COMPSFI 213 - Ethical Hacking
City Colleges of Chicago
This is the official course page for COMPSFI 213 at City Colleges of Chicago. In this hands-on course, students will explore the foundational principles and techniques of ethical hacking. Through practical exercises and real-world scenarios, you’ll learn how attackers compromise systems—and more importantly, how to defend against them. Topics include network attack methodologies, penetration testing tools, and effective countermeasures. Writing assignments relevant to cybersecurity practices are also incorporated throughout the course.
Course Overview
- Learn how to ethically discover, exploit, and report vulnerabilities.
- Use industry tools such as Nmap, Wireshark, Metasploit, Burp Suite, and more.
- Practice skills in isolated lab environments using Hack The Box Academy and virtual machines.
- Understand legal considerations and reporting frameworks.
- Build a foundation for careers in cybersecurity and penetration testing.
Course Objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Explain the legal and ethical standards for penetration testing.
- Perform information gathering and enumeration.
- Identify common vulnerabilities and perform basic exploitation.
- Apply appropriate countermeasures and hardening strategies.
- Document findings in a professional format.
Instructor
Dr. Md Ali
Email: mali220@ccc.edu
Office Hours: By appointment / Virtual drop-ins via Zoom
Materials
- HTB Academy Course Link
- Optional Reading:
- The Web Application Hacker’s Handbook
- Hacking: The Art of Exploitation
- Weekly cheat sheets and walkthroughs will be posted here.
Assignments & Labs
All labs and assignments must be submitted via Brightspace or pushed to your private GitHub repo (TBD per assignment).
Late Policy:
Assignments are due by 11:59 PM on the scheduled date.
Late work may be accepted with prior approval.
Academic Integrity
Ethical behavior is the foundation of cybersecurity. Plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, or malicious activity will result in academic discipline. Respect lab boundaries and only test in designated environments.
Announcements
Check here or on Brightspace for the latest course updates and deadlines.