Managing Information Security Risks, Threats, and Vulnerabilities

Geared toward entry-level IT professionals, this course addresses mitigation techniques that reduce risk to IT environments. Topics include port scans, vulnerability assessments, and virus scans.

Defending a network and the data it contains involves multiple approaches and countermeasures. This web-based course covers the fundamentals of information systems security and offers hands-on practice with countermeasures against malicious code and network attacks. Throughout the course, you will have access to online resources including texts, lectures, and virtual labs that duplicate real-world scenarios. Qualified instructors are available to answer questions about the content and theory.

The course includes three labs that address performing reconnaissance and probing, vulnerability assessments, and eliminating threats. In the first lab, you’ll explore the tools used within the virtual lab environment. You will use PuTTY to connect to perform several Cisco IOS operations on a Linux server and use Zenmap to perform a basic reconnaissance of the targeted machine. Next, you will use Nmap commands in Zenmap to scan the virtual network and identify devices, the operating systems, and services running on them. You will also use OpenVAS to conduct a vulnerability assessment and record the high risk vulnerabilities identified. You will use the information gathered to make mitigation recommendations. Finally, you will learn how to use the AVG antivirus software to identify malware found on a compromised system, disable unnecessary services running on the system, and then configure the Windows Firewall, enable ICMP traffic, and create a new rule for the FileZilla Server application.