Course Schedule Winter 2025

Part 1. Security Fundamentals

Lectures Lab
GRUBBS Wednesday, Jan. 8
1. The Security Mindset Quiz
Threat models, vulnerabilities, attacks; how to think like an attacker and a defender
Jan. 7/Jan. 9/Jan. 10
Only pre-recorded video Introduce project
Python tutorial
GRUBBS Monday, Jan. 13
2. Message Integrity Quiz
Alice and Bob, crypto games, Kerckhoffs’s principle, hashes and MACs
GRUBBS Wednesday, Jan. 15
3. Randomness and Pseudorandomness Quiz
Generating randomness, PRGs, one-time pads
Jan. 14/Jan. 16/Jan. 17
Length extension
Hash collisions
Monday, Jan. 20
No Lecture, MLK Day
GRUBBS Wednesday, Jan. 22
4. Confidentiality Quiz
Simple ciphers, AES, block cipher modes
Jan. 21/Jan. 23/Jan. 24
Review Part 1
Padding oracles
Bleichenbacher attacks
GRUBBS Monday, Jan. 27
5. Combining Confidentiality and Integrity Quiz
Confidentiality attacks, authenticated encryption
GRUBBS Wednesday, Jan. 29
6. Key Exchange, Public-Key Cryptography Quiz
Diffie-Hellman, RSA encryption, digital signatures
Web Project available
Lab 2 available
Jan. 28/Jan. 30/Jan. 31
Introduce Web Project
SQL tutorial
SQL injection mechanics

Part 2. Web and Network Security

Lectures Lab
GRUBBS Monday, Feb. 3
7. The Web Platform Quiz
Intro to the web platform; HTTP, cookies, Javascript, etc.
GRUBBS Wednesday, Feb. 5
8. Web Attacks and Defenses Quiz
Cookies; XSS, CSRF, and SQL-injection attacks and defenses
Feb. 4/Feb. 6/Feb. 7
HTML and JavaScript tutorial
XSS and CSRF mechanics
GRUBBS Monday, Feb. 10
9. HTTPS and the Web PKI Quiz
The TLS protocol and the CA ecosystem
GRUBBS Wednesday, Feb. 12
10. HTTPS Attacks and Defenses Quiz
Implementation flaws, social engineering attacks, and crypto failures
Lab 2 due 6 p.m.
Networking Project available
Lab 3 available
Feb. 11/Feb. 13/Feb. 14
Introduce Networking Project
Python sockets tutorial
Wireshark tutorial
ROY CHOWDHURY Monday, Feb. 17
11. Networking 101 Quiz
Protocol layers, Ethernet, IP, route hijacking, ARP spoofing
ROY CHOWDHURY Wednesday, Feb. 19
12. Networking 102 Quiz
UDP, TCP, and DNS attacks
Web Project due 6 p.m.
Feb. 18/Feb. 20/Feb. 21
Midterm review
ROY CHOWDHURY Monday, Feb. 24
13. Network Defense Quiz
Denial of service; firewalls, IDSes, VPNs, zero-trust
STAFF Wednesday, Feb. 26
Midterm Review Session
Lab 3 due 6 p.m.
Midterm Exam, Thursday, Feb. 27, 5–6:30 p.m.
Feb. 25/Feb. 27/Feb. 28
No Lab
Monday, Mar. 3
Spring Break
Wednesday, Mar. 5
Spring Break
Mar. 4/Mar. 6/Mar. 7
Spring Break

Part 3. Host and Application Security

Lectures Lab
ROY CHOWDHURY Monday, Mar. 10
14. Authentication and Passwords Quiz
Passwords, online and offline guessing
STAFF Wednesday, Mar. 12
15. Control Hijacking, Part 1 Quiz
Software architecture and a simple buffer overflow
Networking Project due 6 p.m.
AppSec Project available
Lab 4 available
Mar. 11/Mar. 13/Mar. 14
Review Web Project
Introduce AppSec Project
Binary exploitation primer
Go over midterm exam
STAFF Monday, Mar. 17
16. Control Hijacking, Part 2 Quiz
Common exploitable application bugs, shellcode
ROY CHOWDHURY Wednesday, Mar. 19
17. Access Control and Isolation Quiz
Isolation, sandboxing, virtual machines, SGX, containers
Lab 4 due 6 p.m.
Mar. 18/Mar. 20/Mar. 21
Shellcode
ROP exploitation
Ghidra tutorial

Part 4. Privacy and Security in Context

Lectures Lab
ROY CHOWDHURY Monday, Mar. 24
18. Privacy, Part 1
ROY CHOWDHURY Wednesday, Mar. 26
19. Privacy, Part 2
Mar. 25/Mar. 27/Mar. 28
Project help
ROY CHOWDHURY Monday, Mar. 31
20. Privacy, Part 3
Forensics Project available
Lab 5 available
ROY CHOWDHURY Wednesday, Apr. 2
21. Digital Forensics Quiz
Data collection, forensic analysis, anti-forensic techniques
AppSec Project due 6 p.m.
Apr. 1/Apr. 3/Apr. 4
Introduce Forensics Project
Introduce Lab 5
Autopsy tutorial
ROY CHOWDHURY Monday, Apr. 7
22. Malware Quiz
Viruses and worms, spyware, key loggers, and botnets; defenses
GUEST Wednesday, Apr. 9
23. Guest Lecture 1
Lab 5 due 6 p.m.
Apr. 8/Apr. 10/Apr. 11
No Lab
GUEST Monday, Apr. 14
24. Guest Lecture 2
ROY CHOWDHURY Wednesday, Apr. 16
25. Physical Security Quiz
Locks and safes, lock picking techniques; defenses
(We recommend attending in person for hands-on demos)
Apr. 15/Apr. 17/Apr. 18
Final review, Part 1
STAFF Monday, Apr. 21
Final Review, Part 2
Forensics Project due 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Apr. 23
Study Day
Final Exam, Friday, April 25th at 7–9 p.m.