cs458 - Fall 2005
Goal

This class is an introduction to the fundamentals of computer and information security. The course focuses on algorithms and techniques used to defend against malicious software.
Topics include an introduction to encryption systems, operating system security, database security, network security, system threats, and risk avoidance procedures.

Prerequisites: CS-425 and CS-450.

Section 51 Section 251
Instructor Virgil Bistriceanu
Office hours Mon, Tue 5:30 pm - 6:15 pm
Office SB-214
Phone (312) 567-5146
Fax (312) 567-5067
e-mail bistriceanu@iit.edu
Lecture M 6:25 pm - 9:05 pm, SB-213
Teaching Assistant
  • Name: Jordan Wilberding
  • Office: n/a
  • Office Hours: email for an appointment
  • Phone: n/a
  • email: wilbjor@iit.edu
Textbook
"Security in Computing"
Charles P. Pfleeger, Shari Lawrence Pfleeger - 3rd edition
Prentice Hall, Publication Date: 2003
ISBN 0-13-035548-8

Grading
  • Midterm: 20%
  • Final: 25%
  • Programming Assignments: 40%
  • Presentation: 15%

Everything you have to turn in is due before midnight the day the work is due.

For late submittal there is a 20% per calendar day penalty.

CNS printers tend to be busy the day the assignments are due, don't let them ruin your grade!

All the work you submit must be individual.

Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Please read IIT's rules and regulations.

Exams are open-book(s) open-notes.

The following grading scale will be used to determine your grade in this class:
  • A: 90 - 100
  • B: 80 - 89
  • C: 70 - 79
  • D: 60 - 69
  • E: 0 - 59 This is a failing grade!

To pass this class you will need to have a passing mark (60+) in each of the following:
  • Programming Assignments average
  • Presentation
  • Final
Of course, the overall average must be 60+ as well.


Class attendance and participation will help settle the borderline grades. Regular class attendance is important and students are expected to actively participate in class: questions and comments are always welcome.
Programming Assignments

Programming assignments are designed to improve your understanding of core concepts by implementing them. Feel free to use your favorite programming language or use this as an opportunity to learn new ones.

This semester assignments will flow along two themes:

Theme 1: Building a Secure Shell
  • Preparation for cryptography: use of a large integer library
  • 200-bit prime number generation and RSA
  • Encrypting network traffic
  • SSH server
Theme 2 : Building an Intrusion Detection System
  • Rule-based firewall implementation
  • Packet sniffing UDP/TCP, with message handling
  • Intrusion Detection System

Assignments will be posted on the Blackboard and students are required to post their work on the Blackboard as well.
Research Presentations

The purpose of this section is for small groups of students to do some independent work and present their work to the class.

No later than 9/27/05, the teams must be formed and they must have chosen a topic for the class presentation. Topics will fall into two categories:
(i) Prepare a class presentation based on a published research paper.
(ii) Prepare a class presentation which surveys of a current topic in Information Security.

In either case, a written summary of the presentation will be due one week prior to the presentation.

Allocate significant time to read and understand the research paper or to survey the IS topic you have selected. Do not wait until a few days before the presentation is due, chances are that if you do so, then you'll run out of time and will end up with a very poor mark in this section.

Presentations will be limited to 30' and will be followed by Q&A; grading will consider both the content and the way the presentation is made to the class. The presentation must be extremely well rehearsed; failure to properly prepare for the presentation will result in an extremely poor mark on the presentation.
Class Schedule

Date Topic
8/30/05 Introduction
9/6/05 Elementary Cryptography
9/13/05 Program Security
9/20/05 Program Security (continued)
9/27/05 OS Security
10/4/05 Trusted OS
10/11/05 Midterm
10/18/05 Network Security
10/25/05 Network Security (continued)
11/1/05 Database Security
11/8/05 Administering Security
11/15/05 Legal, Ethical and Privacy Issues
11/22/05 Paper Presentations, Day #1
11/29/05 Paper Presentations, Day #2
12/6/05 Paper Presentations, Day #3
12/13/05 Final

Your instructor reserves the right to change this schedule.
Important Events

Event Sections 51, 52
Labor Day (no class) 9/5/2005
Last day to drop a class 9/10/2005
Deadline for team and topic selection for class presentation 9/27/2005
Last day to remove a Spring incomplete grade 10/7/2005
Midterm 10/10/2005
Fall vacation 10/13 through 10/15/2005
Last day for official withdrawal 11/4/2005
Thanksgiving break 11/24 through 11/26/2005
Last day of classes 12/9/2005
Final 12/13/2005, 7:30pm to 9:30pm in room SB-213


For more important dates and detail go to the IIT site.
Varia

Unless otherwise stated all papers you turn in will be TYPED. No handwritten work is accepted. Each page will have a header as follows:

  • the left side: your name
  • middle: page number and the total number of pages (ex. 2/5 indicates this is page 2 out of a total of 5)
  • right hand side: name of the assignment (ex. Homework #2)

Each page will also have a footer:

  • the left hand side will contain the following text: cs458-section: Fall 2005 where section stands for the section you are in
  • the right hand side will contain the following text: Illinois Institute of Technology - Computer Science

The header and the footer will be Arial, 10 points, regular. The text for the paper itself will be typed using Times Roman (12 points regular, except for titles which may be larger and bold).

Last update: August 28, 2005 Virgil Bistriceanu cs458 Computer Science
$Id: syllabus.html,v 1.2 2005/08/29 02:32:44 virgil Exp $