01:198:442:01: Introduction to Computer Security

Fall 2008

General information

Course number: 01:198:442:01, Index: 14120.
Instructor: Vinod Ganapathy (contact information).
Class hours: Monday and Wednesday, 5:00pm-6:20pm.
Class location: ARC-105.
Recitations: Wednesday, 6:55pm-7:50pm.
Recitation location: ARC-205.
Instructor's office hours: TBD.
Teaching assistant: TBD.
Teaching assistant's office hours: TBD.
Required textbook: TBD. (will be announced shortly)
Additional reference: Security Engineering (free online copy), by Ross Anderson.
Prerequisites:
- 01:198:205 or 14:332:202, Discrete Mathematics (required)
- 01:198:416, Operating Systems (required)
- 01:198:352, Internet Technology is strongly recommended (though not required).
Note that these pre-requisites can be waived upon consent by the instructor.

Announcements

None yet!

[ Old announcements ]

Course overview

This course will be an undergraduate-level introduction to computer security and is targetted towards seniors, advanced juniors and first year graduate students. We will cover both classic topics, such as applied cryptography, authentication, authorization and basic security principles, as well as recent topics such as Web security and virtual machines for security. For several topics in the course (especially recent topics), we will occasionally read, in addition to our textbook, research papers describing the state of the art.

Syllabus

The following is an approximate list of topics that we will cover.

Overview: Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability. Security policy and mechanism. Basic principles of secure system design.
Cryptography: Basic crypto primitives, Secret key crypto, Public key crypto, Digital signatures, Message authentication, Secret sharing, Oblivious transfer, Bit commitment schemes.
System security: Authentication, Access Control, Discussion of popular systems and security protocols.
Network security: Network protocols and attacks, Intrusions and Intrusion Detection, Firewalls, Viruses, Worms, Web security.
Software security: Memory errors and exploits, Isolation, Language-based analysis techniques, Secure coding practices.
Advanced topics: (time permitting) Virtual machines, Information flow, Privacy, Anonymity.

Schedule

Links to class handouts and research papers referenced on the schedule below are accessible from machines on the rutgers.edu domain.

Date	Topics	Reference	Slides
TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD

Homeworks

There will be three homeworks over the course of the semester, some of which will involve programming (in C and assembly). In addition, there will also be a final project that will involve a significant amount of programming (in Java).

Homework 1: Topic: Cryptography and security protocols.
Homework 2: Topic: Exploiting buffer overflows.
Homework 3: Topic: Network security.

Project

The course project will involve implementing a security protocol for one of e-voting, e-poker, or e-cash. Alternately, we are also considering a project (coordinated with 198:416, Operating Systems) that will involve implementing a security mechanism or a security protocol on a Linux smart phone (details are still being worked out). In either case, the course project will involve a significant programming component. The project will be available soon after the mid-term. Details will be announced here over the course of the semester.

Grading

Homeworks (30%). There will be three homeworks during the course of the semester.
Mid-term (20%). The mid-term will be held during the first week of March and will be based upon topics covered until then.
Final exam (30%). The final exam will be held during the last week of the semester and will be based upon topics covered during the entire semester.
Project (20%). The course project will be a significant exercise involving the implementation of concepts covered in class.

Resources

Organizations

Tips to read an academic paper

How to read a paper, by Professor S. Keshav, Univerity of Waterloo.

Tips for good technical writing

You will find these sources useful for technical writing (e.g., project reports).

Writing a technical paper, by Professor Michael Ernst, MIT.
Tips for writing technical papers, by Professor Jennifer Widom, Stanford University.
Writing suggestions, by Professor Barton Miller, University of Wisconsin.
Three sins of authors in Computer Science and Math, by Professor Jonathan Shewchuk, UC Berkeley.
How to write a dissertation, by Professor Douglas Comer, Purdue University (most of the content on this page applies to all forms of technical writing).
On writing, by Professor Terence Tao, UCLA (though the advice is geared towards mathematicians, most of the tips apply to other academic prose as well).
The elements of style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White (follow the "External links" at the bottom of this page for online copies of this book).

Vinod Ganapathy