Course descriptions and timetable

The course consists of 4 smaller courses that can and must be completed during a certain period of time. All course material will be available on this web page when the course starts; however the material for the courses that have not yet started is not shown.

All course material is in English.

For students at University of Helsinki: the first 2 courses correspond to a bachelor-level course Introduction to Cyber Security (TKT20009), while the last 2 courses correspond to a master-level course Cyber Security II (CSM13204).

Introduction to Cyber Security: MOOC (TKT200094), 3 CR (ECTS)

Schedule: 7.9.2026 — 13.12.2026

This part focuses on security issues related to interconnected software. The participant will learn the principles of developing web applications, typical security issues that are related to such applications, and how such issues are discovered and mitigated.

The course also contains a project. Here, the participants will construct software with security flaws, point out the flaws in the project, and provide the steps to fix them.

Estimated required hours to complete the programming exercises: 16-80 hours, depending on the background. Estimated required hours to complete the project: 6-30 hours, depending on the background.

Introduction to Cyber Security: Exam (TKT200095), 2 CR (ECTS)

Schedule: 19.10.2026 — 20.12.2026 and 8.3.2027 — 14.3.2027

This part of the course series will introduce the participant to the relevant issues in cyber security. These issues include the stakeholders' and users' ability to disrupt the functionality of a system; corporate responsibilities and liabilities; and the never-ending software crisis that is related to the increasing amount of software and maintenance. Estimated required hours to complete the course: 6-30 hours, depending on the background.

The exam is an examinarium exam that needs to be done during the given schedule.

Cyber Security II: MOOC (CSM132044), 3 CR (ECTS)

Schedule: 18.1.2027 — 9.5.2027

The course consists of three parts.

The first part focuses on relevant cryptography topics and more advanced network security topics. Estimated required hours to complete the course: 14-70 hours, depending on the background.

The second part is a project, where the participants will install an operating system with a variety of vulnerabilities and then install a network intrusion prevention system into it. Subsequently, the participants will familiarize themselves with penetration testing software, and attack the system they installed. Estimated required hours to complete the course: 6-20 hours, depending on the background.

The third part, a capture the flag (CTF) competition will be organized at the end of the course series. In the competition, participants will be given a variety of tasks that are related to the topics of the course series. Participants will gain points for every solved task. Estimated required hours to complete the course: 6-20 hours, depending on the background.

Cyber Security II: Exam (CSM132045), 2 CR (ECTS)

Schedule: 8.3.2027 — 16.5.2027 and 24.8.2027 — 30.8.2027

This part focuses on security in networks, including internet security issues, issues in mobile networks. This includes also relevant cryptography topics. Architectural analysis of existing (software) systems will be also visited, and selected methods for log mining for the purposes of identifying and tackling attacks will be studied. Estimated required hours to complete the course: 6-30 hours, depending on the background.