Objectives:

To equip students with a foundational understanding of the threats to the Internet infrastructure security and the countermeasures. Students will be equipped to

1. Understand and evaluate the current Internet infrastructure from the network security point of view, and
2. Acquire practical experience in implementing, setting up, and testing network security measures.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Professional/academic knowledge and skills

1. Acquire a foundational understanding of the three cryptographic primitives: secret-key encryption, public-key encryption, and one-way hash functions.
2. Understand the major security issues in implementing the four major security functions: secrecy, identity authentication, message authentication, and nonrepudiation.
3. Understand the major security issues and problems in the TCP/IP protocol suite and the lower layers, and the countermeasures to mitigate the corresponding attacks.
4. Acquire practical skills, such as setting up a secure private network using firewalls, secure tunnels, and end-to-end secure applications, implementing and/or integrating security functions, and assessment of system security.
5. Understand the major threats to the Internet-wide security today, such as denial-of-service attacks and Internet worms.

Attributes for all-roundedness

1. Acquire critical and independent analytical skills in the process of analyzing the security problems in the Internet.
2. Acquire the skill of synthesizing various security problems into a small set of fundamental security issues and solutions.
3. Enhance the technical reporting skill and oral presentation skill through a group-based class project.

Assessments

1. Assignments: 15%
2. Midterm, quizzes: 15%
3. Workshop reports: 15%
4. Mini-project: 15%
5. Final examination: 40%

Last submissions

Marks for late submission will be deducted as follows:

1. 5 minutes or less (less 20%)
2. 5+ to 60 minutes (less 50%)
3. 60+ minutes (less 100%)

Pre-requisites