Fall 2019: Cybersecurity for Future Leaders

Future leaders will need to understand the science, technology, and human considerations behind cybersecurity well enough to make informed decisions when provided advice and options for action. Over the last decade cybersecurity issues have risen in prominence from a U.S. national security perspective, as well as from the perspective of individuals and organizations.

This class will examine the broad landscape of cybersecurity from both a technical and policy perspective. It will introduce fundamental concepts of computing and cyber security, including information theory, computability, cryptography, networking fundamentals, how vulnerabilities arise, and how attacks work. In addition, it will explore foundational ideas including definitions, cyber norms, and ethics; identify existing U.S. laws, authorities and governmental constructs; and frame classic security concepts like deterrence, attribution, offense, defense, and retaliation. The course will also involve guest speakers, short assessments and writing assignments designed to capture technical and policy insights, and a simulated meeting where students assume different governmental or private sector roles to examine potential courses of action regarding a cybersecurity crisis scenario.