Revised June 2020
Course Information
Course Number and Title: ECS6700 – Information Assurance
Term/Year: Fall I 2021
Term Dates: August 23rd, 2021 – December 12th, 2021
Delivery Method: Online with virtual residency
Meeting Place and Time: Online via Blackboard
Live Session: You will be contacted by your LIVE Residency Instructor. This individual may/may not be the instructor for your Blackboard course. Please be sure to check your NEC email daily. LIVE Zoom Faculty will reach out in weeks 2 or 3 of the term. Students will meet during the term to complete the required 8 hours of LIVE Zoom contact. In accordance to federal and campus guidelines in response to COVID, these sessions are all required and replace the Henniker Residency that has been moved online due to COVID. In addition to the 8 hours of LIVE Zoom instruction, you have 10 hours of self-directed research to assist in your studies for your required 18 hours of residency for this course.
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: Network Security
Instructor Information
Faculty Name:
Email Address:
Response time: Students will receive a response within 48 hours.
Required Materials and Textbook(s)
Fundamentals of Information Systems Security, 3e (Kim/Solomon)
ISBN: 9781284116458
Optional or Supplemental Materials
None
Course Description and Outcomes
This course aims to provide guidelines for securing information systems according to best practices, standards and compliancy laws. It first reviews the information security fundamentals on new risks, threats, and vulnerabilities associated with the transformation to a digital world and the Internet of Things (IoT). It is a vendor-neutral approach to understanding IT security covering a wide range of topics including application, data, and host security, access control, identity management, and cryptography. It also provides information on information security standards, education, professional certifications, and recent compliancy laws.
Grading Policies
All coursework assignments (assessment/quiz, discussion, project) and grades will be posted on Blackboard. Each assignment has definite due time. Please submit your work on time.
Late work will be accepted but there will be a significant grade penalty assessed unless under urgent or unexpected situation and informed in advance.
Assessment
Frequency
% Toward Final Grade
Discussions
15
40%
Assessments
4
20%
Final Project/Final Exam
1
40%
Total
100%
Grading Scale
A
100-93
A-
92-90
B+
89-87
B
86-83
B-
82-80
C+
79-77
C
76-73
C-
72-70
D
69-60
F
59 and below
Final course grades of C+ or below will not meet graduate degree requirements. Students will need to repeat any course in which they received a grade C+ or below. For more information, please refer to the New England College Academic Catalog.
Required Technical Skills
In order to promote success in an online community, whether 100% online or hybrid, students must know how to use email and navigate the Internet. Students must be familiar with their computer or device, its programs and operating system, be able to send messages to their instructor, upload attachments, post assignments, communicate with other students, and navigate the course site. Students should retain and organize copies of all course work on a backup device or cloud storage program.
Attendance Policy
Students are required to meet the federal requirements for time on task per the Federal Definition of the Credit Hour. Students must log in to the course site multiple times each week and submit all required assignments. Verification of participation occurs in Week 1 of the course, where students are expected to submit all required assignments. Failure to do this will result in the students being dropped from the course. Students will be dropped if they don’t complete at least one graded assignment.
You are expected to participate in all course activities. Not actively and consistently contributing online for the duration of the course will adversely affect your grade. Students are always expected to actively contribute to the discussions and other activities online. A significant portion of your grade is based upon this and you are personally responsible for the material.
It is the responsibility of each student to understand fully the participation policies and procedures for every course in which the student is enrolled. New England College respects student’s religious observances. In an online environment, students are expected to notify their instructors if they are unable to participate fully during the time of the student’s observances. Making up missed assignments and course contributions is the student’s responsibility.
This course, run through the Blackboard learning system, is not correspondence or self-paced. Students must participate in all content, communications, assignments, discussions, blogs, wikis and other activities throughout the course, adhering to time frames, due dates or deadlines specified.
Executive Programs & Residency. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there will be no face-to-face residency sessions at the Henniker campus or at any other location during the Fall I, 2021 term. Each student will be required to attend virtual residency sessions. The virtual schedule for this course will be determined by the LIVE Residency instructor (this individual may or may not be your course instructor) and will be communicated to all students via their NEC email addresses. Students must attend the required 8 hours of LIVE Virtual Residency. Students must have their cameras on in the main session and in breakout rooms, and be actively engaged and participating. Attendance will be taken at random. Missing any LIVE sessions must be approved by your Program Director in advance due to extreme circumstances and will require documentation. If approved for a make-up session, you are REQUIRED to attend. If you miss any residency hours for a single course, and do not meet the REQUIRED 8 hours of LIVE Virtual Residency, you will automatically FAIL the course for which you did not attend residency. Work is not considered a valid reason for missing your virtual residency sessions, as your student role, especially those here on an F1 visa, is your primary role.
Note: Class absences may impact an international student’s visa status, as immigration laws stipulate that F-1 visa students must be in a full-time schedule and must be attending classes.
Expectations for Online Behavior
NEC requires a learning environment where everyone is respected and feel safe to take the risks necessary for learning. All online communication must be respectful and constructive. Students who violate these guidelines will be referred to the Office of Judicial Affairs. Students must review and adhere to NEC’s Netiquette Guidelines.
In the event a student loses electricity, internet access, or has difficulty accessing learning content, it is the student’s responsibility to contact the instructor via email or phone as soon as possible.
NEC Academic Integrity Policy: Graduate Programs
The New England College community embraces an Academic Honor Principle. It consists of honesty, trust, and integrity. Honesty is being true to oneself and others, engendering a culture of trust. Trust builds mutual respect, fostering a disposition of responsibility and civility. Integrity denotes inner strength of character: doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong. Students, Faculty, and Staff accept these values as fundamental guides to our actions, decisions, and behavior.
Academic Dishonesty
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, the following infractions:
Plagiarism: According to the Council of Writing Program Administrators, “plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source.” Any of these activities constitutes plagiarism: directly copying and pasting from a source without citation; paraphrasing from a source or sources without citation; turning in a paper, or sections of a paper, known to be written by someone other than the student; unauthorized multiple submissions of the same work in more than one course; and turning in a purchased paper.
Misuse or inaccurate citation of sources: It may be possible that a student has carried out a good-faith attempt to acknowledge others’ work, but has failed to do so accurately or fully. This may include citing sources, but not including sufficient information or correct formatting of the citation. These are largely not considered plagiarism, unless the student repeats the misuse of sources after feedback from the faculty. In case of doubt about how to cite a source, students should ask their instructor.
Plagiarism is a severe event that will lead to penalties that may result in expulsion. Please consult the Academic Integrity Policy in the NEC Catalog for specific information on procedures regarding this policy.
Misrepresentation: Having someone else do coursework, assignments, papers, quizzes and tests.
Facilitation of Academic Dishonesty: Helping someone else cheat. Examples include: supplying questions and/or answers to a quiz or examination, allowing someone to copy your homework, doing homework together without the instructor’s permission, seeking input from others during a take-home or open book test.
Cheating: Deliberate deceptive behavior to avoid work and learning. Examples include, but are not limited to:
Communicating with others during an exam or quiz
Copying all or part of homework or another’s quiz, exam, or written work
Using notes when you are directed not to by the professor, using electronic equipment to look up answers you don’t know
Making up data for research
Stealing quizzes or exams prior to their administration
Altering or attempting to alter college records
Offering a bribe to college personnel in exchange for special treatment or favors
Because academic dishonesty violates academic integrity, it cannot be condoned at NEC.
For further explanation on this topic, please refer to the New England College Academic Catalog.
