CY 2550 — Foundations of Cybersecurity
4 semester hoursUndergraduateLectureusually offered: fall, spring, summerBostonOakland, CAOnlineOnlineTraditional
Presents an overview of basic principles and security concepts related to information systems, including workstation security, system security, and communications security. Discusses legal, ethical, and human factors and professional issues associated with cybersecurity, including the ability to differentiate between laws and ethics. Offers students an opportunity to use a substantial variety of existing software tools to probe both computer systems and networks in order to learn how these systems function, how data moves within these systems, and how these systems might be vulnerable. Covers security methods, controls, procedures, economics of cybercrime, criminal procedure, and forensics.
Prerequisites
Offering history
| Term | Sections | Enrolled | Capacity | Full | Open seats/section |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer B 2023 | 2 | 95 | 174 | 55% | 39.5 |
| Fall 2023 | 4 | 190 | 243 | 78% | 13.3 |
| Spring 2024 | 3 | 243 | 277 | 88% | 11.3 |
| Summer A 2024 | 1 | 78 | 87 | 90% | 9.0 |
| Summer B 2024 | 1 | 79 | 82 | 96% | 3.0 |
| Fall 2024 | 5 | 241 | 244 | 99% | 0.6 |
| Spring 2025 | 7 | 411 | 495 | 83% | 12.0 |
| Summer A 2025 | 1 | 77 | 85 | 91% | 8.0 |
| Summer B 2025 | 1 | 71 | 85 | 84% | 14.0 |
| Fall 2025 | 4 | 210 | 216 | 97% | 1.5 |
| Spring 2026 | 5 | 257 | 352 | 73% | 19.0 |
Snapshots from scheduled scrapes — not live seat availability. "Full" can exceed 100% when sections over-enroll.
Meeting times
Share of recent sections by weekday: M 38% · T 24% · W 41% · Th 33% · F 23%
Common patterns: async (31% of sections), MWR (29% of sections), TF (20% of sections), W (6% of sections), MTWR (4% of sections), U (3% of sections) — in patterns, R means Thursday
Professors
Fall
- Hsiao-an Wang (61% of students) · reviews
- Md Nazmus Sakib Miazi (24% of students) · reviews
- Abhi Shelat (15% of students) · reviews
Spring
- Hsiao-an Wang (50% of students) · reviews
- Mohit Singhal (23% of students) · reviews
- Md Nazmus Sakib Miazi (12% of students) · reviews
- Jessica Staddon (9% of students) · reviews
Summer A
- Hsiao-an Wang (100% of students) · reviews
Summer B
- Ali Sharifian Attar (63% of students) · reviews
- Hsiao-an Wang (29% of students) · reviews
- Muhammad Ali (8% of students) · reviews
Percentages are each professor's average share of the season's enrolled students in recent terms.
Unlocks
Courses that list CY 2550 in their prerequisites.
Links
Official catalog (CY course descriptions) · Student reviews on RateMyHusky · All CY courses · Plan it at numap.app