CSE 484 / CSE M 584: Computer Security (Winter 2009)

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Course Overview   Topics   Grades Exams Homework Labs Policies   Topics This course addresses a broad spectrum of issues in computer security and privacy, ranging from cryptography, to systems security, to network security, to usable security. We will explore fundamental challenges in the design and analysis of computer systems that must remain dependable despite the actions of adversaries. The goal of this course is to help you learn how to think about, evaluate, and understand computer security issues. back to top        Grades Grades for CSE 484 will be assigned as follows: Labs: 45% Homeworks: 30% Textbook-style questions: 15% Blog postings: 15% Final: 25% Grades for CSE M 584 will be assigned as follows: Research articles (reviews and presentation): 10% Labs: 40% Homeworks: 25% Textbook-style questions: 12.5% Blog postings: 12.5% Final: 25% You must sign and return the Security and Privacy Code of Ethics form by the end of section on January 8 (Thursday) in order to receive a non-zero grade for this course. You can check your grades here: https://catalysttools.washington.edu/gradebook/kohno/1195. back to top        Exams There will be one exam (a final) for this course: Final : Wednesday, March 18, 2009, 830-1020, BAG 260 back to top       Homework There will be four kinds of homework assignments given throughout the class: Reading: You will be given reading assignments associated with each lecture. You should finish the reading before coming to the lecture -- I will assume you've done this reading, and my lectures will enhance the material, rather than regurgitate it.   Textbook-style questions: I will assign written homework based on either questions from the text, or made-up questions. These assignments should be submitted by the due date. (Make sure you read the late policy below.)   Blog posts: The course blog is online here. Please read this blog post to understand the blog posting requirements. Late blog posts will not be accepted; i.e., the late policy does not apply to blog postings.   Extra-credit: From time to time, I may pose a question or give an assignment that is purely extra credit. I may award extra credit for outstanding contributions to the in-class discussions. I may award extra credit to people contributing greatly to the course email list or blog. I may also give you the opportunity to earn extra credit at the end of some lectures. back to top       Labs As you've probably guessed from the allocation of grades, labs will be a major portion of this class. These labs will give you an opportunity to explore computer security first hand and will generally require a significant amount of programming. At least one project will involve mounting buffer overflow attacks against real C programs, so you should be deeply familiar with C, assembly language, and standard Unix command line development tools (like gdb). back to top       Policies (Many of these policies are taken verbatim from previous instances of this and other UW CSE courses.) Late Policy: Unless otherwise indicated, assignments and projects are due by the start of lecture on their due date. If you hand in an assignment late, we will take off 20% for each day it is late. When computing the number of days late, we will round up; so an assignment turned in 1.25 days late will be downgraded 40%. We will not consider granting Incompletes as grades. Reasonableness: The "Reasonable Person Principle" applies throughout this course. This principle simply states that a reasonable request made in a reasonable fashion shall be reasonably handled by reasonable persons. Let's all be "reasonable people" working on the same team to make this a great learning experience. Cheating vs. Collaboration: Collaboration is a very good thing. On the other hand, cheating is considered a very serious offense. Please don't do it! Concern about cheating creates an unpleasant environment for everyone. If you cheat, you risk losing your position as a student in the department and the college. The department's policy on cheating is to report any cases to the college cheating committee. What follows afterwards is not fun for anyone. So how do you draw the line between collaboration and cheating? Here's a reasonable set of ground rules. Failure to understand and follow these rules will constitute cheating, and will be dealt with as per university guidelines. The Gilligan's Island Rule: This rule says that you are free to meet with fellow student(s) and discuss assignments with them. Writing on a board or shared piece of paper is acceptable during the meeting; however, you should not take any written (electronic or otherwise) record away from the meeting. This applies when the assignment is supposed to be an individual effort or whenever two teams discuss common problems they are each encountering (inter-group collaboration). After the meeting, engage in a half hour of mind-numbing activity (like watching an episode of Gilligan's Island), before starting to work on the assignment. This will assure that you are able to reconstruct what you learned from the meeting, by yourself, using your own brain. The Freedom of Information Rule: To assure that all collaboration is on the level, you must always write the name(s) of your collaborators on your assignment. These names should be listed in a prominent location at the top of the first page of your assignment. back to top

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