Credit Hours and Student Work
Regardless of the format (online or hybrid) or the time period in which the course is offered (e.g. fifteen or seven weeks), the student work expectation for all courses is the same. One credit represents 45 hours of work over the course of a term (including lectures, laboratories, recitations, discussion groups, field work, study, etc.), averaged over each week during the term, in order to complete the work of the course. In a four-credit course, the expectation is that there is 180 hours of work. The approximate student learning hours per week for a four-credit course are as follows: 15 week course = 12 hours per week, 7 week course = 25 hours per week, and a 3 week course = 60 hours per week.
Assignment
Calculation
Hours
Required Reading
450 pages x 14 hours/100 pages
45
Assessments
20 videos at varying lengths
5
Discussion Boards
15 boards, 3 hours per board
45
Research Proposal/Final Project
15 hours research, 25 hours writing
40
Residency Live Sessions
8
Self Directed Residency Research
10
Expected total*: 153
*(4-credit course = 180 total hours, 3-credit course = 135 total hours, 2-credit course = 90 total hours; 1-credit course = 45 total hours).
Please contact your Program Director for assistance in completing this chart.
Statement on Fair Practices
New England College prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed or religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, pregnancy, veteran’s status, or disability in regard to treatment, access to, or employment in its programs and activities, in accordance with federal and state laws and regulations. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), individuals with disabilities needing accommodation should contact the Disability Services Office.
For further explanation on this topic, please contact the Dean’s Office within the School of Graduate and Professional Studies.
Academic Accommodations
New England College values diversity and inclusion; we are committed to fostering mutual respect and full participation. Our goal is to create learning environments that are usable, equitable, inclusive and welcoming. If there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that result in barriers to your inclusion or accurate assessment, please notify the instructor as soon as possible. Students are encouraged to contact the Office of Student Access and Accommodations as soon as possible to discuss a range of options to removing barriers in the course including accommodations.
Students who have a letter of accommodation from the Student Access and Accommodations should contact their instructor as soon as possible to set up accommodations for this course. The student and instructor will discuss how to implement the accommodations and address accessibility of the course. The Office of Student Access and Accommodations is available to both faculty and students with any accommodation questions, or accessibility and disability related concerns.
For students that have not previously worked with Student Access and Accommodations but who believe they need accommodations, please contact the office via email at access@nec.edu, phone 603-428-2302, or make an appointment.
Assignments and Schedule
The course is divided into fifteen weeks. Due dates for assignments and discussions are stated in day numbers. Day 1 is Monday, the first day of the beginning of each weekly session.
Day 1
Monday
Day 2
Tuesday
Day 3
Wednesday
Day 4
Thursday
Day 5
Friday
Day 6
Saturday
Day 7
Sunday
The following table lists all of the weekly topics, learning outcomes, assignments, readings, activities, assessments, and other pertinent information related to that particular week works best.
Week and Dates
Topic
Learning Outcomes
Reading and Assignments
Week 1
August 23rd – August 29th
Information Systems Security
Explain information systems security and its effect on people and businesses.
Read Chapter 1 of Textbook
Complete Discussion 1
Complete Assessment 1
Week 2
August 30th – September 5th
The Internet of Things is
Explain information systems security and its effect on people and businesses.
Read Chapter 2 of Textbook
Complete Discussion 2
Complete Assessment 2
Week 3
September 6th – September 12th
Malicious Attacks, Threats, and Vulnerabilities
Describe how malicious attacks, threats, and vulnerabilities impact an IT infrastructure.
Read Chapter 3 of Textbook
Complete Discussion 3
Complete Assessment 3
Week 4
September 13th – September 19th
The Drivers of the Information Security Business
Explain information systems security and its effect on people and businesses.
Read Chapter 4 of Textbook
Complete Discussion 4
Complete Assessment 4
Week 5
September 20th – September 26th
Securing Today’s Information Systems
Explain the role of access controls in an IT infrastructure.
Read Chapter 5 of Textbook
Complete Discussion 5
Week 6
September 27th – October 3rd
Security Operations and Administration
Explain the role of IT operations, administration, and security policies.
