CSC-44116 - Module Specification
School of Computer Science and Mathematics
Faculty of Natural Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2025/26

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2025/26

For security to be effective, it must be usable and designed to work for people. This module sits at the intersection of usability and security and covers areas such as usable security, human-centred design principles in cyber security, Operating Systems and Virtualisation Security, Secure and Usable Software and Application, risk management, AI in cyber security, policy and ethics of usable security. We will look at the influence of human factors such as social engineering and usability on security, along with behavioural psychology in security, and training issues; giving you a broader view of the area, beyond standard approaches.

This module aims to enable students to:
• Gain an understanding of the role human factors and behavioural psychology play in cybersecurity and how to design security systems that are acceptable and usable to a variety of users
• Learn key human-centred design principles in cybersecurity to help in reasoning and designing security solutions – systems, tools, techniques, practices – that are effective and easy for end-users to understand, adopt, and apply
• Establish a basic understanding of core cybersecurity concepts, including systems, threats, vulnerabilities, attack vectors, impacts, security risk management, socio-technical systems, social engineering tactics, and human error causes
• Learn and apply foundational artificial intelligence (AI) concepts and approaches to cybersecurity, covering machine learning types, data sources, and AI techniques for various cybersecurity applications, including intrusion detection, malware detection, and classification
• consider broader organisational and societal perspectives on security, emphasising the importance of trust and collaboration for effective cybersecurity
• Learn how to engage stakeholders and negotiate security solutions that meet their needs
• Critically analyse the human factors influencing cybersecurity systems, design usable security tasks and awareness training campaigns, and apply artificial intelligence techniques for achieving or enhancing cybersecurity objectives

Intended Learning Outcomes

Explain basic components of threat modelling and vulnerability analysis and demonstrate their application on cybersecurity systems: 1
Evaluate different security risk management approaches and design the risk assessment for specific use case scenarios: 1,2
Appraise the capabilities and limitations of target users, the devices they use, and develop an effective approach to encourage a positive security culture by enhancing security awareness and behaviour change: 1
Design well-fitting security tasks that consider mental and physical workload by evaluating them using system usability test metrics: 1
Apply basic machine learning approaches for achieving or enhancing cyber security objectives: 2
Evaluate literature and views related to usable cyber security and synthesise into summary insights: 1,2

Study hours

Lectures: - 36 hours [6 hours each per week]
Practicals/Tutorials: - 36 hours [6 hours each per week]
Private Study: - 106 hours
Assessment Preparation: - 122 hours

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment