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Cybersecurity Case Studies and Capstone Project

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IntermediateCourse

Get the practical cybersecurity analysis experience employers look for with this immersive, hands-on capstone course.

4.8 (1k+ Reviews)

Language

  • English

Topic

  • Security

Enrollment Count

  • 61.31K

Skills You Will Learn

  • Incident Response, Penetration Testing, Digital Forensics, Network Security

Offered By

  • IBMSkillsNetwork

Estimated Effort

  • 6 weeks

Platform

  • Coursera

Last Update

  • April 29, 2025
About this Course
Gain the real-world experience of cybersecurity analysis employers look for with this hands-on capstone course.

In this course, you’ll analyze real-life breach response case studies in areas such as phishing, vishing, point of sale (PoS) breaches, insider threats, AI-related breaches, and ransomware attacks. 

You’ll discover how attackers exploit vulnerabilities and how organizations respond and prevent future incidents.

Additionally, you’ll gain expertise in incident response, digital forensics, penetration testing, and compliance through engaging case study analysis. You’ll complete several hands-on activities to assess response strategies and propose improvements. 

The course concludes with a final project, where you’ll select a real-world data breach, identify vulnerabilities, and assess the root cause, actions taken, and response strategies. Plus, a structured template will guide you to critically record observations and propose actionable improvements for breach management. This capstone course is a fantastic experience to talk about in interviews!

If you’re keen to add practical cybersecurity experience to your resume, enroll today to complete this valuable capstone project in just six weeks!

