CS401 - Cyber Security Research & Development

Spring Semester 2008 Syllabus

Description

This course is meant to familiarize students with working in a research & development job in the cybersecurity industry.

Course Outline

We will simulate the environment of a company or national laboratory doing advanced cyber security work called "Cyber Security Inc.". The course will be centered around team projects. The class will brainstorm about the most pressing open source cybersecurity problems and compose a list of those open source projects which have both pressing cybersecurity problems and which seem appropriate to be tackled as a semester project. Every student will then be required to indicate their level of interest in fixing cybersecurity problems in the listed open source projects as well as submit a biosketch emphasizing cybersecurity related knowledge and experience. Based on these biosketches, the instructor will choose the most experienced students as team leads and assign the rest of the students to the teams based on similarity of cybersecurity interests. Then each team will identify which open source projects they are interested in focusing on and write white papers requesting these projects to be "funded". The instructor will play the grant funding agency, selecting which white papers to fund. The teams then spend the remainder of the semester completing their funded projects with the instructor playing the role of technical manager. The semester is concluded by submitting the cybersecurity improved open source code back to the open source projects for incorporation in their main development branch, writing papers about the accomplishments, and presenting poster presentations as well as oral presentation in a cybersecurity symposium. Class sessions will focus on current cybersecurity problems, team presentations, and lots of collective brainstorming about the problems the teams are facing. Grades will be based on code development, class participation, written work, and oral/poster presentations, based on both the instructor's view and via peer reviews (note: most of the grade will be based on an individual's performance, only some of the grade will be linked to team performance; also note: there will be no tests).

Prerequisites

  • For undergraduate students: (3.5 GPA or higher) AND (CmpSc 384 OR CmpSc 385 OR CmpSc 483 OR CpE 349 OR instructor's permission)
  • For graduate students: programming proficiency AND (CmpSc 384 OR CmpSc 385 OR CmpSc 483 OR CpE 349 OR instructor's permission)

    • Course Policies

    Every student enrolled in this course is expected to be familiar with Student Academic Regulations, including the section on Conduct of Students which defines several forms of Academic Dishonesty such as Plagiarism. Incidences of Academic Dishonesty will result in zero grades for the respective course components, notification of the student's advisor and department chair, and further academic sanctions may be imposed as well in accordance with the regulations. Note that those who allow others to copy their work are just as guilty of plagiarism and will be treated in the same manner. Because non-attendance may negatively impact one's entire team, attendance is required in this course by all on-campus students and strongly encouraged by all distance students. To account for unavoidable conflicts that may arise, two absences before WD day are permitted and a total of five absences before the last day to drop; exceeding either absence limits may result in being dropped from the course.

    Instructor
    Name Dr. Daniel Tauritz
    Office 324 Computer Science Building
    Office hours By appointment or according to the following "open door" policy: if the instructor's office door is wide open, you are welcome to drop by; if the instructor's office door is only slightly ajar, only knock in case of an important, time-critical circumstance; finally, if the door is closed, knock only in case of an absolute emergency.
    E-mail tauritzd@mst.edu
    WWW http://web.mst.edu/~tauritzd
    Phone (573) 341-7218
    Fax (573) 341-4501
    Secretary phone (573) 341-4491

    Course Logistics
    Course website http://web.mst.edu/~tauritzd/courses/CyberSecurityR&D/sp2008
    Meeting times & location Tuesdays & Thursdays 9:30-10:45 AM - Room 213 Civil Engineering Building
    Course Schedule Dynamic schedule

    Grade Distribution (on-campus & live distance students)
    Class participation 10%
    Team contribution 40%
    Overall team performance 20%
    Oral communication 15%
    Written communication 15%
    Final grade for undergraduate students 90-100: A, 80-89: B, 70-79: C, 60-69: D, <60: F
    Final grade for graduate students 90-100: A, 80-89: B, 70-79: C, <70: F

    Grade Distribution (non-live distance students)
    Team contribution 45%
    Overall team performance 25%
    Oral communication 15%
    Written communication 15%
    Final grade for undergraduate students 90-100: A, 80-89: B, 70-79: C, 60-69: D, <60: F
    Final grade for graduate students 90-100: A, 80-89: B, 70-79: C, <70: F

    Resolving Issues

    You should always first try and resolve issues concerning the class with the instructor. If you are unable to resolve them to your satisfaction, please consult your advisor; if you are still unable to resolve them, you are encouraged to talk to the department chair.