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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Introduction to Cyber Attacks by New York University

4.7
stars
2,754 ratings

About the Course

This course provides learners with a baseline understanding of common cyber security threats, vulnerabilities, and risks. An overview of how basic cyber attacks are constructed and applied to real systems is also included. Examples include simple Unix kernel hacks, Internet worms, and Trojan horses in software utilities. Network attacks such as distributed denial of service (DDOS) and botnet- attacks are also described and illustrated using real examples from the past couple of decades. Familiar analytic models are outlined such as the confidentiality/integrity/availability (CIA) security threat framework, and examples are used to illustrate how these different types of threats can degrade real assets. The course also includes an introduction to basic cyber security risk analysis, with an overview of how threat-asset matrices can be used to prioritize risk decisions. Threats, vulnerabilities, and attacks are examined and mapped in the context of system security engineering methodologies....

Top reviews

PH

Jun 27, 2020

Ed is a very engaging instructor and tries to make the content applicable and understandable. I would recommend this course for anyone who is looking for an introduction to the world of cybersecurity!

HI

Mar 3, 2020

I'm so glad I could complete this course as I look forward to continuing other courses on Cyber attacks. Its been helpful as it gave me the background knowledge as to what is needed in Cyber Security.

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1 - 25 of 727 Reviews for Introduction to Cyber Attacks

By Sandra H

Nov 13, 2019

Your estimates of required time to complete readings and other homework are GROSSLY understated. In addition, some links to required reading do not work and have not worked in a very long time. Prior students have written to you about them, but you have not done anything to remedy their/my complaint. This course also requires previous experience in cybersecurity but you list it as a beginner's course.

By Bianca K

Feb 26, 2019

The material covered in this course is interesting. Let down by lack of quality control and amendments on problems with the content (Recommend you check the discussion board for comments about issues with quiz questions before you attempt to answer as you may find that the 'correct' answer is probably one of the ones you discount because there is a wording issue). Questions seem to test your reading skills more than knowledge of the subject (yes, i should read the question properly before selecting an answer but are you testing my literacy or understanding of the subject matter?)

By Bryan C

Mar 10, 2018

Course moves too slow; Feels like everything is being drawn out to try and collect more money rather than actually teach; Instructor seems more interested in name dropping and talking about his past jobs/connections than teaching the subject; Tests don't match materials or come before materials are presented; Some lectures are slightly inaccurate or misleading in the way they're presented; Generally poor teaching methods that don't focus on student comprehension. Reading materials and third-party videos are good.

By Nicholas F d O

Dec 4, 2019

Overall this is a decent---very basic---primer on cybersecurity and I would give it 5 stars were it not for one critical thing: there is absolutely no support from NYU. Here is what I mean. Everything was going great until week 4. The final quiz asks the student to choose the risk level as low, medium or high for various types of threats. The problem was that we were told that this type of threat assessment based on the CIA model and the different types of assets depends on the entity/company, but all the information we are given is that it is a software company. Now, forget for a second that this is highly counter-intuitive to the student based on the learning material so far, because guess what? If a student is confused about the material they have a way to communicate with professor/teaching staff and clear the doubts right? Well, in Coursera you have a forum for each course, which is supposed to be how they deal with this---you can't well expects 1-on-1 communication for the nominal fee we are paying and the fact that there are potentially thousands of students enrolled at any point in time. But here is where I had a problem. When I went to the forum several people had the exact same doubt, and had posted a question about it a month ago. No reply from NYU in a month! I mean, it's not like the forum is inundated with questions that the instructors are having to struggle to answer. There are only a few questions and they all seem to have gone unanswered! So for a MOOC with thousands of students, which should have some high aggregate value NYU can spare, what? An hour a month? Two hours a month tops to answer questions? Not even a graduate TA to answer on Amoroso's behalf if he is too busy? This can't be anything other than neglect and apathy. They are dropping the ball and losing the chance to tackle some low-hanging fruit issues in their course. In my opinion, and others too, the final should not be multiple choice but have short answers with justifications for the choices. But if that's not going to happen at least answer our questions.

By saitejas m

May 23, 2020

Dr.Amoroso

was really awesome I previously took a cybersecurity class in my college but never really learned much about the cyber attacks. It is a great class to start your cyber security journey.

By Cristian I

Dec 22, 2019

This course was phenomenal. As someone who has had prior cybersecurity experience and who is familiar with the basic terminology and aspects of cybersecurity I was a bit skeptical as to whether this course would be beneficial. Needless to say, I learned a tremendous amount in this course. I love the way Dr. Amoroso teaches the course and explains the material. His way of building the student from the ground up is, in my opinion, the best way to learn. Like he states in some of his lectures, many times we want to dive in to the technical aspects of security: how do I write code, how do I detect malware, what tools can I use for reverse engineering. But in this course Dr. Amoroso teaches us how to think about cybersecurity and risk management. He teaches us from day 1 with the soda machine example how to view a system and a setting and identify the assets and the threat types and build a plan, to no just try to tackle a problem blindly. Like he states, there are many ways to try to solve a problem. I feel this is a great foundational course and will highly recommend it to any of my colleagues who wish to pursue a career in cybersecurity or learn more about it.

By Douglas W

Nov 19, 2019

Absolutely appalling course, it is supposed to be a beginners course yet you are expected to read papers that are thousands of words long, containing highly technical information that to most beginners is utter jibberish. There are far too many videos to watch before you reach the quiz, the videos themselves are very technical, then you are expected to answer very difficult questions. This is without a doubt the worst online course I have ever taken.