Read Chapter 6 of Textbook
Complete Discussion 6
Week 7
October 4th – October 10th
Auditing, Testing, and Monitoring
Explain the importance of security audits, testing, and monitoring in an IT infrastructure.
Read Chapter 7 of Textbook
Complete Discussion 7
Mid Term Break
October 11th – October 17th
Week 8
October 18th – October 24th
Risk, Response, and Recovery
Describe the principles of risk management, common response techniques, and issues related to recovery of IT systems.
Read Chapter 8 of Textbook
Complete Discussion 8
Week 9
October 25th – October 31st
Cryptography
Explain how businesses apply cryptography in maintaining information security.
Read Chapter 9 of Textbook
Complete Discussion 9
Week 10
November 1st – November 7th
Networks and Telecommunications
Describe networking principles and security mechanisms.
Read Chapter 10 of Textbook
Complete Discussion 10
Week 11
November 8th – November 14th
Malicious Code and Activity
Describe how malicious attacks, threats, and vulnerabilities impact an IT infrastructure.
Read Chapter 11 of Textbook
Complete Discussion 11
Week 12
November 15th – November 21st
Information Security Standards
Apply information security standards and U.S. compliance laws to real-world applications in both the private and public sector.
Read Chapter 12 of Textbook
Complete Discussion 12
Week 13
November 22nd – November 28th
Information Systems Security Education and Training
Describe information systems security educational opportunities and professional certifications.
Read Chapter 13 of Textbook
Complete Discussion 13
Week 14
November 29th – December 5th
Information Security Professional Certifications
Describe information systems security educational opportunities and professional certifications.
Read Chapter 14 of Textbook
Complete Discussion 14
Week 15
December 6th- December 12th
U.S. Compliance Laws
Apply information security standards and U.S. compliance laws to real-world applications in both the private and public sector.
Read Chapter 15 of Textbook
Complete Discussion 15
Submit Final Project
Graded Assessments Details
Final Project (40% of grade)
The project must be a Word document that is 4-5 pages (double-spaced) on an Information Assurance topic of your choice. I will run it through SafeAssign and Turnitin so make sure it is your own work. Write your own work!! The similarity rate is considered in the grading of the project—check the final project requirements in the online course content.
Discussion Board (100 points each /40% of grade)
Students will participate in a Discussion Board forum each week, responding to questions posted by the instructor. Students will also reply each week to at least two other students.
The initial post is due by Thursday 11:59 pm EST.
At least two replies to other students are due by Sunday 11:59 pm EST.
Posts must be submitted on time according to the instructions above to receive full credit.
Responding to at least two other students is a requirement.
Responses to other students should be substantive. Points will not be earned for responses to classmates that simply state, “I agree” or “Good point.” Responses to classmates must serve to advance the conversation. Students may agree or disagree, but all postings must be courteous and respectful following the NEC Netiquette Guidelines.
Please remember to add the required length expectations. The following is an example that is used in many of our Graduate courses for discussion board requirements – adjust as necessary. As a reminder, if there are two discussions per week the first discussion is usually due on Thursday and the second is usually due on Friday:
The initial post must be between 250-300 words in length and is due by 11:59 pm EST on Thursday. At least two replies to other students are due by Sunday at 11:59 pm EST. Responding to at least two other students is a requirement; posts must be submitted on time and each peer reply per question must be between 150-200 words in length.
Please add any citation, sources, or evidence required for the discussions. For example:
Please cite at least one academic or professional source in your initial post, and, when appropriate, cite sources in your peer replies.
Recommended:
Do not type lengthy posts to the Discussion Board without saving text; work can be lost if the Internet connection drops or times out.
Write posts off-line in a word processing software first so that it can be saved and then copy and paste in to Blackboard. The copy and paste may change the formatting.
If students prefer to write posts directly on the Discussion Board make sure to click “Save Draft” often, return to the post and Edit the text to add more content.
