UUY-CYB 1222 units100 LevelSecond Semester

Principles and Practice of Information Security

B.Sc. Cybersecurity, University of Uyo

An introduction to the core principles of information security: operating system protection mechanisms, intrusion detection, formal security models, cryptography and steganography, and the policy/regulatory dimension of protecting information and value across networks.

On Areté, UUY-CYB 122 comes with

  • 12 lecture-note topics
  • 45 past-paper questions
  • 2 recommended textbooks
  • an AI tutor that has read this course’s outline and notes
Sign in to study UUY-CYB 122

Free for University of Uyo students — sign in with your email, no password.

Course outline

  1. 01Operating system protection mechanisms
  2. 02Intrusion detection systems
  3. 03Formal models of security
  4. 04Cryptography and steganography
  5. 05Network and distributed system security
  6. 06Transfer of funds/value across networks; electronic voting security
  7. 07Secure application design
  8. 08Homeland cybersecurity policy and government regulation of information technology

Recommended textbooks

  • Principles of Information Security — Michael E. Whitman & Herbert J. Mattord

    6th ed. — the standard undergraduate security text

  • CompTIA Security+ Study Guide — Mike Chapple & David Seidl

    8th ed. — excellent practical coverage, aligns with SY0-601

How to pass UUY-CYB 122

  • The CIA triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability) is the lens through which every security concept is understood — internalise it
  • Read real breach case studies (Troy Hunt's blog, Krebs on Security) — they make abstract threats concrete
  • Professor Messer's free Security+ course covers most of this curriculum and is excellent
  • Social engineering is the most common attack vector — understand human psychology, not just technical controls
  • Scope triage: the examinable core is what was actually lectured — Lectures 1–4, which are sections 7–12 of the lecture notes (Whitman & Mattord chapters 1–4). Cryptography/steganography and funds transfer/e-voting sit in the course outline but were never taught, so revise them last if at all
  • Written paper, not CBT: a 10-mark question wants roughly five distinct points, each named and then explained in a sentence or two. One long unbroken paragraph scores badly even when everything in it is correct — the marker is counting points
  • Structure every long answer the same way: define the term, explain the mechanism, give an example or a diagram, then link it to a neighbouring concept. A repeatable skeleton stops you freezing on a question you half-know
  • Practise reproducing the diagrams from memory with their labels — the McCumber Cube, the TCP three-way handshake, the SDLC waterfall, top-down vs bottom-up. "With the aid of a diagram" is a standard question stem and the labels are where the marks are
  • On a four-from-six paper in two hours, budget about 30 minutes per question: 5 planning the points, 20 writing, 5 checking. Read all six and pick your four before you write a single word
  • Where a list is long (the fifteen threat categories, for instance) the question will ask for "any five" — so learn five you can explain properly rather than fifteen you can only name

Other 100 Level courses

Lecture notes, practice questions and the AI tutor for UUY-CYB 122 are available once you sign in.

Sign in to Areté