Cyber Security: Safety at Home, Online, in Life (FutureLearn)

So should you avoid all contact with this brave new world? This free online course presents an alternative, providing you with the knowledge to make informed decisions.

Understand key topics in cyber security
The course will introduce you to some of the current key topics in cyber security research and show how they relate to everyday life. We’ll look at how the move to online storage of personal data affects privacy, how online payments can be made safely, and how the proliferation of “smart” devices affect security.
Over the three weeks of the course we will look at these topics from different perspectives: the user’s, a potential attacker’s and a business’s. We’ll also discuss how research underway at Newcastle University addresses these topics.

1. Privacy online: What is privacy? We begin by looking into our own beliefs and practices when it comes to giving out our data online. What is the value of our personal data to businesses? And how can you find out what information about you is readily available online?
2. Payment safety: We make payments everyday, we purchase items at the store and we purchase items online, but how secure are these payments? How safe is our money? All of the different methods of payment cash, credit/debit card, cheque and bitcoin are a trade-off between security and convenience. We will look at constantly evolving race between the payment fraud and the security measures employed to prevent fraud.
3. Security at home: With increasing numbers of autonomous, internet-enabled devices in our homes and cars, on our wrists and in our clothes, how could they be misused? And what can we do about understanding and responding to the risks and threats?

Learn from cyber security researchers and practitioners
The course is presented by researchers and practitioners from Newcastle University’s School of Computing Science, an acknowledged Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research (ACE-CSR).
The team conduct research in areas such as cryptography and information assurance with a focus on understanding the human element of cyber security - victims, investigators and attackers. Each topic is led by a research expert in that field.

What topics will you cover?

• Privacy online: What is privacy? We began by looking into our own beliefs and practices when it comes to giving out our data online. What is the value of our personal data to businesses? And how can you find out what information about you is readily available online?
• Payment safety: We make payments everyday, we purchase items at the store and we purchase items online, but how secure are these payments? How safe is our money? All of the different methods of payment cash, credit/debit card, cheque and bitcoin are a trade-off between security and convenience. We looked at constantly evolving race between the payment fraud and the security measures employed to prevent fraud.
• Security at home: With increasing numbers of autonomous, internet-enabled devices in our homes and cars, on our wrists and in our clothes, how could they be misused? And what can we do about understanding and responding to the risks and threats?

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

• Explore the trade-offs between security and convenience in everyday life
• Explain key topics in cybersecurity
• Debate good practice in giving out data online
• Assess the value of personal data to commercial businesses
• Explore the evolving battle between payment fraud and fraud prevention
• Investigate the risks and mitigations in our use of "smart" devices