Comp 527: Course Syllabus

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Newly updated to fix the missing-week bug.
DateTopicReadingAssignment
Week 1Tue, Aug 29Introduction, basic conceptsGollman Ch. 1,9
Thu, Aug 31Ethics and responsibilityThompson84 Start thinking about final projects
Week 2Tue, Sep 5Secret-key crypto basicsGollman, Ch. 12
Thu, Sep 7Cracking cryptosystemsNote: Rice's add/drop deadline is the 8th
Week 3Tue, Sep 12Public-key crypto
Thu, Sep 14Public key crypto (2)Homework 1
Week 4Tue, Sep 19OS security basicsLampson71, ClarkWilson87
Gollman, Ch. 3-5
Thu, Sep 21 OS security architecturesPlan 9
KeyKOS / KeySAFE
Final project proposal due. Homework 1 due.
Week 5Tue, Sep 26Crypto protocols
Thu, Sep 28Formal analysis of protocolsAbadi94, Burrows89
Week 6Tue, Oct 3 Common OS vulnerabilitiesGollman, Ch. 8
Thu, Oct 5Engineering stronger systemsBellovin96 (PostScript)
Week 7Tue, Oct 10Guest lecture (Dan out of town): Wyman Miles and William Diegard on Rice campus computer securityRoom change: DH 1049
Thu, Oct 12Guest lecture (Dan out of town): Adam Stubblefield on anonymity systems
Week 8Tue, Oct 17No class (mid-term recess)
Thu, Oct 19Networking: TCP/IP & DNSGollman, Ch. 13
Week 9Tue, Oct 24Guest lecture (Dan out of town): Jim Livermore, Firewallslecture slidesRoom change: DH 2014
Thu, Oct 26Viruses & intrusion detection
Week 10Tue, Oct 31 SpamSprocketLabs UCE Page, Vixie's Spam Page, CAUCE, Spam-L FAQFinal project status reports due. Homework 2 out.
Thu, Nov 2No class
Week 11Tue, Nov 7Modern programming language basicsHomework 2 due.
Thu, Nov 9Agents and mobile codeGollman, Ch. 11
Week 12Tue, Nov 14Smart cards & tamper resistanceAnderson96, (local copy), iButton security (read section 2)
Thu, Nov 16Untrusted platformsCT99, ST98
Week 13Tue, Nov 21Tempest (+ Soft Tempest)Unofficial TEMPEST Page, Anderson98 (local copy)
Thu, Nov 23No class (Thanksgiving recess)
Week 14Tue, Nov 28In-class public policy discussion
Thu, Nov 30Final project presentations, 25 minute conference format
Week 15Tue, Dec 5
Thu, Dec 7Final writeups due Dec 8


Dan Wallach, CS Department, Rice University
Last modified: Tue Oct 31 13:22:42 CST 2000