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NTU Computer Engineering Review: CE4064 Security Management

As I am typing this, I regret not SU-ing this module 😭 Probably not the ideal cybersecurity mod that I wanted to take, but I had to pick an elective for Semester 1 so as to not overburden for Semester 2, and here I am. Also because I have friends taking this and we can pass away together (but they pretty much set it as UE and could SU it. I did not and riskily decided not to.) If I could pick one more security elective, I really would have preferred Software Security (or if I’m a bit more masochistic for the better, Malware Analysis). Alright enough of regret rambling.

Before I even talk about the profs and all, I should add that this module has a lot of student from PaCE@NTU. Basically those seeking continuing education, usually those already working. So I have concluded that it is not necessarily a module we like (at least yknow as undergrads who prefer getting their hands dirty as opposed to more management level stuff), but certainly one needed in the working world. So now you know the interesting demographic of students this module has.

The content, unsurprisingly, lean towards management level security concepts. As if the title of the course has not alluded to it already. Topics like risk management, security operations, contingency planning. I will not use terms like “fluff” and “smokebomb”, but like I said, almost no hands-on on the security side of stuff. INSANELY MEMORY HEAVY if you are talking about tests. And a lot of readings when you go out there to work. (I remember the profs providing at least 10 sections of policies for every topic – don’t need to read those to do well, you don’t have time to read either. But you get an idea of how much you need to know in the working world.)

Yknow how football games are sometimes described as a game of two halves (where the difference between first half and second half performance from a team is almost like… it should not even be coming from the same team?). That is how I feel. 

First half was a good half. (I lowkey said that cuz my quiz results were ok but it’s not just that.) The lecture videos are honestly still 💀 but it’s more of a content thing than lecturer thing. Prof Anwitaman otherwise conduct pretty good review lecture sessions. Tutorial solutions (and explanations during review lectures) were pretty helpful. I could actually feel my life being made much easier with such a helpful prof, that is all I can say. I might as well also talk about the first quiz since it’s really a game of two halves. I honestly thought I would barely pass considering how I practically RNG my MCQ answers (which btw is not your classic 4/5-choose-1. It’s more like glorified T/F questions where multiple choices can be correct.). Ahh and a little funny story: I lowkey predicted the open-ended question that will come out. I say “lowkey predicted” and not “spotted” because I did not study for that question. I only predicted 5 minutes before the quiz and by then I have already put my notes aside. So peak 🤡 act from yours truly woohoo!

Second half… recipe for disaster. *Switching off my nice side after like the 60% mark of my post is an achievement here goes…* The content is 2.5 times heavier than first half (I know because I wrote my own notes and saw the shocking page count! One chapter itself was actually as long as my whole first half! Absolutely ridiculous!)! That is the very least of all the problems I have. First half was also content heavy but at least the lecturer is helping the students. I absolutely don’t feel that way in the second half. It really felt like the meme where…

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