General Information
Instructor
Teaching Assistant
Overview
The objectives of this course consist of developing a solid understanding of fundamental principles of the security field and building knowledge of tools and mechanisms to safeguard a wide range of software and computing systems. It is intended for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students, and a tentative list of the covered topics is: cryptographic background and tools; access control; authentication; software security, malware; Internet security protocols and standards (SSL/TLS, IPsec, secure email); intrusion detection and intrusion prevention systems (firewalls); database security; privacy; identity management; security management and risk assessment; legal and ethical aspects (cybercrime, intellectual property); system and software security, microarchitectural attacks
Tentative Schedule
| Date | Topic | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Week-1 Class-1 1/20 | === No class === | |
| Week-1 Class-2 1/22 | Overview I | Read Chap 1. |
| Week-2 Class-1 1/27 | Overview II | |
| Week-2 Class-2 1/29 | Crypto Tools I (chap 2, 20) | Assignment 1 Release |
| Week-3 Class-1 2/3 | Crypto Tools II (chap 2, 21) | |
| Week-3 Class-2 2/5 | Crypto Tools III (chap 2.4, 2.5) | |
| Week-4 Class-1 2/10 | Authentication (chap 3) | |
| Week-4 Class-2 2/12 | Access Control I (chap 4) | Assignment 1 Due |
| Week-5 Class-1 2/17 | Access Control II (chap 4) | Assignment 2 Release |
| Week-5 Class-2 2/19 | Database Security (chap 5) | |
| Week-6 Class-1 2/24 | Malicious Software (chap 6) | Lab 1 due (Secret-Key Encryption) |
| Week-6 Class-2 2/26 | Network Security I: network concepts (chap 7, 22) | |
| Week-7 Class-1 3/03 | Network Security II: DoS attack (chap 7, 22) | |
| Week-7 Class-2 3/05 | *** Midterm Review *** | Assignment 2 Due |
| Week-8 Class-1 3/10 | *** Midterm Exam *** | Cyber - A107 |
| Week-8 Class-2 3/12 | Network Security III: DNS attack (chap 8, 9) | |
| Week-9 Class-1 3/17 | Network Security IV: Firewalls and IDS (chap 9) | Assignment 3 Release |
| Week-9 Class-2 3/19 | Operating System Security I (chap 12) | |
| Week-10 Class-1 3/24 | === Spring Break No class === | |
| Week-10 Class-2 3/26 | === Spring Break No class === | |
| Week-11 Class-1 3/31 | Operating System Security II | Lab 2 due (Packet Sniffing and Spoofing Lab) |
| Week-11 Class-2 4/02 | Software Security I (chap 11) | Assignment 3 Due |
| Week-12 Class-1 4/07 | Software Security II: buffer overflow | |
| Week-12 Class-2 4/09 | Software Security III: buffer overflow | Assignment 4 Release |
| Week-13 Class-1 4/14 | Software Security IV: buffer overflow | Research Paper due |
| Week-13 Class-2 4/16 | Software Security V: buffer overflow defense | |
| Week-14 Class-1 4/21 | Software Security VI: buffer overflow defense | |
| Week-14 Class-2 4/23 | Cloud and IoT Security I | Assignment 4 Due |
| Week-15 Class-1 4/28 | Cloud and IoT Security II | |
| Week-15 Class-2 4/30 | Microarchitectural Attacks I: cache and cache side-channels | |
| Week-16 Class-1 5/05 | Microarchitectural Attacks II: Meltdown and Spectre | Lab 3 due (Chapter 10 Buffer-Overflow Attack Lab (Set-UID Version)) |
| Week-16 Class-2 5/07 | *** Final Exam Review *** | |
| Final Exam 5/12 12:40PM-1:40PM | *** Final Exam (non-cumulative) *** | Cyber - A107 |
Resources
Required textbook:- William Stallings and Lawrie Brown, Computer Security: Principles and Practice, 5th edition, Pearson, 2024.
- Charles Pfleeger and Shari Pfleeger, Security in Computing.
- William Stallings, Cryptography and Network Security, Principles and Practice.
- Charlie Kaufman, Radia Perlman, and Mike Speciner, Network Security: Private Communication in a Public World.
- Edward Skoudis and Tom Liston, Counter Hack Reloaded: A Step-by-Step Guide to Computer Attacks and Effective Defenses.
- Ross Anderson, Security Engineering: A Guide to Building Dependable Distributed Systems.
Course Structure
We will have- Lectures.
- Four homework assignments.
- Three hands-on labs picked from SEED Lab.
- One research paper.
- Two midterm exams.
- Pop quizzes (bonus points!).
Research Paper
Students are required to complete a research paper on the state-of-the-art of some computer security topic. Below are the paper requirements:- Pick a topic interesting to you and relatively specific (e.g., encryption of vehicle communications, not just encryption)
- Paper should contain the following:
- Survey/summarization of 8 or more scholarly references (i.e., not some blog)
- Identify if there are there any companies out there applying this research. If not, which one do you think would be (explain why you think so)
- If you had to extend the research, what direction would you take it?
- IEEE format (https://www.ieee.org/conferences/publishing/templates.html)
- Four pages of actual text (i.e. actual paper length minus pictures, charts, references, etc.)