The capstone week brings together all prior concepts, emphasizing integration as the defining quality of resilient design. Students learn that resilience arises not from isolated tools but from coherent architectures that link cryptography, identity, networks, applications, and supply chains into a unified strategy. Frameworks such as NIST CSF, ISO 27001, FAIR, and OWASP are revisited as guides for aligning technical measures with organizational priorities.

Case studies contrast failures of design—flat networks, poor identity controls—with examples of resilient architectures that contained damage and supported rapid recovery. Governance, communication, and humility are emphasized as traits of effective leadership. Learners finish the course prepared to explain trade-offs, design layered defenses, and lead with adaptability. The ultimate outcome of secure design is trust—confidence that systems will function reliably even under attack.
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This week addresses the rapidly evolving threat landscape. Ransomware is studied from its early origins to its present role as a multimillion-dollar business model, while advanced persistent threats demonstrate the persistence and adaptability of state-sponsored actors. Insider threats add complexity, highlighting the difficulty of defending against misuse of legitimate credentials. Frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK, STRIDE, and DREAD provide structured ways to map adversary behavior and anticipate weaknesses.

Students examine case studies including ransomware attacks on healthcare and the SolarWinds compromise, illustrating the systemic and human consequences of modern campaigns. Defensive strategies such as zero trust, microsegmentation, threat hunting, and layered defense are explored, alongside the challenges of cost and complexity. By the end of the week, learners will recognize that adaptability is the defining characteristic of resilience, requiring continuous monitoring, cultural change, and leadership commitment.
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Applications and APIs form the backbone of digital services, enabling everything from online banking to global supply chains. Students study common weaknesses cataloged in the OWASP Top 10, including injection, misconfiguration, and weak session management, as well as the specific risks of mobile and API security. Case studies of T-Mobile and Peloton highlight how weak APIs expose sensitive data, while the persistence of SQL injection shows that technical knowledge alone is not enough—cultural and organizational discipline are required.

Attention is also given to testing methodologies such as static, dynamic, and interactive analysis, as well as runtime protections. Learners explore the secure software development lifecycle, where security is embedded from design through deployment. By the end of this week, students will appreciate that application security is both technical and cultural, demanding governance, training, and communication alongside tools and frameworks.
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Modern infrastructure has evolved from physical servers to cloud-native platforms, redefining both opportunities and risks. Students explore Infrastructure as Code, continuous integration and delivery, and the challenges of configuration drift. Case studies of pipeline compromises show how trusted automation can be weaponized, with vulnerabilities propagating across environments at unprecedented speed. The rise of the software supply chain as a critical risk vector, highlighted by SolarWinds, Log4j, and the XZ backdoor, demonstrates the systemic nature of modern threats.

Students examine supply chain visibility through tools such as Software Bills of Materials, as well as verification practices like digital signatures and reproducible builds. Frameworks including NIST SP 800-204D and OWASP pipeline guidance are introduced to provide structure. By the end of this week, learners will understand that resilience depends on both governance and technology, and that securing supply chains requires coordinated responsibility across developers, leaders, and regulators.
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This week highlights the role of architecture as the skeleton of security. Students learn how flat networks and perimeter-based models have failed under modern conditions, with the Target breach serving as a cautionary case. Defense in depth, segmentation, and microsegmentation are introduced as structural strategies for containing adversaries. The rise of zero trust architecture reframes trust as something to be earned continuously rather than assumed, while the lifecycle of SSL and TLS illustrates how protocols evolve to meet new demands.

Learners explore architectural trade-offs, where gains in performance or convenience often come at the expense of visibility and control. Case studies of Heartbleed and DigiNotar demonstrate how shared components and certificate authorities create systemic risks. By the end of the week, students will understand that secure design is about resilience and adaptability, balancing usability, cost, and complexity while embedding monitoring, redundancy, and recovery at the core.
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With the dissolution of traditional network perimeters, identity has emerged as the central gatekeeper of enterprise security. This week explores authentication, authorization, and access control as critical building blocks of trust. Students examine the weaknesses of passwords, the rise of multi-factor authentication, and the push toward passwordless and biometric methods. Federation protocols such as SAML, OAuth2, and OpenID Connect are studied for their role in enabling single sign-on and cloud adoption, while case studies of breaches at T-Mobile, Peloton, and Okta illustrate the dangers of misconfiguration and overreliance on central providers.

Attention also turns to insider threats, zero trust architecture, and machine identities, revealing how risk extends beyond human users. Learners explore how least privilege, monitoring, and governance provide defense against misuse of legitimate credentials. By the end of this week, students will understand why identity is both a technical and cultural challenge—an evolving frontier where usability, governance, and security converge.
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Cryptography serves as the scientific bedrock of confidentiality, authenticity, and integrity. Students will explore both symmetric and asymmetric encryption, comparing their respective strengths in performance and distribution. Hashing, digital signatures, and message authentication codes are introduced as complementary tools that secure modern transactions. Case studies highlight the lifecycle of algorithms, from the rise and fall of WEP and SHA-1 to the evolution from SSL to TLS, demonstrating that cryptography must be managed as a living system rather than a static solution.

The discussion also emphasizes pitfalls in implementation. Poor key management, outdated algorithms, and misconfigurations repeatedly undermine mathematically sound systems, showing that cryptography succeeds only when embedded in disciplined practices. The forward-looking dimension of post-quantum cryptography illustrates that even today’s strongest algorithms face eventual decline, requiring proactive planning. Learners finish this week with an appreciation for both the power and impermanence of cryptographic systems, and the responsibility to manage them as part of long-term resilience.
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This week introduces security as a foundational discipline rather than a collection of scattered tools. Learners will examine the enduring concepts of confidentiality, integrity, and availability, understanding how these principles anchor defenses across decades of technological change. The CIA triad is presented as a lens through which design choices can be evaluated, while resilience, governance, and accountability extend the model to reflect today’s enterprise priorities. By framing security as practice and architecture, students gain an appreciation for why controls must work in concert rather than isolation.

Alongside principles, learners explore the role of frameworks in organizing risk. NIST CSF, ISO standards, and FAIR are introduced as structures that translate abstract ideas into actionable programs. Case studies such as the Colonial Pipeline incident illustrate the dangers of poor governance and lack of segmentation, highlighting the systemic consequences of design flaws. By the end of this week, students will see that security foundations endure precisely because they adapt across contexts, enabling both technical rigor and strategic leadership.
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