CS528 Network Security

Spring semester 2016, 3 credit course

Course Number:CS 52800 (currently CS 59000NWS)
Instructor: Aniket Kate
Teaching Assistant:James Lembke
Timeslot:Tuesday/Thursday 3:00 to 4:15 pm
Place: LWSN B134
Discussions: Piazza Signup Link


Course Objectives

The course focuses on the principles and foundations of building secure network systems and on security and privacy challenges in existing and emerging networks. The course compares and analyzes network architectures and network protocols from the physical layer to the access control, network, transport and application layer from an adversarial standpoint to understand how to build more secure protocols that can withstand attacks.

This course is a part of the new Professional MS in Information Security program in the Computer Science department. Notice that, unlike some other CS59000 course, this course will be soon officially labelled as CS52800, and can be included in the doctoral plan of study.


Prerequisite and Registration

Successful completion of CS 52600 required, or equivalent course with the consent of instructor required. Significant programming expertise and knowledge of computer networks is required to complete the projects.

During Spring 2016 edition of the course, due to a limitation of the departmental registration system, a student will have to ask for instructor permission to register for the course. Please send an email to the instructor mentioning successful completion of CS 52600 (or similar courses) and your programing expertise. The instructor will then enable your registration. Apologies for a minor inconvenience.


Course Overview

This course will cover the following topics associated with network security (and privacy):
  • TLS/SSL Security, QUIC Protocol
  • Internet Protocol Security (IPSec)
  • Secure Shell (SSH), and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)
  • DNS Security and Privacy
  • Secure BGP and RPKI
  • Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) and Wireless Security
  • Web Security and HTTPS
  • Anonymous Communication Networks (such as Tor)
  • Censorship Circumvention
  • PKI, Webs of trust, and Certificate Transperancy
  • P2P Communication (such as Bittorrent) and Payments (such as Bitcoin)
  • Social Networks and Credit Networks
  • Email Security

Course Projects

There will be three course projects of increasing levels of understanding and programming difficulty. Additional information on course projects can be found on Piazza.

Practice, Study, and Observe (PSO)

There two PSO sessions scheduled for the course which are held Wednesday and Thursday from 11:30 AM to 1:20 PM in Felix Haas Hall room 257. Attendence is not required but strongly encouraged. PSO sessions will be held the first two weeks of classes and allow dedicated time for working on course projects and to receive additional help from the TA as needed. After the first two weeks of classes, the TA will be available during office hours, email, or by appointment.

NOTE: As of February 1, 2016 PSOs will not be held as described. They have been changed to office hours. Additional information on the specific details of these office hours can be found on Piazza.



Grading Criteria

TaskPercentage (tentative)
Final Exam and Quizzes40%
Projects35%
Written Assignments20%
Class Participation5%

Course Policies

Academic Dishonesty

We will employ Purdue's standard strong academic policies for the course. Please refer to the academic policies page maintained by Professor Gene Spafford for more details. Other course specific rules are as follows:

Assignment and Project Due Dates

All assignments are due on the dates and times specified. It is the responsibility of the students to manage their time so that the assignments can be submitted before the deadline. Every student gets three bonus days (in total) for his/her assignments and projects. He/she can employ those days to submit their assignments late as long as his/her semester-wide quota of three days does not exceed. Late assignments (other than this concession) will not be graded.

NOTE: Late days cannot be used to extend the due date of an assignment beyond the last week of regular classes.

Assignment Feedback and Grade Disputes

Feedback on all assignments will be given within one week of the assignment due date. Feedback and scores for all graded course material (exams, quizzes, projects, and written assignments) will be posted on Blackboard. If a student wishes to dispute an assignment score, he/she will have one week to notify the teaching assistant to request a regrade. No regrade requests will be accepted after one week from posting feedback.

Getting Help

If you have a question on a course policy, grade, material presented in class, or a homework assignment please ask the course instructor or the TA either in person (office hours or special appointment) or over email. Remember that email questions will be responded to as quickly as possible but do not expect to receive an answer within the same day, on a weekend, or on a holiday. For an immediate response please make sure to ask in person or in class.

Discussion group:

Questions/comments should be posted on the discussion forum on Piazza. Make sure that you check the discussion group and your Purdue e-mail frequently (at least once per day). Please do NOT post answers to the assignments, though posting general clarifications is fine.

Complaints about the assignments or the class should NOT be posted to the group-- instead, they should be e-mailed to the instructor. Please be patient and courteous. Please ensure that the tone of your messages is respectful and the language used is appropriate.

Use of Copyrighted Materials

Among the materials that may be protected by copyright law are the lectures, notes, and other material presented in class or as part of the course. Always assume the materials presented by an instructor are protected by copyright unless the instructor has stated otherwise. Students enrolled in, and authorized visitors to, Purdue University courses are permitted to take notes, which they may use for individual/group study or for other non-commercial purposes reasonably arising from enrollment in the course or the University generally.

Notes taken in class are, however, generally considered to be “derivative works” of the instructor’s presentations and materials, and they are thus subject to the instructor’s copyright in such presentations and materials. No individual is permitted to sell or otherwise barter notes, either to other students or to any commercial concern, for a course without the express written permission of the course instructor. To obtain permission to sell or barter notes, the individual wishing to sell or barter the notes must be registered in the course or must be an approved visitor to the class. Course instructors may choose to grant or not grant such permission at their own discretion, and may require a review of the notes prior to their being sold or bartered. If they do grant such permission, they may revoke it at any time, if they so choose.

All use of copyrighted material must be sourced in the appropriate manner.

In general, any case of academic dishonesty will be dealt with by a severe grade penalty in the overall class grade and referral to the office of the Dean of Students.

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Copyright © 2016 Aniket Kate, Purdue University.