CS 181S: System Security
CS 181S discusses security for computers and networked information systems.
It focuses on principles and techniques for implementing military as well as
commercial-grade secure systems. It is designed to give students practice
reasoning about and designing secure sytems as well as practical experience
with building and securing a software system.
Prerequisites: For CS 181S, you need to have a broad understanding of
organization and programming of computer systems. Students who have taken a
systems course, such as Pomona's or Harvey Mudd's CS 105 and their
transitive prerequisites, should be well positioned to take CS 181S. Knowledge
of operating systems, computer networks, and/or cryptography will be helpful.
Assignments might require the use of standard tools and languages such as C,
Unix, web servers, etc. You either need to be familiar with these technologies
or to be committed to investing extra time to learn them as you go.
Lectures
Lectures take place on Mondays and Wednesdays 2:45-4:00 in Lincoln 1125. See the schedule for details.
Instructor
|
Eleanor Birrell eleanor.birrell@pomona.edu Edmunds 221 |
Office hours: Monday 8-10pm, Tuesday 4:30-6:30pm, Wednesday 4:30-6:30pm
I am generally in my office most afternoons, so feel free to drop by with quick questions or just to say hi. The best way to contact me is by email. I try to respond to all emails within 24 hours. |
Assignments
There will be seven homework assignments in CS 181S: four theory
assignments and three programming assigments. Note that assignments
in this course are often deliberately underspecified, open-ended,
and motivated by problems that arise in the real world—messy as it
is. You will have to think on your own, build tools, refine problem
specifications, make reasonable and defensible assumptions, and be
creative. Success in this course, as in life, depends heavily on you
figuring out what's important and concentrating on that.
Extensions will be granted only in exceptional circumstances, such
as documented illness. If you believe such a case applies, contact
Prof. Birrell.
Unless otherwise specified, assignments may be turned in after the
deadline with the following penalty applied to the score received:
- 1 day late (i.e., immediately after the deadline up to 24 hours later): −10%
- 2 days late: −25%
- 3 days late: −50%
- >3 days late: −100% (I won't grade it)
Project
There will be a semester-long project in this course, with various checkpoints during the sememster. See the project page for details.
Grades
I expect the breakdown for the overall course grade in CS 181S to
be as follows:
Theory Assignments: 35%
Applied Assignments: 30%
Course Project: 35%
Regrades
Regrades are intended to correct errors in grading, not to dispute
judgment calls or deduction weights. If you believe I have made a
mistake while grading your assigment, send me an email detailing (1)
the error that was made and (2) why your solution was correct.
Be aware that any regrade request may result in rechecking your
entire submission, and that often leads to a grade reduction.
The deadline for submitting a regrade request is one week after you
receive the original grade. Requests submitted after that will be
denied without consideration of their merits.
Academic Integrity
Absolute integrity is expected of every student in all academic
undertakings. If you are unsure about what is permissible and what
is not, please ask.
Integrity includes you being honest about the sources of the work
you submit. When you submit work in this course, you are
representing it as the work of the stated authors (i.e., the student
or group who submitted it) subject to any exceptions that are
clearly stated in the submission itself. To avoid committing
plagiarism, simply be sure always to accurately credit your sources.