Security Assessment and Validation - 2025 entry

Even if systems have been developed with security in mind, their security needs to be assessed regularly, as, e.g., new attacks might be developed. Thus, assessing and validating the security of systems, e.g., penetration testing is an important part of cyber security. In this module you will learn the theory and practice of assessing the security of systems and applications both using manual techniques as well as automated approaches. The module focuses on offensive security that might be used by “red teams.”

This module aims to give you a broad understanding in analysing the weaknesses of a system, i.e., the areas an attacker would most likely attack a system. Driven by the discovered weaknesses, we will discuss several offensive security techniques, i.e., simulate how a threat actor (attacker) might gain access to a system, or the data processed by a system. 

In more detail, the aims of the module are to enable you to

• assess the security weaknesses of a system
• develop a strategy how to attack a system
• understand the both the social and technical foundations for attacking systems or organisations
• understand the ethical responsibilities of an offensive security researcher

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

Module Specific Skills and Knowledge

Discipline Specific Skills and Knowledge

Personal and Key Transferable / Employment Skills and Knowledge

The module will cover:

• Threat analysis
• Social engineering
• Manual security testing (penetration testing)
• Vulnerability scanning
• Automated security testing
• Exploit development

Reassessment will be by coursework and/or written exam in the failed or deferred element only. For referred candidates, the module mark will be capped at 40%. For deferred candidates, the module mark will be uncapped.

Basic reading:

• TBC

Web based and Electronic Resources:

• ELE

Other Resources:

Reading list for this module: