CS 161, Fall 2012 Computer Security

People

Instructor:
Dawn Song (675 Soda Hall)

TA's:
Chia Yuan Cho
Nitesh Mor
Kurt Thomas
Joel Weinberger

Lecture:
MW 4:00-5:30P 277 Cory

Discussion sections:
Tue 10:00am - 11:00 am (75 Evans)
Tue 11:00am - 12:00 pm (75 Evans)
Thr 5:00pm - 6:00pm (310 Soda)

Office hours:
Thu 1:00-2:00 pm (TA) (611, Soda)
Fri 1:00-2:00 pm (TA) (751, Soda)

Announcement

• November 30, 2012 Submission instructions for Lab 6 are available on bSpace
• November 25, 2012 Study guide for Midterm 2 is available now.
• November 20, 2012 Lab 6 is available now.
• November 15, 2012 The web security discussion questions from this week's discussion sections are now available. They are also available with answers.
• November 5, 2012 Lab 5 is released and due November 19th at 11:59pm.
• October 30, 2012 Solution for midterm-1 are available.
• October 27, 2012 Submission script for lab 4 is now available. Submit your files to bspace.
• October 22, 2012 Lab 4 is released and is due Oct 31, 2012.
• October 10, 2012 Study guide for midterm 1 and lecture videos are available now.
• October 1, 2012 Lab 3 is released and is due Oct 10, 2012. View the pdf here.
• September 17, 2012 Lab 2 is released and is due Oct 1, 2012. View the pdf here.
• September 16, 2012 The submit.sh script is now available for lab 1 here. Please upload your solution to bSpace.
• September 5, 2012 The first lab is now available

Course Schedule

The course syllabus includes information on lecture topics, readings, and assignment related deadlines.

Course Overview

In this class you will learn how to design secure systems and write secure code. You will learn how to find vulnerabilities in code and how to design software systems that limit the impact of security vulnerabilities. We will focus on principles for building secure systems and give many real world examples. In addition, the course will cover topics such as:

• memory safety vulnerabilities
• techniques and tools for vulnerability detection and defense
• security principles such as sandboxing, isolation and least privilege
• mobile platform and application security
• basic crypto concepts
• web security
• network security
• malware detection and defense

Course homework and labs will help students practice the concepts and techniques learned in class, such as how to find vulnerabilities and how to fix them. The labs and projects are designed to help students practice the principles of secure system design.

Prerequisites

You must have taken CS 61C (Machine Structures). Also, you must have taken either Math 55 or CS 70 (Discrete Mathematics).

Labs, Midterms and Exams

There will be 6 labs and 2 midterms. There will be no final exam. Details will be announced in class.

Grading Summary

Textbooks

This class does not have a required textbook. We will provide lecture notes, slides and videos for material covered (when applicable).

Note on Security Vulnerabilities

From time to time, we may discuss vulnerabilities in computer systems. This is not intended as an invitation to go exploit those vulnerabilities! It is important that we be able to discuss real-world experience candidly; everyone is expected to behave responsibly. Breaking into other people's systems is inappropriate, and the existence of a security hole is no excuse.