Email and Technical Help
NEC College Email
Institutional communication, including communication with an instructor, student services, administration, etc. MUST be conducted through the student’s @nec.edu email account. Students must check their NEC email regularly. The college assumes no responsibility for messages not received because of failure to check @nec.edu email. NEC email cannot be forwarded to another email account.
Students can access NEC email by visiting www.nec.edu and clicking on the hyperlink in the top right corner labeled “Students, Faculty, & Staff”. Then, click the red button for Office 365 Email.
Students can also access the direct link to NEC email.
Technical Help
MyNEC: Please contact the Registrar’s Office at registrarsoffice@nec.edu
NEC email: Email helpdesk@nec.edu or call 603-428-2350.
Blackboard
Access and Login
This course uses Blackboard, an online learning management system.
There are two ways to access Blackboard:
Go to www.nec.edu. Click on the “Students, Faculty, & Staff” link in the upper right corner. Click on the red button for “Blackboard”.
Direct link: http://blackboard.nec.edu/
Blackboard Technical Support
Blackboard help and video tutorials
Students can email: helpdesk@nec.edu
Faculty can email: Faculty Help Form
Graduate and Online Academic Support Center (GOASC)
Students are provided with a wide range of academic support services that focus on each student individually and provide helpful support. The goal is to help students become successful in their education at New England College. Students are encouraged to reach out to GOASC if they have questions pertaining to their enrollment, courses, who to contact for specific academic requests, or any other questions you may have.
Email: GOASC@nec.edu
Smarthinking
24/7 Online tutoring and career services available within your Blackboard course.
International Advising
This office assists international students with maintaining international status including, I-20, SEVIS, RFE and international student internships (CPT).
Email: international@nec.edu
Career & Life Planning
This office assists students with getting started on their internships and/or career guidance.
Email: clp@nec.edu
H. Raymond Danforth Library Services – accessing the Library Web Page
Open a new browser window, and be sure cookies are enabled on your computer.
To access the Library’s catalog and databases, go to www.nec.edu/library; there is also a link to the Library’s website on the Students, Faculty & Staff page at www.nec.edu.
To find books, click on the Find Books tab at the top of the page. On the Find Books page, you will find a link to the Library’s online catalog, which allows users to search for both print and e-books, as well as other available materials.
To find databases, click on the Find Articles tab. This page provides a link to an alphabetical listing of our journal databases, as well as a drop down menu of databases by subject listing. Using one of these options, find the database you wish to use and click on the link to access it.
The Library’s Research Tools page provides additional help for students in the form of citation and course guides, as well as information on topics like Academic Integrity and Plagiarism.
Books and articles that are not immediately accessible through Danforth Library can be requested via Interlibrary Loan. To access these forms, click on the Interlibrary Loan tab at the top of the Library’s website.
To log into the databases from off-campus, you will be prompted to enter your NEC ID number (e.g. GR123456). Remember to enter in both letters and numbers. If you do not know this number, please contact the Library.
The Distance Services Librarian, Mark Rowland, is available to assist students in person on weekdays between 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM and on Thursdays from 2:00-10 PM. His office is in the library and he can be reached by phone: (603) 428-2352 or by email: mrowland@nec.edu Reference librarians are also available to help students in person, by phone at 603-428-2344 or by email: libraryhelp@nec.edu
New England College is a member of both the GMILCS/NHCUC consortiums which allow NEC students to check out books from several public and academic libraries across the state. To see more information about this program, or to see if your library participates, please visit http://www.nhcuc.org/our-campuses/ or http://findit.gmilcs.org/polaris/
This syllabus constitutes the agreement between the instructor and student.
Any modifications to this syllabus will be identified during the course.
© Copyright 2018 by New England College, 98 Bridge Street, Henniker, NH 03242. This course syllabus is published for the sole use of students at New England College. Any other use is prohibited.
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