Graduate Certificate Program in Information Assurance and Security (IA&S)

460 - Information Assurance and Security

(Effective Date: Fall 2004)

 

Department of Computer Science and Engineering

University of South Carolina

Columbia, S.C. 29208

 

The Graduate Certificate Program in Information Assurance and Security has been designed for Information Technology (IT) professionals who have a bachelor of science in computer science, computer engineering, or a closely related field; or have been working in the field for several years.  The program seeks to provide the students with a foundation of information assurance and security research and practice, in order to enable them to solve practical security related problems as well as make managerial decisions on implementing security mechanisms.  The program will target graduate students enrolled in one of the graduate level programs offered by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CS&E) and IT professionals working in security related fields. 

Admission Requirements

Applicants will be subject to the standard University of South Carolina (USC) and the Department of CS&E admissions process.  However, acceptance to the certificate program is not an implied acceptance into the M.S. program.  The following prerequisites must be satisfied:

·         A Bachelor's Degree, in Computer Science or related field

·         A 3.0 GPA in the last 60 hours of course work for the Bachelors Degree

·         Courses in mathematics, including Discrete Mathematics, Linear Algebra, Probability and Statistics

·         Courses in Operating Systems, Networking, Data Structures and Algorithms, and Database Management Systems

Applicants are required to submit a brief (one- to two-page) statement of educational and work experience in the computing field, including their background in information security. 

IA&S Certificate Requirements

Candidates must complete the three core courses in Information Assurance and three elective courses for a total of 18 credits.  In accordance with USC Graduate School Certificate of Graduate study requirements, nine hours of the program must consist of required core courses. At least half the total hours in the program of study must be in courses at the 700 level or above, and candidates must maintain a B average on all USC courses taken for graduate credit while working on the certificate. No more than six hours of C credit may be applied toward a certificate, and nine hours with grades of C+ or lower will render a student ineligible for the certificate.

Core courses:

·         CSCE 522 – Information Systems Security Principles (3 credit hours) (syllabus)

·         CSCE 715 – Network Security (3 credit hours) (syllabus)

·         CSCE 727 – Information Warfare (3 credit hours) (syllabus)

 

Elective courses:

·         CSCE 517 – Computer Crime and Forensics (3 credit hours) (syllabus)

·         CSCE 557 – Introduction to Cryptography (3 credit hours) (syllabus)

·         CSCE 548 – Secure Software Construction (3 credit hours) (syllabus)

·         CSCE 716 – Design for Reliability (3 credit hours) (syllabus)

·         CSCE 717 – Computer Systems Performance and Reliability Analysis

o        (3 credit hours) (syllabus)

·         CSCE 813 – Internet Security (3 credit hours) (syllabus)

·         CSCE 814 – Distributed Systems Security (3 credit hours) (syllabus)

·         CSCE 824 – Secure Databases (3 credit hours) (syllabus)

·         CSCE 853 – Formal Models of Information Security (3 credit hours) (syllabus)

·         CSCE 790 – Seminar – Advanced Topics in Computer Security (3 credit hours)

            Example topics:

o        Wireless security

o        XML security

o        Security in mobile computing

o        Authentication and Access Control Models

o        Agent-based system security

o        Survivable systems

 

Faculty and Instructors

·         Dr. Duncan Buell

·         Dr. Caroline Eastman

·         Dr. Csilla Farkas

·         Dr. Stephen Fenner

·         Dr. Chin-Tser Huang

·         Dr. Manton Matthews

·         Ms. Ronni Wilkinson

 

 

 

APPENDIX—Sample Course Schedules

 

 

Full-Time (one year)

 

First Year—Fall

First Year—Spring

CSCE 522 (core)

CSCE 715 (core)

CSCE 813 (elective)

CSCE 727 (core)

CSCE 824 (elective)

CSCE 814 or 853 (electives)

 

 

Half-Time (two years)

 

First Year—Fall

First Year—Spring

Second Year—Fall

Second Year—Spring

CSCE 522 (core)

CSCE 715 (core)

CSCE 727 (core)

CSCE 813 (elective)

CSCE 824 (elective)

CSCE 814 or 853 (electives)

 

 

Half-Time (two years)

 

First Year—Fall

First Year—Spring

Second Year—Fall

Second Year—Spring

CSCE 522 (core)

CSCE 715 (core)

CSCE 727 (core)

CSCE 814 or 853 (electives)

CSCE 813 (elective)

CSCE 824 (elective)