Course-PM

EDA264/DIT642 Computer Security

for the International Masters Program in Computer Systems and Networks (MPCSN),
course period III (7,5 credits)

Revised March 4^th, 2024

Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Course purpose

The course gives basic knowledge in cybersecurity, i.e. how to protect your system against intentional intrusions and attacks. The purpose of intrusions can be to change or delete resources (data, programs, hardware), to get unauthorized access to confidential information or unauthorized use of the system's services. The course covers threats and vulnerabilities in computer systems and networks, as well as rules, methods and mechanisms for protection. Modelling and assessment of security and dependability as well as metrication methods are covered. During a few lectures, a holistic security approach is taken and organizational, business-related, social, human, legal and ethical aspects are treated.

Prerequisites: The course EDA093 Operating systems or equivalent knowledge is recommended.

Course homepage

Most material will only be found here in CANVAS. 

Schedule

Even though TimeEdit has the course schedule, there are sometimes delays in us being able to update it. For that reason, use the calendar in CANVAS foremost.

The lectures usually take place in Monday 13:15, Thursday 10:00 and Friday 15:15, but the rooms may shift so please always check canvas/timeedit calendar. The Friday lectures will *mostly* be self-study / group study so no physical lecture if not stated in the canvas calendar. Note that the very first lecture takes place Monday January 15, 1315--1500 in HA4.  

The labs are mostly designed to be done at home, but some labs will require a physical demonstrations in person. Physical demonstrations and in-person lab time will be limited and need to be scheduled. 

Contact details

• Teachers
  • Associate Professor Magnus Almgren, ph. 031 772 1702, email: magnus.almgren@chalmers.se
• Responsible for laborations
  
  • M.Sc Mohamed Hashim Changrampadi, email: hashimm@chalmers.se
• Laboratory supervisors
  
  • Teaching Assistants, to be updated in January 2023. 

Please use CANVAS foremost for communication with the teaching staff. 

Course literature

• Text book: Stallings & Brown: Computer Security, edition 4, Pearson 2018, ISBN: 9781292220611
• Offprints (OP): can be downloaded in CANVAS.
• Downloads and links (DL) from modules page in CANVAS.

Course design

The course is designed around a set of lectures (see the Modules) with corresponding obligatory home assignments,  and three assignments / labs. 

Part 1: Lectures
Part 2: Laborations/Project
Part 3: Obligatory home assignments (new for 2023/2024)

This is a broad course, covering many different topics in security. As such, the lectures start from basic terminology, discuss authentication and access control, malware, vulnerabilities, defenses, and also the human factor. The topics are listed under the Modules. The lectures are many times focused on a section of the course book. The slides and the corresponding reading instructions for the book should then be read. For a few topics, we also provide a PDF document with extra material. This will be referred to as the "offprint" (OP). We also use links to content on the web for some sections. 

The labs will start in course week 2 and continue until the end of the course. These assignments will be done by students in groups (no exceptions). The information regarding these assignments can be found in the module describing these assignments. They focus on authentication, sending encrypted emails, the vulnerability SQL injection. Demonstration of some labs are required in person by all team members. To book a slot, please follow the instructions at Overview of Labs. 

If students miss assignment deadlines, we will have catch-up times at the same time as the reexaminations occur. 

Changes made since the last occasion

• Due to covid-19, some parts of the course was redeveloped. The idea is to keep parts of these changes, and also strengthen the off-campus / on-campus activities.
• 23/24 we have added a set of obligatory home assignments and changed the way the course is graded:
  • To pass the course (grade 3), all students need to pass the labs and the home assignments.
  • To have grade 4 or 5, the student also needs to pass a written test ("dugga") scheduled to take place Friday March 8, 2024 0830--12:30. 

Examination form

The whole course is passed when the obligatory home assignments and the laborations are passed. For Mark 4 and 5, the students need to fulfill the requirements to pass the course and in addition take a written test ("dugga").

The home assignments will be spread out over the course. If a student fails a home assignment, one can do a retake in the exam week, or in the August exam week.

Every lab has specific deadlines that must be adhered to. 

For a higher grade on the course, the student need to pass the written test scheduled to take place Friday March 8, 2024 0830--12:30. No aids are allowed.

Learning objectives and syllabus

The syllabus for Chalmers students and for GU students. Below is a tentative schedule on how the course will look like, but note that we ask that you use the canvas  calendar and that some of the booked slot below will be changed.