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The Open University

Learning from major cyber security incidents

The Open University via OpenLearn

Overview

As a society, we are now almost always connected to the internetand rely on it for many different day-to-day activities. However, this dependency on the internet canmake us vulnerable to attacks. Once a connected device is compromised, it isnot only that particular device that is affected – it can also be used as aspringboard to attack other devices in the same network and in others. In this connected world, it is also inevitable that personal informationis stored in large-scale government and commercial databases. Unfortunately, breaches of these large-scale databases happen fairly frequently and, when they do, personal information can be leaked which will make you, and millions of others affected, vulnerable to scams and other identity crimes. This course analyses several cyber securityincidents and looks at what lessons can be learned.

Syllabus

  • Introduction
  • Learning outcomes
  • 1 Cyber security basics
  • 1 Cyber security basics
  • 2 Case study 1: WannaCry
  • 2 Case study 1: WannaCry
  • 2.1 What was the attack?
  • 2.2 How did it work?
  • 2.3 Who were the attackers?
  • 2.4 What lessons can be learnt?
  • 3 Case study 2: the TalkTalk hack
  • 3 Case study 2: the TalkTalk hack
  • 3.1 What was the attack?
  • 3.2 How did it work?
  • 3.3 Who were the attackers?
  • 3.4 What lessons can be learnt?
  • 4 Case study 3: the Mirai botnet
  • 4 Case study 3: the Mirai botnet
  • 4.1 What was the attack?
  • 4.2 How did it work?
  • 4.3 Who were the attackers?
  • 4.4 What lessons can be learnt?
  • 5 Attacking infrastructure
  • 5 Attacking infrastructure
  • Conclusion
  • Glossary
  • References
  • Acknowledgements

Reviews

4.9 rating at OpenLearn based on 16 ratings

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