Overview
This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of computer security. We will focus on software security, applied cryptography, systems security, privacy, and usable security. A recurring theme will be security definitions, what kinds of security vulnerabilities may arise, and how to identify, fix, and prevent vulnerabilities. The course will be structured into four broad sections: Software Security, Cryptography, and System/Network Security, and Human Factors.
Students will master the distinguishing feature of the security field, which is the ubiquitous need to consider an adversary, and the resulting interplay between attack and defense that routinely advances both theory and practice. After completing this course, students will be able to understand and reason about widely-deployed defensive techniques and secure-by-design approaches; as part of this process, students will learn about the the attacks that motivate the defenses and acquire the "adversarial mindset" that leads to new forms of attack. Ultimately, students will learn fundamental principles for designing, analyzing, and reasoning about security critical systems.
This course is the first step in both the SCS Security & Privacy concentration and the ECE Security & Privacy concentration. These concentrations are designed to expose students to the key facets of and concerns about computer security and privacy that drive practice, research, and legislation. On completing the curriculum, students will be prepared to continue developing their interests in security or privacy through graduate study; to take jobs in security or privacy that will provide further training in applicable areas; and to be informed participants in public and other processes that shape how organizations and society develop to meet new challenges related to computer security or privacy.
When: MW 3:00PM-04:20PM, Where: SH 125
When: F 3:30PM-04:20PM, Where: BH 136A