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The courses are grouped into a basic and an advanced programme. When selecting the standard programme (basic or advanced), we guarantee that no courses will overlap in your schedule. When choosing courses from both the basic and advanced programmes, you must ensure that you have the required prior knowledge. Please note that you are responsible for selecting courses that match your level. No intake interview is required if you apply for the standard programme (basic or advanced). The Cultural & Socio-economic Introduction to Belgium course is mandatory.

In our experience, the advanced courses can be quite challenging for some exchange students, and we want to ensure that you have the necessary background knowledge. If you are unsure, please contact us.

Course unit descriptions for this programme (course catalogue)

Cyber Security Basics

These are basic courses, no prior knowledge needed.

Computer Networks (6ECTS)

  • Introduction (terminology, types of computer networks, network components etc.)
  • Usage of a NOS (network operating system)
  • Network models and protocols
  • Network access (wired vs wireless)
  • Ethernet
  • Network layer
  • Transport layer
  • IP addressing and subnetting
  • Application layer
  • Network security
  • Static routing
  • VLAN
  • NAT

Web Pentesting Fundamentals (3ECTS)

Web Pentesting based on the OWASP top 10.

  • Fingerprinting
  • XSS
  • SQLi
  • ...

Web Backend (3ECTS)

  • Advanced HTML
  • Advanced JavaScript techniques
  • Server-side scripting
  • Cascading Style Sheets

The use of git for creating and submitting delivered work is inextricably linked to this course.

Linux for Ethical Hackers (6ECTS)

Content for this course includes:

- Command line principles
- Working with files and directories
- Archiving and compression
- Managing packages and processes
- Network Services configuration
- Manage users and groups
- Ownership and permissions (including sudo)
- Special permissions, links & file locations
- Basic bash scripting
- Scheduling
- logging

NIST CSF 1.1 categories

Protect
- PR.PT-1: Audit/log records are determined, documented, implemented, and reviewed in accordance with policy

Learning paths

Linux
- Special permissions (setgid, setuid) [1.1 Linux]
- Account management (password file, shadow file, sudo) [1.1 Linux]
- Ssh (public key authentication, port forwarding, agent) [1.1 Linux]
- TMUX [1.1 Linux]
- Other shells [1.1 Linux]
- Package management [1.1 Linux]
- Archiving and compression, rsync [1.1 Linux]
- Hard and soft links [1.1 Linux]
-Mount, dd, [1.1 Linux]
- Network config: interfaces, iproute2, networkmanager, systemd-networkd, [1.1 Linux]
- Systemd services [1.1 Linux]
- Logging [1.1 Linux]
- Scheduling [1.1 Linux]
- Basic bash scripting [1.1 Linux]
- Working with text files, file system hierarchy, find [1.1 Linux]
- ntp client [1.1 Linux]
- tools [1.1 Linux]
- Distros: Kali, Debian [1.1 Linux]

CyBOK 1.1 knowledge areas
- isolation [4.5 Operating Systems and Virtualization Security]
- mediation [4.5 Operating Systems and Virtualization Security]
- design choices [4.5 Operating Systems and Virtualization Security]
- security domains [4.5 Operating Systems and Virtualization Security]

ENISA CSF skills and knowledge
- Operating systems security

Data Privacy and IT Law (3ECTS)

Study of the most important legal points of interest:

  • Intellectual Property
  • Electronic commerce
  • Law of obligations & in detail IT contracts
  • Proof and electronic signature
  • Open source software
  • Privacy and data processing
  • Camera legislation
  • Computer crime law

Capture the Flag (3ECTS)

Capture the Flag is a guided exercise in which students search in groups for "flags" that have been deliberately hidden in code and environments.

The following flags belong to the categories:
- Forensics
- Networking
- Cryptography
- Web Exploitation
- Reverse engineering
- Binary exploitation

The emphasis in this module is on web exploitation but also contains some networking flags.
The output of the project is a report in which the student describes the search. Be aware of the fact that no 2nd change exam is possible for this module!

