Anindya Maiti, Ph.D

University of Oklahoma / Graduate

Cyber Attacks & Defenses

Ethical hacking, from reconnaissance and vulnerability assessment to exploitation and post-exploitation.

  • CS 5193
  • 3 credits
  • Founding instructor

The course

What we investigate.

Discover systems, assess weaknesses and understand attack paths through hands-on ethical hacking, including the security of networks, web applications, credentials and people.

Learning outcomes

  • Analyze vulnerabilities in software, computing infrastructure and networked systems.
  • Use security tools and systematic testing to evaluate weaknesses in authorized environments.

Connected ideas

The ground we cover.

01

Foundations and reconnaissance

  • Ethical hacking and the attack kill-chain
  • Kali Linux
  • Open-source intelligence and passive reconnaissance
  • Active reconnaissance and vulnerability assessment
02

Attack surfaces and exploitation

  • Social engineering
  • Wireless, web and client-side security
  • Security controls and anti-virus evasion
  • Windows and Linux exploitation
03

Post-exploitation and defense

  • Lateral movement and privilege escalation
  • Persistence and backdoors
  • Understanding weaknesses and protective measures
  • AI security and future directions

Spring 2026 / Materials

Textbooks, tools and readings.

Readings, assignments, announcements and offering-specific requirements are available to enrolled students on Canvas.

Open OU Canvas

Spring 2026 used Kali Linux for supervised work in an isolated teaching cyber range.

Spring 2026 / Schedule

A path through the semester.

  1. Week 01

    Ethical hacking, penetration testing and the attack kill-chain

  2. Week 02

    Getting familiar with Kali Linux

  3. Week 03

    Open-source intelligence and passive reconnaissance

  4. Week 04

    Active reconnaissance and vulnerability assessment

  5. Week 05

    Advanced social engineering

  6. Week 06

    Wireless access points and network security

  7. Week 07

    Web-based and client-side exploitation

  8. Week 08

    Security controls and anti-virus evasion

  9. Week 09

    Spring break

  10. Week 10

    Metasploit and Windows exploitation

  11. Week 11

    Metasploit and Linux exploitation

  12. Week 12

    Post-exploitation lateral movement

  13. Week 13

    Privilege escalation

  14. Week 14

    Backdoors and persistence

  15. Week 15

    AI security, future topics and security certifications

  16. Week 16

    Project discussion and evaluation

Spring 2026 / Assessment

Learning, put into practice.

70%

In-class security labs

Seven individual labs; the lowest score is dropped.

30%

Course project

A course project with discussion and evaluation at the end of the semester.

Past offerings

Taught at OU.

Founding instructor.