Course Syllabus

Module 1: Analyzing Case Study Layouts & Phishing Case Studies 
Lesson 1: Welcome to the Course
  • Video: Course Introduction 
  • Reading: Course Overview  
  • Reading: Course Tracker/Syllabus
  • Plugin/Reading: Helpful Tips for Course Completion
Lesson 2: Analyzing Case Studies
  • Video: Exploring Case Studies 
  • Video: How to Analyze Case Studies 
  • Reading: Effective Layout for Analyzing Case Studies 
  • Practice Quiz: Analyzing Case Studies 
Lesson 3: Phishing Scams
  • Video: Overview of Phishing Scams 
  • Activity: Can you Spot the Difference 
  • Reading: Cisco Cyber Threat Trends Report 
  • Video: Phishing Case Study: Google & Facebook 
  • Reading: Analyzing the Facebook and Google Case Study
  • Video: Vishing Case Study: South Korean Doctor
  • Activity: Identifying and Responding to Phishing Attacks
  • Practice Quiz: Phishing Scams 
Module Summary and Assessment 
  • Reading: Summary and Highlights: Analyzing Case Study Layouts & Phishing Case Studies 
  • Graded Assignment: Graded Quiz: Analyzing Case Study Layouts & Phishing Case Studies 
Module 2: Analyzing PoS & Insider Breach Case Studies 
Lesson 1: Point of Sale (PoS) Breaches
  • Video: Overview of PoS Breaches 
  • Video: PoS Malware and Skimming 
  • Video: PoS Case Study: Target  
  • Reading: Cyber Kill Chain Analysis of the Target Breach
  • Video: PoS Case Study:Home Depot
  • Activity: Analyzing the Home Depot Case Study 
  • Practice Quiz: Point of Sale (PoS) Breaches 
Lesson 2: Insider Breaches
  • Video: Overview of Insider Breaches 
  • Video: Insider Threat Detection
  • Reading: Mitigating Insider Threats
  • Video: Insider Breach Case Study: Vault 7 
  • Video: Insider Breach Case Study: Pegasus Airlines
  • Activity: Analyzing the Pegasus Airlines Case Study 
  • Practice Quiz: Insider Breaches 
Module Summary and Assessment
  • Reading: Summary and Highlights: Analyzing PoS & Insider Breach Case Studies 
  • Graded Quiz: Analyzing PoS & Insider Breach Case Studies 
Module 3: Analyzing AI-Related Breaches and Ransomware Case Studies
Lesson 1: AI-Related Breaches
  • Video: Overview of AI-Related Breaches 
  • Reading: The Emerging Impact of AI on Data Breaches  
  • Video: AI-Related Breach Case Study: Deepfake Conference Call
  • Activity : Analyzing the Deepfake Case Study 
  • Video: Notable AI-Related Breaches 
  • Practice Quiz: AI-Related Breaches
Lesson 2: Ransomware Breaches
  • Video: Overview of Ransomware Breaches 
  • Reading: Emerging Trends in Ransomware 
  • Video: Ransomware Case Study: City of Atlanta 
  • Video: Ransomware Case Study: Colonial Pipeline 
  • Activity: Navigating through a Ransomware Attack
  • Practice Quiz: Ransomware Breaches
Module Summary and Assessment 
  • Reading: Summary and Highlights: Analyzing AI-Related Breaches and Ransomware Case Studies 
  • Graded Quiz: Analyzing AI-Related Breaches and Ransomware Case Studies 
Module 4: Analyzing Incident Response and Digital Forensics Case Studies
Lesson 1: Incident Response
  • Video: Overview of Incident Response 
  • Video: Incident Response Case Study: Google Home
  • Video: Incident Response Case Study: Lightning Strikes 
  • Activity: Analyzing the Lightning Strikes Case Study 
  • Reading: When Incident Response Goes Wrong
  • Practice Quiz: Incident Response
Lesson 2: Digital Forensics
  • Video: Overview of Digital Forensics 
  • Video: Digital Forensics Case Study: Bernard Madoff
  • Video: Digital Forensics Case Study: U.S. versus Ganias
  • Activity: Responding to a Digital Forensics Warrant
  • Reading: Digital Forensics Gone Wrong 
  • Practice Quiz: Digital Forensics 
Module Summary and Assessment 
  • Reading: Summary and Highlights: Analyzing Incident Response and Digital Forensics Case Studies 
  • Graded Quiz: Analyzing Incident Response and Digital Forensics Case Studies
Module 5: Analyzing Penetration Testing and Compliance Case Studies
Lesson 1: Penetration Testing
  • Video: Overview of Penetration Testing 
  • Video: Penetration Testing Case Study: Equifax 
  • Video: Penetration Testing Case Study: X-Force Red  
  • Activity: Analyzing the Penetration Testing Case Study: IBM X- Force Red
  • Reading: Penetration Testing Tales 
  • Practice Quiz: Penetration Testing
Lesson 2: Compliance
  • Video: Overview of Compliance 
  • Video: Compliance Case Study: Marriott 
  • Video: Compliance Case Study: Equiniti
  • Mark: Analyzing the Equiniti Case Study 
  • Reading: The Largest Cybersecurity Fines in History
  • Practice Quiz: Compliance 
Module Summary and Assessment 
  • Reading: Summary and Highlights: Analyzing Penetration Testing and Compliance Case Studies 
  • Graded Quiz: Analyzing Penetration Testing and Compliance Case Studies 
Module 6: Final Project and Course Wrap-Up
Lesson 1: Final Project Name
  • Reading: About the Course Project 
  • Video: Introduction to Final Project: Analyzing a Data Breach  
  • Final Project: Analyzing a Data Breach  
  • Final Project: Submission and Evaluation 
Lesson 2: Course Wrap Up
  • Video: Course Wrap-up 
  • Reading: Congratulations and Next Steps
  • Reading: Team and Acknowledgments

Recommended Skills Prior to Taking this Course

Prior knowledge of network security, threat hunting, incident response, penetration testing, and digital forensics is recommended.

Instructors

Rav Ahuja

Global Program Director, IBM Skills Network

Rav Ahuja is a Global Program Director at IBM. He leads growth strategy, curriculum creation, and partner programs for the IBM Skills Network. Rav co-founded Cognitive Class, an IBM led initiative to democratize skills for in demand technologies. He is based out of the IBM Canada Lab in Toronto and specializes in instructional solutions for AI, Data, Software Engineering and Cloud. Rav presents at events worldwide and has authored numerous papers, articles, books and courses on subjects in managing and analyzing data. Rav holds B. Eng. from McGill University and MBA from University of Western Ontario.

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