By Maureen W

Apr 14, 2021

The Instructor was Incredibly knowledgable, and the videos were excellent. I was able to understand what he was talking about given my very little knowledge of cyber security prior to this course.

By Kossi G

Nov 18, 2019

First white paper reading is ridiculously technical. No way it can be beginner's level. Prior knowledge is definitely required. I was interested with the videos until the first reading assignment. Complete turn-off.

By Anna U

Dec 30, 2019

I take this course after completing the IBM IT Fundamentals for Cybersecurity. The courses are different and can be a great addition to each other. NYU Tandon School of Engineering course gives a more practical view of its subject and provides a lot of special information about cybersecurity problems and threats. I liked the additional reading materials. Thanks a lot and applause for the lector.

By Mohamed M E

May 12, 2019

كم اني سعيد هنا وكم اني اشكر معلمي وموقع كورسيرا

والله هذا هو الموقع الصحيح للتعليم في عصر التكنلوجيا

اوصياكل اصدقائي فرق ومنك وتعلم بي المجان في موقع

كورسيرا شكرا مره اخره

By Troy W

Feb 2, 2020

I was skeptical of this course initially because it seemed to be lacking in content at first glance, however I must say that it was both very informative and also a bit challenging. Although the course requires little technical knowledge, it covers cyber threats from a high-level perspective and does so in a way that really makes you think hard in order to pass the quizzes. In addition, I really liked the friendly demeanor of the instructor.

By Dan H

Sep 17, 2018

Overall, I really enjoyed this course. Ed is a fantastic teacher. My only complaint (and why I did not give it 5 stars) is with the final exam. The instructions states that the answers are subjective, however I had to take the test over and over until I got the correct choices they were looking for. As an example, who knows if software sells person working from home has confiidentiality risk of high, medium, or low? I think it is pretty subjective, and I would have had to get more information about their work environment to really make that call. It was an excersize in frustration.

By Alain M

Feb 3, 2020

Ed is a charismatic and engaging lecturer who, based on his extensive engineering and cybersecurity background and experience, is able to distill the essential elements and convey them in a clear and concise way. Being new to the field I had some misconceptions about the approach and methods of cybersecurity, but thanks to this course I have a much better understanding of not only its crucial role in any organization, but also of its limitations against the increasing scope and sophistication of attacks. This course has motivated me to continue on this journey.

By Pablo R A

Jan 25, 2019

Love the energy of Dr. Edward G. Amoroso in each video, the fact you sense he is enjoying giving the class and that he uses examples, stories and plain language to communicate highly complex topics in an easy to understand way, I greatly appreciated and highly recommend! Coming from another sector completely different and that I never knew anything of cyber attacks and from Spain being English a second language I feel it was worth my time and learned a great deal! Thank you!

By Lixiaoxu

May 8, 2019

This course is my first lesson in the security world. It is very important to me. The teacher's teaching method is vivid and the examples are just right. It helps newcomers like me to understand. I will continue the following courses. Master more professional knowledge!

By Phoebe H

Jun 28, 2020

Ed is a very engaging instructor and tries to make the content applicable and understandable. I would recommend this course for anyone who is looking for an introduction to the world of cybersecurity!

By Spencer B

Feb 21, 2021

Great course, I really enjoyed the teacher and the assigned materials. I had no idea about cybersecurity before starting and it was very informative and the graded quizzes helped cement the ideas.

By Abhijit

Feb 26, 2018

Great introduction to cybersecurity concepts with relevant supplemental material in the form of journal papers, magazine articles and supporting TED talks and videos. Highly recommended!

By Rishabh J

May 3, 2019

It was fun and challenging. There were few areas were in the quiz where I need to google a few terms which I have not heard before. But other than that it was really fun. Learned a lot.

By Jason E

Mar 2, 2018

I love this instructor. He makes learning a lot more fun , especially when he gives a real world description of the point he's trying to get across. Well done :) Thanks for this course!

By Chris R

Jun 20, 2019

This course is excellent if you're in the computer community but are new to cybersecurity. Ed Amarosa is a people person who genuinely seems to love this material and conveys his enthusiasm through the whole course. He's probably the best instructor I've had on Coursera. This class gives an excellent basic taxonomy of cybersecurity and a structured way to think about how to create a strategy to address a company's potential cyber weaknesses. The quizzes are some of the more difficult ones that I've taken in a Coursera class, but that's a good thing. You will be expected to read the material, which isn't true of all Coursera classes. But that high standard is part of why I highly recommend this course. You will come out of the class and have learned something.

By Daniel L

Apr 29, 2020

Brilliant enjoyable, informative and fun introduction to cyber security. My only suggestions would be that we get more feedback from quizzes especially when they are not just multiple choice. Most online courses today provide feedback to students as part of the consolidation of learning a new discipline. Run by a highly credible university NYU you would expect this. Also, it would be helpful if discussion moderators commented on student comments and answered questions. Other than that I feel the course gave me a really good foundation on the concepts and practicalities of cyber security. I am keen to know more!

By Henry I

Mar 4, 2020

I'm so glad I could complete this course as I look forward to continuing other courses on Cyber attacks. Its been helpful as it gave me the background knowledge as to what is needed in Cyber Security.

By Ketu P

May 19, 2020

really good

i have certified network security specialist

comptia sec + but this course cover some gaps

really very good course and instructor sis too good and teaching like our friend