During this course, you will discover how events in history have led to the evolution of computer system development and security.
You will explore current design and development practices, standards and techniques used in the real world for the implementation of secure systems, looking at the legal and ethical considerations involved in the development of such systems. The course is structured in such a way that each short course focuses on a particular stage of the system development life cycle.
This short course is the introductory two-week course for the program Secure Design and Development which forms part of the MSc Cyber Security online degree at Coventry University delivered on FutureLearn.
This program is made up of ten weeks (five short courses that are two weeks each), taught on FutureLearn, followed by an additional period to submit your assessment (details of which can be found on the assessment tab of the program page). In addition to the courses in FutureLearn, the program page gives you access to live tutorials, student support sessions and further study resources and services.
If you are studying this module alongside Ethical Hacking, you might notice an overlap in some of the content. Although some concepts are relevant to multiple areas of cyber security, you will find that you will be studying them from different angles and in different levels of depth in the different modules.
Through this week’s activities, you will explore:
- How the evolution of technology resulted in the need to develop secure systems
- Basic security primitives and methods used in system development
- System development life cycle (SDLC) and its model variations
- Applicability of the SDLC models from a theoretical and/or practical viewpoint
Meet the team
Your lead educator is Alexandros Konios, lecturer in ethical and cyber security at Coventry University.
You can follow your lead educator by selecting the link to their FutureLearn profile page and selecting ‘follow’. That way, you’ll be able to see all the comments that they make.
Checking your progress
When you reach the end of a step and have understood everything, click the ‘Mark as complete’ button. This will update your progress page and will help you to keep track of which steps you’ve done. Any steps you’ve completed will turn blue on your ‘To do’ list.
To check what percentage of the course steps you’ve marked as complete, click on the Progress tab at the top of the page.
At FutureLearn we believe in the power of learning through conversation, and we have developed our learning platform to enable this. Instead of having separate forums or discussion boards, you can leave comments, share your thoughts and have a conversation on almost every step of a course. You can ‘like’ comments made by other learners, filter comments in a variety of ways including ‘most liked’, and you can ‘bookmark’ comments too. As well as following your lead educators, you can also follow other learners on the course.
To see all the recent comments on the course, just select the activity icon. If you’re following someone, you can filter this list to show only the comments of those you’re following or the comments that you’ve bookmarked.
To get the very best learning experience from FutureLearn, take a look at these tips and tools for social learning. Don’t forget, while robust debate is encouraged, it’s important that you follow the FutureLearn Code of conduct and are respectful of your fellow learners.
The Coventry Way
Coventry University believes that a good student experience is central to learning at a world-class standard. To reflect our success we were recently awarded the title of University of the Year by Times Higher Education and the Queen’s Award for Enterprise.
We aim to produce learning that is both innovative and cutting edge with a supportive environment to ensure student success.
For that reason we have created these courses that offer students a chance to learn in a flexible manner. Through online delivery we offer an engaging and dynamic experience.
We have teamed up with FutureLearn to offer students world-class courses with all the rigour and support provided in our face-to-face courses but with the ability to study in a manner best suited to your needs.
Over the next two weeks you will be working closely with your colleagues on the course, so take this chance to introduce yourself to both your educators and your colleagues. If you wish, you may share what has brought you to take part in the course through Coventry University.
In the comments section below, introduce yourself to the rest of your group. Use the prompts below:
- What previous experience and knowledge do you have in the areas and concepts to be covered by this short course?
- What are you hoping to gain from this course?
- What has motivated you to take this course?
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