CMPS 122: Computer Security
Spring 2003

General Information

This class will be offered for the first time in Spring 2003. The prerequisite is CMPS 111, which will be offered in both Fall 2002 and Winter 2003. In addition, knowledge of computer networking and probability and statistics will be helpful.

The syllabus is available online. You can also read this presentation by Bruce Schneier of Counterpane Internet Security. The presentation discusses the need for computer security and what can be done about it.

Basic information

Assignments

• 28 May: Reminder: your project is due at 11:59 PM on Friday, June 6th. Please submit it using the assignment "project".
• 28 May: Homework #5 is now available, and is due on Thursday, June 5th.
• 13 May: Your next project checkpoint is now due on Tuesday, May 20th (delayed from May 15th).
• 8 May: Homework #3 is now available, and is due on Friday, May 16th.
• 1 May: Reminder: project description (1–2 paragraphs) is due on Sunday, May 4th.
• 25 Apr: Homework #2 is now available, and is due on Friday, May 2nd.
• 19 Apr: I accidentally uploaded the wrong file for Problem #3 on Homework #1. The correct (CBC-encrypted file is now available. The previous file was encrypted using ECB mode rather than CBC mode (and with a different 24 bit key).
• 14 Apr: Homework #1 is now available. It's due on April 24th (next Thursday) at 11:59 PM. Please read the homework guidelines before starting the assignment.

Class news & notes

• 13 Jun: Final grades are now posted online.
• 8 Jun: Grades through Homework #4 are now posted online.
• 5 Jun: If you're accessing certain pages from off-campus, you may be asked for a username and password. The username is "cs122", and the password is also "cs122".
• 5 Jun: A copy of the paper on DVD encryption (broadcast encryption) is now available online.
• 30 May: Grades for Homework #3 have been posted.
• 29 May: As promised, here is a sample short paper (5 pages, 10 point font). You don't have to make your paper two columns or do anything else fancy, of course.
• 14 May: Grades for the first two homeworks and for the midterm are now available online. Midterm solutions are also available online.
• 4 May: Solutions for the first two homeworks are now available online (see the homework page for details).
• 1 May: The midterm will be given on Tuesday, May 6th in class. It will be closed-book, closed-note, but you should bring a basic calculator with you. It covers material through the May 1st class.
• 25 Apr: Project information has been posted.
• 25 Apr: The newsgroup ucsc.class.cmps122 has been created.
• 16 Apr: Lan Xue's office hours will be in Baskin 308, not Baskin 310 as it says on the syllabus.
• 31 Mar: If you want to take the class, please show up for the first two classes. If you are unable to do so, you must send me email to avoid being dropped from the class.
• 17 Feb: The syllabus is now available in (mostly) final form. There may be additional changes before the first class.
• 11 Feb: You can follow this link to the Schedule of Classes listing for this class.

Recommended reading

The following books are interesting and relevant to the topics we'll be covering in class. None of them are required, but you might find them interesting.

• Cryptonomicon (Neal Stephenson)
• The Code Book (Simon Singh)
• Database Nation (Simson Garfinkel)
• Applied Cryptography (Bruce Schneier)
• Practical Cryptography (Neils Ferguson and Bruce Schneier)
• Firewalls and Internet Security: Repelling the Wily Hacker, 2nd edition (Cheswick, Bellovin, and Rubin)
• The Cuckoo's Egg (Clifford Stoll)
• Practical Unix & Internet Security, 3rd edition (Garfinkel, Schwartz, and Spafford)

Other interesting links

• List of small primes