NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COLLEGE

COURSE SYLLABUS

COURSE AND INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Course Title: Information Technology Security

Course prefix, number, and section number: ITSY1342.0381

Semester/Year of course: Spring 2023 – 8 Week I

Semester start and end dates: January 17, 2023 - March 11, 2023

Course modality Asynchronous Online

Class meeting location, days and times:  Online; materials available 24x7

Lab meeting location, days and times:  Online; materials available 24x7

Semester credit hours: 3

Course description:

Instruction in security for network hardware, software, and data, including physical security; backup procedures; relevant tools; encryption; and protection from viruses.

Course prerequisites: none

Required course materials:

Required – Text: TestOut LabSim for Security Pro (v. 7.0), ISBN 9781935080442

Course text, video lectures, labs, assignments, and quizzes are hosted in the LabSim environment.

See course home page for instructions on ordering the text from TestOut.

Name of instructor: Christopher Johnson

Office location: WebEx; Teams; Zoom – the Internet

Telephone number: n/a – calls can be completed over WebEx

E-mail address: csjohnson@nctc.edu

Student office hours: Wednesday 6:00pm-7:00pm, other times by appointment

SYLLABUS CHANGE DISCLAIMER

The faculty member reserves the right to make changes to this published syllabus if it is in the best interest of the educational development of this class. Any such changes will be announced as soon as possible in person and/or writing.

SUMMARY OF COURSE ASSIGNMENTS

Tentative list of graded assignments, subject to change or substitution at discretion of instructor. If a new assignment is added to replace one listed below, an announcement will be sent out explaining the change.

# Elements      Graded Course Elements (description)                    Weighted % Values

78                    Section quizzes                                                                20% of grade

85                    Labs/Simulations (denoted [LAB] in Canvas)              30% of grade

6                      Discussions (weekly prompts, in Canvas)                    20% of grade

2                      Exams (averaged – no grades dropped)                      30% of grade

GRADING SCALE

A    >= 89.6%

B    >= 79.6%

C    >=69.6%

D    >= 59.6%

F    <= 59.5%

Late work policy:

There is no extra credit available. Your grade will be based on the above graded elements listed.  There are no makeup assignments.  If you miss an exam for a documented approved medical reason you will be allowed to take an all essay question exam in its place.

SEE CANVAS FOR THE COMPLETE COURSE CALENDAR, OUTLINE, DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF GRADED WORK, AND OTHER RELATED MATERIAL.

COURSE POLICIES

Academic Integrity Policy:

Scholastic dishonesty shall include, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, academic falsification, intellectual property dishonesty, academic dishonesty facilitation and collusion. 

Consequences for academic dishonesty may include:

1. The student will receive a failing grade of "O" on the assignment. If the assignment is within a group in which the lowest assignment is dropped, the assignment will not be able to count as a dropped score. It will count as part of the grade.
2. A "Scholastic Dishonesty Report Form" will be submitted regarding the incident
3. Student may be dropped from the course with a failing grade (letter grade of “F”)

Attendance Policy:

Class attendance is based on participation in weekly discussions, interactions with your instructor and fellow students, and completion of labs, assignments, quizzes, etc. You may be considered absent if you do not engage with the course materials and your classmates/instructor on a regular basis throughout the semester.

Since this is an online class, we will not be having regularly scheduled lectures; this may be challenging to some students as it makes keeping up with the classwork a self-driven effort. LATE WORK IS NOT ACCEPTED (except in the case of extraordinary circumstances, solely at my discretion). FAILURE TO PLAN DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN EMERGENCY! The due dates for all labs and assignments will be posted to our Canvas course page. It is up to you to plan accordingly.   

Withdrawal Policy:

A student may withdraw from a course on or after the official date of record. It is the student’s responsibility to initiate and complete a Withdrawal Request Form.

Last day to withdraw from the course with a “W” is February 17, 2023

Student Learning Outcomes:

WECM End-of-Course Outcomes: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Guidelines and other best practices; develop backup procedures to provide for data security; use network operating system features to implement network security; identify computer and network threats and vulnerabilities and methods to prevent their effects; use tools to enhance network security; and use encryption techniques to protect network data.

At the successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

1. Discover and become familiar with the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) guidelines and other best practices
2. Develop backup procedures to provide for data security
3. Use network operating system features to implement network security
4. Identify computer and network threats and vulnerabilities, and describe methods to prevent and/or mitigate their effects
5. Use tools to enhance network and operating system security
6. Use encryption techniques to protect network data

Core Objectives:

Critical Thinking

Communication

Empirical and Quantitative

Teamwork