy-friendly and trustworthy has become an important topic. 

Do you want to understand how different AI architectures and models work and how they are applied to address cyber security problems and improve the security of systems and computer networks? Do you want to understand how AI models and pipelines can themselves be subject to attacks that compromise their performance, security, privacy, or trustworthiness?  

Using cyber security problems and datasets as examples, the module will equip you with the necessary knowledge and hands-on skills about machine learning and deep learning algorithms, models and architectures, how to apply them in real-world applications, and how to interpret results from AI models. In addition, the module also covers the aspects of secure and trustworthy AI in terms of threat models, attacks on AI models and defences against them.

Engaging in a research project is a fantastic opportunity for computer science students as it offers the chance to work closely with an expert supervisor in a specific discipline. This experience not only allows you to delve deeper into a subject of interest but also helps you develop essential research skills that are transferable across various fields. By embarking on a research project, you can enhance your critical thinking abilities, hone your problem-solving skills, and gain a deeper understanding of the world around you. These skills are highly valuable and will undoubtedly benefit you in your future academic and professional endeavours.

Quantum technologies are currently being developed that will have a significant impact on society. Here, you will study two particularly promising quantum technologies: quantum computation, and quantum cryptography. We will begin with an overview of the mathematical and theoretical knowledge required to tackle these more specialised and advanced topics. You will then learn the basic principles of quantum algorithms and quantum cryptography. You will gain an understanding of what these technologies can and cannot do, where these technologies are heading, and what the extent of their impact on our society may be. 

The increasing reliance on the internet, electronic devices, mobile apps and online resources greatly improve the quality of our daily lives but also escalate the volume of our digital fingerprints. This means that, nowadays, it is impossible to plan or commit an unlawful activity without leaving digital traces scattered across local or remote storage and cyber spaces. Do you want to learn digital forensic skills that contribute to the investigation of suspected wrongdoing? 

This module focuses on computer forensics and multimedia forensics, and introduces concepts and best practices relevant to uncover digital evidence on an investigative setting. It introduces tools and techniques for the collection, interpretation and analysis of digital evidence supporting informed reporting of findings. You will gain hands-on experience with investigative tasks and will have the opportunity to apply different tools and techniques to answer investigative questions related, for example, to ‘what’ happened, where, when, why, who and how.   

Upon completion of the module, you will have a theoretical and practical appreciation of what ‘digital forensics’ entail.

Have you ever dreamed of belonging to the 'red team' and 'blue team' trying to anticipate what cyber attackers might do to penetrate a network, compromise a system or shutdown a communication infrastructure with the ultimate goal of strengthening security controls? This module will equip you with a mindset to think as an attacker while planning for an ethical and legal course of actions for security assessment and penetration testing of a target (for example, a network or a system). You will learn how attackers exploit different vulnerabilities and launch attacks in practice and how to recommend proactive countermeasures on an evidence-based fashion to minimise cyber security incidents as much as possible. You will analyse and compare cyber attackers’ strategies and tactics, including technical and non-technical approaches, hacking tools and compromise phases to pre-emptively envision which controls are missing and report findings to relevant stakeholders. Upon completion of the module, you will be in a better position to identify attack vectors and act on them using a framework of legal and ethical hacking for continuous improvement of cyber security.

The Year in Industry Placement provides students with a structured opportunity to combine work experience or entrepreneurial activity with academic study. The Year in Industry allows students to develop and reflect on managerial and/or professional practice in real and often complex situations, and to integrate this with the study of the relevant subject(s) of your main degree programme. Where relevant, students develop, reinforce and apply professional and/or technical expertise in an employment or entrepreneurial context. The Industry Placement requires students to document their experiences in relation to both their university studies as well as to a wide range of employability skills. To be able to undertake this module it is necessary for the student to secure a placement. The placement should be appropriate to the student’s degree and experience. The length of the placement should normally be at least 44 weeks. It must be completed between the end of Summer Term of Stage 1 and the start of Autumn dissertation. The particular combination of the student’s degree course and choice of modules together with the great variety of increasingly diverse Year in Industry situations make the 'curriculum' of the Year in Industry essentially unique.

The Year in Industry Report provides students with a structured opportunity to combine work experience or entrepreneurial activity with academic study. The Year in Industry allows students to develop and reflect on managerial and/or professional practice in real and often complex situations, and to integrate this with the study of the relevant subject(s) of your main degree programme. Where relevant, students develop, reinforce and apply professional and/or technical expertise in an employment or entrepreneurial context. The Industry Report requires students to reflect on and evidence their experiences in relation to both their university studies as well as to a wide range of employability skills. To be able to undertake this module it is necessary for the student to secure a placement. The placement should be appropriate to the student’s degree and experience. The length of the placement should normally be at least 44 weeks. It must be completed between the end of Summer Term of Stage 1 and the start of dissertation module.