Fundamentals of Digital Social Media

A.Y. 2023/2024
6
Max ECTS
48
Overall hours
SSD
INF/01
Language
Italian
Learning objectives
The course aims at introducing digital social media to the students. The course covers the web technologies which support online social interactions, the tools supporting the gathering and the analysis of data generated by social platforms. Moreover the course will introduce the security analysis of the main technologies used in the social media context such as cryptographic protocols (e.g., SSL and HTTPS) and the communication protocol such as the web.
Expected learning outcomes
The student should be able to apply the tools illustrated in the course to gather the data generated by digital social media, by identifying the most suitable solutions according to the web technologies used by the social platforms. Moreover, the student should be able to apply cryptographic schemes by using crypto tools like for example gpg and security anayzed communication protocol such as https, ssl and web.
Single course

This course can be attended as a single course.

Course syllabus and organization

Single session

Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Course syllabus
The course is logically split into two parts: the first part will address the general theme of IT security while the second part will contextualize the topics addressed in the first part in the field of Social Media. In more detail, these are the topics that will be covered in the course:
PART I
- Introduction to Information Security
- The protection mechanisms of a system
- Identification & authentication
- Authorization
- Audit
- The main forms of attack
- exploit
- malware
- network attacks
- WEB attacks
- Cross Request Forgery
- Cross-site Scripting
- SQL Injection (elements of)
- Elements of Privacy and data protection
PART II
- Social Media: history, definitions, and current context
- Social Media Analytics and Listening
- Tools for measuring social actions
- Performance evaluation of publishing strategies
- Designing a social media listening campaign
- Social Media APIs
- OAuth2.0
- Recommendation systems in social media
- Misinformation in social media
- Fake news in social media
- Identification by ML
- Social bots in social media
- Identification algorithms
Prerequisites for admission
The prerequisites for this course are:
1 - Networking Course
2 - Programming Course
Teaching methods
The course will be held in classical style. Some theory lessons will alternate with some exercises that will be an integral part of the course program and the final test.
Teaching Resources
Security in Computing (5th Edition)
Authors: Charles P Pfleeger, Shari Lawrence Pfleeger, Jonathan Margulies
Publisher: Prentice Hall Press
ISBN:978-0-13-408504-3
Pages: 944
Handouts or articles on specific topics will also be made available to students and distributed during the course.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The verification will consist of the administration of a questionnaire with multiple answers. The questionnaire will consist of 20 questions, 10 for each of the two modules that make up the course. Each completely correct answer will be awarded 1 point. Students who correctly answer at least 6 questions, for each module, will be admitted to the oral exam which, through questions relating to the topics covered in class in both modules, will verify the student's learning level in terms of depth and extension of the topics acquired. At the end of the oral test, the student will be assigned a score out of 30.
INF/01 - INFORMATICS - University credits: 6
Lessons: 48 hours
Professor(s)
Reception:
send an email to danilo[dot]bruschi[at]unimi[dot]it
Room 8011, Via Celoria 18