CS 6349 - Network Security
Fall 2023

Course Description

In this course, we will study the theoretical and practical aspects of network security. The (tentative) set of topics to be covered include:

Cryptography, authentication systems and security handshake pitfalls, Kerberos and PKI, TCP/IP Security, Security of TCP/IP Applications, Wireless security, DoS defense, and e-mail security, and (time permitting) a couple of other selected topics.

Learning Objectives:

1. Ability to understand the basic working principles and utilities of various cryptographic algorithms including secret key cryptography, hashes and message digests, and public key algorithms

2. Ability to understand design issues and working principles of various authentication protocols.

3. Ability to understand the design issues and working principles of various secure communication standards including Kerberos, certificate and PKI standards, IPsec, and SSL/TLS.

4. Ability to understand the security issues related to various TCP/IP protocols including IPsec, BGP security, VPNs, IDSes, firewalls, wireless security and anonymous routing.

5. Ability to understand the security issues related to various TCP/IP applications including DNS, web, e-mail.

6. Ability to understand the issues and existing solutions to various popular network security topics including WLAN security and denial-of-service (DoS) defense.

7. Ability to use existing cryptographic utilities to build programs for secure communication.

Syllabus Schedule

Course Information:

• Lecture time:  Monday/Wednesday from 8:30am to 9:45am in ECSS 2.306
• Course web page: http://www.utdallas.edu/~ksarac/netsec/
• Textbook (recommended, NOT mandatory): 
• Network Security, Private Communication in a Public World by Kaufman, Perlman, Speciner, 2nd edition.

• Additional Resources:
• Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C, 2nd Edition. B. Schneier. John Wiley & Sons.
• Cryptography and Network Security, Principles and Practices, W. Stallings, Pearson & Prentice Hall.
• W. R. Stevens, "UNIX Network Programming, Volume 1: Networking APIs -- Sockets and XTI", 2nd edition.
• Prerequisites: CS 4390 (Computer Networks), programming skills in C/C++ and/or in Java, and working knowledge of a UNIX-based operating system.

Instructor Information:

Name: Dr. Kamil Sarac (ksarac@utdallas.edu)
Office: ES 4.207
Phone: 972 883 2337
Office hours: Monday/Wednesday at 10:00am to 11:00am and by appointment at other times.

Teaching Assistant:

Name: TBA
Office: TBA
Office Hours: TBA

Student Evaluation:

• Two exams : 60%
• Homework assignments : 16%
• Course Project : 20%
• Participation in hands on activities: 4%

Miscellaneous:

• NO late turn-ins accepted for any homework/project/assignment/etc for the course. No exceptions.
• Class participation in terms of asking questions is highly encouraged. Please do not be afraid to ask questions no matter how simple you might think the answer could be. This type of interaction helps improve the effectiveness of the class and breaks the monotony.
• The presentation slides will be available on e-Learning. I will try to put them up before each class meeting but no guarantees on that.
• For the home works, you are welcome to discuss the problems or solution strategies with your class mates but the resulting work should be your own. Copying from each other or from other sources is considered as cheating. Any cheating detected will be handled with the standard university procedures on the subject.
• After the grades for your mid-term and homework assignments are announced, you will have at most one week to appeal for your grades (except for the end of the semester when I need to turn in the final grades by a deadline). So, please keep this in mind if you think that there is a problem/issue with the grading of your work.
• You should plan on taking the exams on the scheduled times. No late/early exams unless in case of an emergency situation such as health emergency or similar un-avoid-able situations and you need to provide convincing documentation for it.