Professionals based in industry who have interest in cybersecurity. The micro credential will prepare professionals for a rewarding career; for example, to take a role as a security manager, security engineer, security analyst, or IT security specialist.
Incident Response
Overview
| Module Code | COMP47870 |
| Module Title | Incident Response |
| Subject Area | Cybersecurity |
| Credits | 5 |
| NFQ | 9 |
| EFQ | 7 |
| Start Date | September 2025 |
| Duration | 12 Weeks |
| Time | Synchronous |
| Mode of Delivery | Blended |
| Course Leader | Dr Rob Brennan |
| Fee | €900 |
| Application Deadline | September 2025 |
Incident response is a critical aspect of cybersecurity. It goes far beyond backup systems and disaster planning and involves critical reasoning and actions that can have consequences beyond the immediate incident. The course will address how threats develop, and how others have dealt with major incidents in the past. We will look at major cyber-attacks, including both commercial and military ones, and see how to draw lessons from these.
The course will include an in-depth analysis of the Irish government official inquiry into the 2021 HSE cyber-attack, using the published documents as primary source. There will be at least one lecture covering the technical operation of such malware tools. The class will investigate, research on, and report back with data on current cyber-threat models. These will be discussed in open class discussion forums. There will be a realistic scenario, conducted via small groups, where student teams tackle the scenario over a tight time frame. This will account for a percentage of final grade. In addition, students maybe required to attend seminars given by security specialists. Students will maintain a learning journal addressing topics and issues that are discussed in lectures or identified by the lecturer.
On successful completion of this micro-credential:
- Understand the process of Incident Response
- Understand how various malware tool sets work
- Understand and learn from major incidents of the recent past, including both 'for profit' criminal attacks, espionage, and military attack
- Understand the legal, human resource, and corporate ramifications arising from acting in response to incidents
- Discuss current trends and likely future directions in cyber threat
- Understand, and be able to, rapidly assess an individual threat, using high quality, trusted sources on the internet
The micro-credential content will cover:
- How malware has evolved over time, how it works, and how the criminal system surrounding it operates
- In-depth study of the report on the HSE cyber-attack - Technical detail of the attack
- In-depth study of the report on the HSE cyber-attack - Actual incident response and lessons learned
- Intrusion, and intrusion detection (guest speaker)
- Identification and use of reliable sources for information on current, and emerging, cyber threats
- Production of a report on a type of current threat (via assignment)
- Real world case studies
This holistic and well-rounded course will be of interest to executives and professional/technical staff who:
- need to acquire knowledge and skills to equip themselves better for their current role.
- want to gain a promotion.
- want to open up new career opportunities for themselves in cyber security related roles.
- are interested in doing some research in this field, perhaps in relation to a current work problem.
- want to gain a qualification to add to their standing and credibility within their professional life.
Pre-recorded lectures are released every week with 3 in-person workshops at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the term (remote option available)
Minimum of 2.1 honours bachelor’s degree in Computer Science (or a cognate discipline) or 2:2 honours bachelor’s degree in computer science (or a cognate discipline) and equivalent (> 5 years) industrial experience in software development or software/system security.
Each applicant will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.Applicants whose first language is not English must also demonstrate English language proficiency of IELTS 7.0 (no band less than 6.5 in each element), or equivalent.
Minimum of 2.1 honours bachelor’s degree in Computer Science (or a cognate discipline) or 2:2 honours bachelor’s degree in computer science (or a cognate discipline) and equivalent (> 5 years) industrial experience in software development or software/system security.
Each applicant will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.Applicants whose first language is not English must also demonstrate English language proficiency of IELTS 7.0 (no band less than 6.5 in each element), or equivalent.
Individual feedback to students, post-assessment. A class WhatsApp group or news, current happenings related to subject and for content-related discussions. For the real-life incident case study, the UCD review team will give feedback and expert advice, to each group, either in class, or via zoom. The lecturer will provide either written or oral feedback to the students.
- Leadership in Security COMP47800
- Applied Cryptography COMP47890
- Risk Assessment and Standards COMP47900
- Secure Software Engineering COMP47910
- Information Security COMP47920
- Cybersecurity Law LAW42160
- Incident Response COMP47870
- Network Security COMP47880
- Malware Analysis COMP47810
- Ethical Hacking COMP47860
If you have any questions about this micro-credential, or would like to speak to a UCD staff member, please contact (opens in a new window)microcredentials@ucd.ie.