CSE logo University of Washington Computer Science & Engineering
 CSE 484 / CSE M 584: Computer Security (Winter 2010)
  CSE Home   About Us    Search    Contact Info 

Course home
 Home
Administrivia
 Overview
 Using course email
 Context Forum
 Assignment Forum
Schedule
 Schedule
Assignments
 Homework
 Labs
Lab information
 Getting lab accounts
 Unix tutorials
   

Course Overview

  Topics
  Grades

Exams

Homework

Labs

Participation

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: 40%
  • Homeworks: 25%
  • Participation: 10%
  • Final: 25%
Grades for CSE M 584 will be assigned as follows:

  • Labs: 35%
  • Homeworks (non-research components): 20%
  • Homeworks (research component): 10%
  • Participation: 10%
  • Final: 25%
You must sign and return the Security and Privacy Code of Ethics form by the end of class on January 8 (Friday) in order to receive a non-zero grade for this course.

You can check your grades here: https://catalysttools.washington.edu/gradebook/kohno/17120.

back to top     


 
Exams

There will be one exam (a final) for this course:
  • Final : Tuesday, March 16, 2010, 8:30-10:20am, EEB 125

back to top    


 
Homework

There will be four kinds of homework assignments given throughout the class:
  • Reading: On some days you will be given reading assignments associated with the 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.)
     
  • Broader contextual explorations: We will use several approaches for exploring the broader context surrounding computer security (people, ethics, society, levels of security, and so on). First, we will be using a forum to discuss current events and the possible security and privacy properties of real systems. Second, we will be exploring these broader contextual issues using new techniques based on "science fiction prototyping". Finally, we will be exploring these broder contextual issues with in-class discussions and additional discussions on the forum.
     
  • 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 forum. 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    


 
Participation

One of the best ways to learn computer security -- and in fact almost any topic -- is to actively discuss the topic with others. I hope you take the opportunity to discuss the topics in this class with your friends and others. I will also be looking for active participation in the course as well. You can get participation credit by regularly contributing to the forums. For example, one forum post a week will give you full participation credits, as would two posts every two weeks; 10 forum posts in the last week of the course would not, however, be considered "regular contribution". You can also get participation credit by contributing to the in-class discussions.

back to top    


 
Policies

(Many of these policies are taken verbatim from previous instances of this and other UW CSE courses.)
  • Late Policy: Please pay careful attention to the due dates of the assignments. For most assignments, if you hand in the 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 25 hours late will be downgraded 40%. as grades. Please note, however, that some assignments cannot be turned in late; we will clearly specify when this is the case. We will not consider granting Incompletes

  • 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   


CSE logo Computer Science & Engineering
University of Washington
Box 352350
Seattle, WA  98195-2350
(206) 543-1695 voice, (206) 543-2969 FAX