EC06 - Offensive Security

Think like an attacker to defend systems with confidence, precision, and responsibility.

Credits

7.5 ECTS

Semester

2 Semester

Delivery

Online

Duration

13 weeks

Language

English

About This Course

This is a second-semester course in the MBA in Advanced Cybersecurity Technologies &
Governance
Offensive Security is a postgraduate course that focuses on understanding and applying modern penetration testing techniques across systems, networks, applications, and users. Through hands-on labs and capture-the-flag challenges, students learn how real-world attacks are conducted and how vulnerabilities can be identified, exploited, and mitigated responsibly. The course emphasises ethical practice, technical accuracy, and clear communication of risk, preparing students to support organisations in defending against contemporary cyber threats.

What You Will Learn


Foundations of Offensive Security & Ethical Hacking

  • Principles of ethical hacking and penetration testing
  • Legal and ethical boundaries of offensive security activities
  • Motivations, behaviour, and methodologies of cyber attackers


Reconnaissance & Exploitation Techniques

  • Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) and information-gathering methods
  • Network reconnaissance and service enumeration techniques
  • Exploitation of web, network, and system vulnerabilities


Advanced Attack Methods & Defence Awareness

  • Social engineering and human-centric attack vectors

  • Binary exploitation, cryptographic attacks, and wireless security risks

  • Techniques for evaluating system security and mitigating vulnerabilities

Your 13-Week Journey

Here’s how your learning unfolds

Week 1 – Introduction to Offensive Security, General Information Gathering Techniques.

Collecting public, social, and technical information to profile targets and map digital exposure.

Week 2 – Technical Information Gathering Techniques

Discovering network structures and services using active and passive scanning techniques.

Week 3 – Network Reconnaissance

Identifying exposed services, misconfigurations, and exploiting service-level weaknesses.

Week 4 – Get in Touch with Services

Exploiting client-side and server-side vulnerabilities in modern web applications.

Week 5 – Web Hacking - General Techniques and Tools

Understanding low-level memory vulnerabilities and exploiting compiled software.

Week 6 – Web Hacking - Client Side Attacks

Manipulating human behaviour through phishing and psychological attack methods.

Week 7 – Web Hacking - Server Side Attacks

Lateral movement, credential abuse, and attacks within enterprise networks.

Week 8 – Binary Exploit Development

Password cracking techniques and cryptographic attack fundamentals.

Week 9 –  Malware Analysis  

Attacking wireless networks through handshake capture and encryption cracking.

Week 10 – Social Engineering

Social engineering techniques exploit human behavior—such as phishing, pretexting, baiting, and impersonation.

Week 11 – Internal Network Hacking 

Internal network attacks involve scanning, escalation, and lateral movement.

Week 12 – Ethical Hacking Cryptography

Cryptography involves hashing, cracking methods, and secure encryption practices.

Week 13 – Wireless Hacking 

Wireless protocols have vulnerabilities, requiring stronger standards like WPA3.


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Skills You Will Gain

Penetration Testing & Exploitation

  • Planning and executing full-scope penetration tests
  • Exploiting vulnerabilities across web, network, and binary systems
  • Developing proof-of-concept exploits using modern tools and techniques

Adversarial Reconnaissance & Analysis

  • Conducting OSINT investigations and social-engineering assessments
  • Identifying and analysing system vulnerabilities and attack surfaces
  • Simulating real-world attacker behaviour in controlled environments

Security Reporting & Ethical Practice

  • Producing clear, risk-based remediation reports and executive briefings
  • Operating within legal frameworks and defined rules of engagement
  • Advising organisations on mitigation strategies and vulnerability management

Continue Your Journey

Week 1 — Systems in Transition

See the world in systems.
Learn to rethink linear vs circular economies and explore planetary boundaries.

Week 2 — The Digital–Circular Nexus

Discover how tech enables sustainability.
Explore how AI, IoT, and data power circular innovation.

Week 3 — Policy as Infrastructure

Understand Europe’s circular blueprint.
Dive into the EU Green Deal, CEAP, and Digital Europe frameworks.

Week 4 — Designing for Re-entry

Design for durability, reuse, and remanufacturing.
Learn how digital twins and simulation tools extend product lifecycles.

Week 5 — Tracking Resources Through Data

Follow materials in motion.
Understand how IoT and data infrastructures create transparency in supply chains.

Week 6 — Blockchain for Accountability

Trust through transparency.
Explore blockchain’s potential for tracking, verification, and ethical assurance.

Week 7 — Learning Loops with AI

Let data drive regeneration.
See how AI and machine learning enable adaptive circular decision-making.

Week 8 — Cognitive Factories

Meet the new industrial symbiosis.
Examine how robotics and smart manufacturing create circular production systems.

Week 9 — Reverse Intelligence

Close the loop through recovery.
Explore reverse logistics, digital disassembly, and resource recovery networks.

Week 10 — Measuring Circularity

Turn data into progress.
Use metrics, KPIs, and dashboards to track circular performance.

Week 11 — Financing the Regenerative Future

Empower innovation.
Discover how deep-tech, investment, and valuation models support circular ventures.

Week 12 — Ethics and Mindsets

Lead with responsibility.
Reflect on ethics, human–machine collaboration, and the competences for circular leadership.

Week 13 — 2040 and Beyond

Imagine the future you want to build.
Learn to rethink linear vs circular economies and explore planetary boundaries.