Course syllabus

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Course-PM

EDA263/DIT641 Computer Security

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

Revised January 8th, 2019

Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Course purpose

The course gives basic knowledge in the security area, 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, etc), 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 EDA092 Operating systems or equivalent knowledge is recommended.

Course homepage

The external course homepage is http://www.cse.chalmers.se/edu/year/2019/course/EDA263/
but 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 will take place in HA4 Monday 13:15, Thursday 10:00 and Friday 15:15. The Friday lectures will only run for the first couple of weeks.

The labs are mostly designed to be done at home, but some labs will require a physical demonstrations in person. Please book the demonstration here in CANVAS. The scanning lab also needs to be scheduled.

Contact details

Please use CANVAS foremost for communication with the teaching staff. 

Course literature

  • Text book: Stallings & Brown: Computer Security, Pearson 2012, ISBN: 978-0-273-76449-6,
    e-book at Chalmers library
  • 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) and four assignments / labs.

Part 1: Lectures
Part 2: Laborations/Project

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 course week 6. These assignments will be done by students in groups of two (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, and using a tool for finding vulnerabilities. Demonstration of some labs are required in person by all team members. These times are booked in CANVAS. 

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

  • The course have changed learning management platform and moved into CANVAS from PingPong.
    • With this change, some structure will change / quizzes added to the online system, new time bookings, etc.

Examination form

Three written examination opportunities will be offered and are listed at the Chalmers student portal.

For 2018/2019 the exams will take place:

  • 23 March (am)
  • 10 Jun (pm)
  • 28 Aug (pm)

No aids are allowed for the exam. Marks 3, 4 and 5 are given for a passed examination (GU: Pass and Pass with distinction).
The whole course is passed when the written examination and the laborations are passed.

    Learning objectives and syllabus

    The syllabus for Chalmers students and for GU students. 

     

    Course summary:

    Date Details Due