Scripting and Code Analysis (6ECTS)

This course aims at two objectives: learning to script sufficiently from the perspective of a cybersecurity professional and being able to analyze existing application code using automated tools (including
interpretation).

The content is:
- Scripting basics and libraries for network and OS (Python and best practices)
- Static code analysis (SAST, DAST): setup, configuration, interpretation
- Programming with AI and interpretation
- Building a network scanner
- Scripting for the web and interaction with API's
- DevSecOps

Cultural & socio-economic introduction to Belgium (3ECTS)

You will learn about Belgian and Flemish culture (history, architecture, literature, music, ...), political structure and socio-economic data, all in comparison to the socioeconomic data of your home country. This course includes a survival course Dutch, a cultural and historical walk through Bruges, and if possible, also a visit to the Parlamentarium and the European Parliament in Brussels and an additional visit specifically linked to the English-taught semester you follow.

  • History of Flanders & Belgium
  • Political system in Belgium & Europe
  • Belgian Economy
  • Health & Wellfare system in Belgium
  • Crash course Dutch

Cyber Security Advanced

These are more advanced courses. You need to have basic understanding in computer networks and (Python) scripting.

Network and System Pentesting (6ECTS)

More info to follow

Risk Management, Threat Modelling and Security Policy (3ECTS)

  • Requirements and risk management
    • System model
    • Security objectives
    • Risk assessment
  • Threats: attacker model
    • Attack patterns: CAPEC, MAEC, ...
    • Threat modeling: STRIDE-LM, LINDDUN, DREAD, ...
    • Threat intelligence: Pyramid of pain, Lockheed Martin Kill chain, Diamond, ATT&CK (incl ICS), CAR, CAPEC, CWE, CVE, OWASP, ...
  • Mitigations: Defense model
    • Security controls
    • Security and data protection by design
    • Incident response
  • Compliance and governance
    • Frameworks: ISO 27K, COBIT, COBIT Risk, COBIT Information Security, NIST SP 800.53, NIST CSF, CMMI, CIS, PCI DSS, ...
    • Legal: GDPR, LED, NIS, EIDAS, E-privacy, EU cybersecurity act, PSD2, PNR, ...
    • Security organisation and conclusions
  • Case study
  • Threat identification (information security and data protection)
  • Threat risk assessment
  • Controls

Web Security and Honeypot (6ECTS)

Setting up secure Web Environments with HTTPS, WAF and authentication in different types of webservers (Apache, NGINX,...)

Next to the web environment we'll set up a logging environment to monitor the activity.

In the second part of the course we'll set up a Honeypot in a group project

Datacenter Virtualisation and Cloud Security (6ECTS)

Elements covered

  • Different storage architectures
  • Various storage techniques for flexibility and redundancy
  • Multiple methods for server virtualization
  • Containers

Cyberops (6ECTS)

Elements covered:

Linux

  • Different Linux distros and shells
  • Network configuration / firewalling (eg iptables, ...)
  • Authentication (eg NSS, PAM, ... )
  • Other security techniques (eg SELinux, ...)

...

Windows

  • Windows Server
  • Auditing and Logging (eg audit GPOs, ...)
  • Update management (eg WSUS, ...)
  • Security (eg Bitlocker, ...)

...

Mixed Linux/Windows environments (eg Powershell on Linux, Linux in AD, ...)

Cultural & socio-economic introduction to Belgium (3ECTS)

You will learn about Belgian and Flemish culture (history, architecture, literature, music, ...), political structure and socio-economic data, all in comparison to the socioeconomic data of your home country. This course includes a survival course Dutch, a cultural and historical walk through Bruges, and if possible, also a visit to the Parlamentarium and the European Parliament in Brussels and an additional visit specifically linked to the English-taught semester you follow.

  • History of Flanders & Belgium
  • Political system in Belgium & Europe
  • Belgian Economy
  • Health & Wellfare system in Belgium
  • Crash course Dutch