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, etc.
Tentative Schedule
| Date | Topic | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Week-1 Class-1 1/19 | === No class === | |
| Week-1 Class-2 1/21 | Overview I | Read Chap 1. |
| Week-2 Class-1 1/26 | Overview II | |
| Week-2 Class-2 1/28 | Crypto tools I: intro (chap 2, 20) | |
| Week-3 Class-1 2/2 | Crypto tools II: block ciphers (chap 2, 20) | |
| Week-3 Class-2 2/4 | Crypto tools III: public key cryptography (chap 2, 21) | Assignment 1 Release |
| Week-4 Class-1 2/9 | Crypto tools IV: digital signatures (chap 2, 21) | |
| Week-4 Class-2 2/11 | Crypto tools V: message integrity (chap 2) | |
| Week-5 Class-1 2/16 | Crypto tools VI: in-class discussion | MITRE eCTF 2023 (car door lock theme) |
| Week-5 Class-2 2/18 | Lab Office Hours (in class) | |
| Week-6 Class-1 2/23 | User authentication I (chap 3) | |
| Week-6 Class-2 2/25 | User authentication II (chap 3) | Lab 1 due (Secret-Key Encryption) , Research Paper Topic Selection, Assignment 2 Release |
| Week-7 Class-1 3/02 | Access control I (chap 4) | |
| Week-7 Class-2 3/04 | Access control II (chap 4) | |
| Week-8 Class-1 3/09 | *** Midterm Review *** | |
| Week-8 Class-2 3/11 | *** Midterm Exam *** | Cyber - A107 |
| Week-9 Class-1 3/16 | Database security I (chap 5) | |
| Week-9 Class-2 3/18 | Database security II (chap 5) | Research Paper due |
| Week-10 Class-1 3/23 | === Spring Break No class === | |
| Week-10 Class-2 3/25 | === Spring Break No class === | |
| Week-11 Class-1 3/30 | Malicious software (chap 6) | Assignment 3 Release |
| Week-11 Class-2 4/01 | Network security I: network concepts (chap 22) | |
| Week-12 Class-1 4/06 | Lab Office Hours (in class) | |
| Week-12 Class-2 4/08 | Network security II: DoS attack (chap 7, 22) | Lab 2 due (Packet Sniffing and Spoofing Lab) |
| Week-13 Class-1 4/13 | Network security III: DNS attack (chap 7, 22) | |
| Week-13 Class-2 4/15 | Network security IV: Firewalls (chap 9) | |
| Week-14 Class-1 4/20 | Network security V: IDS (chap 8) | Assignment 4 Release |
| Week-14 Class-2 4/22 | Software security I: function stack | |
| Week-15 Class-1 4/27 | Software security II: buffer overflow attack | |
| Week-15 Class-2 4/29 | Software security III: buffer overflow defense | |
| Week-16 Class-1 5/04 | Computer security ethics | Lab 3 due (Buffer-Overflow Attack Lab (Set-UID Version)) |
| Week-16 Class-2 5/06 | *** Final Exam Review *** | |
| Final Exam 5/11 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 non-graded homework assignments.
- Five pop-up quizzes.
- Three hands-on labs picked from SEED Lab.
- One research paper.
- Two exams.
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 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 (Details).
- Four pages of actual text (i.e. actual paper length minus pictures, charts, references, etc.)