Australian University Launches Darknet and Cybersecurity Courses for IT Students
An Australian university has launched specialized courses on the darknet and cybersecurity, with around 80% of IT students participating as early adopters of this new educational offering.
Which University Is Involved?
Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Australia, in partnership with an industry organization, has introduced an online course focused on the dark side of the internet for its School of Computing and Mathematics. Martin Hale, Managing Director of IT Masters, noted that there were intense debates and discussions within the CSU School of Computing and Mathematics about whether such a course should be offered. The idea initially sparked mixed reactions among the faculty.
“When we first proposed launching this course, we expected significant resistance from all stakeholders due to the sensitive nature of the topic, especially recently. However, after several meetings, the idea was accepted with less opposition than anticipated. The faculty leadership decided it was important to give graduates the opportunity to gain additional skills and knowledge about the darknet economy, with a focus on cybersecurity,” said Hale.
According to Martin Hale, the darknet is a hidden, growing economy where anonymous markets facilitate the buying and selling of illegal goods and services, such as personal data, hacking tools, drugs, weapons, confidential information, and more. He described it as a complex, dynamic, and mysterious area where all types of criminals interact, exchange information, and trade goods. This field attracts significant interest from researchers.
Hale pointed out that over $72 billion in illegal transactions are linked to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Monero, or Dashcoin, all of which go largely unnoticed. He believes that most of these transactions occur on the darknet, and that the sources of DDoS attacks and various types of malware are rooted in the dark side of the internet.
Today, in any business, an information security manager is essentially ineffective if they are not familiar with how the darknet works, onion routing, and what lies on the other side of the internet. A lack of knowledge in this area can lead to significant risks.
“One of the best ways to effectively combat cyber threats originating from the dark web, as well as to suppress illegal darknet markets, is to give people a detailed understanding of how the darknet operates. We need to ensure end-to-end processes for detecting and managing events occurring on the dark side of the internet. By the way, more than 80% of students have chosen this subject as their first choice,” Hale added.
The “Dark Web” Course Is for Graduate Students Only
Recently, CSU added a special subject called “Dark Web” to its curriculum, available only to graduate students. The course is taught by Dr. R. Islam, the leader of the university’s cybersecurity research group. Dr. Islam has extensive experience in combating malware and DDoS attacks, has published over 100 articles on cybersecurity, and has presented at more than 70 conferences. He is a well-known figure in his field. Here’s what he said about the course:
The subject will give any IT student a deeper understanding of emerging digital threats. In 2017 alone, the U.S. Department of Defense spent $8 billion fighting computer and internet crimes at the national security level. This demonstrates how serious the problem has become, as the massive dark web economy continues to grow and expand in the shadows.
The course will focus on hacking, identity theft, fraud, structural attacks, cyberstalking, and a systematic approach to studying the darknet with an emphasis on cyber threats. Students will analyze the shadow economy in real time, the cryptocurrencies that fuel it, and the cyberattacks that originate from the dark web. They will also be trained in darknet forensics, technological methods used by criminals, and social engineering techniques.
Darknet Course Curriculum
- The curriculum covers the following topics:
- Introduction to the dark web
- Malicious darknet activities
- Web content data analysis
- Dark web forensics
- Open source intelligence
- Upon completion, students should be able to:
- Distinguish between theoretical and interdisciplinary approaches to the dark web
- Analyze the evolution of the dark web in the context of modern crime
- Identify and classify types of criminal activity on the dark web, as well as the technological and social engineering methods used to commit such crimes
- Investigate the behavior and roles of criminals and victims in the dark web
- Analyze and assess the impact of cybercrime, as well as mitigation methods used to protect against it
- Discuss, analyze, and apply research and applications related to the dark web
In Conclusion
As can be seen from translated articles, the darknet is a popular topic abroad. In Germany, authorities are shutting down darknet marketplaces; in the U.S., they monitor Bitcoin transactions on the darknet; in Australia, it’s being studied at the university level. Meanwhile, in Russia, there is little study or effort to counteract it—so the Russian darknet is growing rapidly. Russia is the leading country contributing to the growth of the dark web, and, frankly, there’s a certain pride in that.