Course history
This page serves as an example syllabus for interested students. You can also check out the prior version of this course:
- Fall 2023 (NYU)
Course overview
This course will cover basic principles of cryptography and computer security. Specific topics will include cryptography, network security, operating system security, and web security. Course projects will focus both on writing secure code and exploiting insecure code.
Administrative links
| Instructor: | Benedikt Bünz(bb@nyu.edu) |
Prerequisites
Computer security is a broad topic covering almost all areas of computer science. Experience with computer programming at a systems level (e.g. C, C++ programming) is recommended hence the formal prerequisite of CSCI-UA.0201 (Computer Systems Organization). Recommended prerequisite courses include CSCI-UA.0202 (Operating Systems), CSCI-UA.0480-009 (Computer Networks). Experience with web development will also be helpful.
The largest programming assignment will be implemented in Go. Experience programming Go specifically is not necessary if you have experience with a language like C, C++ or JavaScript.
Assignments
Four practical projects and four written problem sets will be assigned, along with a midterm and a final exam.
- Collaboration: You may work with a partner on the Chatterbox programming projects (and submit one solution). All other work should be completed individually. You may discuss problem sets with classmates but your writeup should always be your own words.
- Deadlines: All course assignments will be due on Thursday evenings at 21:59, unless otherwise specified. Late submission will result in a 25% penalty per day (or fraction thereof) that the work is turned in late.
- Extensions: All students are granted three automatic, integral 24-hour extensions ("late days") which can be used on any assignment or problem set to submit late with no penalty (and without asking in advance). Beyond that, the penalty applies. Extra extensions will only be granted in extreme circumstances.
- Grading: Projects and homework are worth 40% of your final grade. The midterm exam is worth 25% and the final exam 35%.
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Project #1
In this project, students will implement an encrypted messaging application in Go, implementing a version of the Signal double-ratchet protocol. Implementations must handle out-of-order, dropped or corrupted messages at the network level and should take care to zeroize all key material to maintain forward secrecy. |
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Project #2
In this project, students will use a variety of tools to examine network security in practice, in particular exploring TLS and Certificates, DNS and DNSSEC, and port scanning using nmap. |
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Project #3
In this project, students will get hands-on web security experience by examining and exploiting an insecure example web server, taking advantage of cross-site scripting, XSRF and SQL injection. |
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Project #4
In this project, students will take on the role of a security consultant, reading the design docs for a fictional startup designing a secure communication app and offering suggestions on how to improve security. |
Readings
The class will follow my textbook-in-progress, available via Google Docs. Each lecture will roughly follow one chapter. There are also many pointers to advanced reading on each topic. Note that this textbook is a rough draft, being prepared and updated as we go. There will be content errors and editorial errors. Please add comments and corrections! In particular, if something doesn't make sense, please ask a question in a comment inline.
Because this text is being designed specifically for this course, we will generally cover one chapter in every lecture. Every lecture will also be accompanied by outside readings that expand on what is discussed in class or present the same material in a different way. Neither the readings nor the lectures are a replacement for each other; fully understanding the material will require attendance as well as reading.
Syllabus
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Lecture 1
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Introduction & threat modeling
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| Part 1: Cryptographic tools | |
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Lecture 2
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Identification protocols, One-way functions, PRFs
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Lecture 3
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Hash functions, MACs and authenticated data structures
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Lecture 4
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Symmetric encryption: historical ciphers, one-time pads and stream ciphers
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Lecture 5
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Symmetric encryption: block ciphers, MACs and authenticated encryption
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Lecture 6
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Public key cryptography: Key distribution, Kerberos, Diffie-Hellman key exchange
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Lecture 7
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Public key cryptography: public-key encryption, the discrete log assumption
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Lecture 8
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Public key cryptography: digital signatures, RSA and factoring assumptions
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| Part 2: Cryptographic applications | |
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Lecture 9
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Secure messaging: PGP, OTR and Signal
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Lecture 10
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TLS and HTTPS
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Lecture 11
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PKI on the web, certificates, certificate transparency
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Lecture 12
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Blockchains and cryptocurrency
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| Part 3: Network security | |
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Lecture 13
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Network security overview
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Lecture 14
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Link-layer security: Ethernet, WiFi, Mobile
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Lecture 15
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IP and VPNs
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Lecture 16
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DNS and TCP
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Lecture 17
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Surveillance & Censorship
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Lecture 18
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Anonymity & Tor
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| Part 4: Systems security | |
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Lecture 19
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Access Control
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Lecture 20
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POSIX permissions
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Lecture 21
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Exploits and Isolation
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Lecture 22
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Control Flow Attacks
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| Part 5: Web security | |
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Lecture 23
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Web security: the same origin policy, isolation
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Lecture 24
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More web security: Cross-site scripting and XSRF
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Lecture 25
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Browser privacy
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Lecture 26
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Authentication, passwords and biometrics
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Lecture 27
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Ethical and legal aspects of security
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