CMSC 491A/691A

Security in Wireless and Distributed Systems

Description

This 3 credit course will cover the fundamentals of  security in e merging open, dynamic environments created by wireless networks, embedded/handheld/wearable computers, and the WWW.  Traditional approaches, which assume closed, physically protected networks and rely on authentication to establish authorization do not work well in this environment. We will study the issues involved, and the recent efforts from the research community in the area.

Course Organization

Instructor: Anupam Joshi
Office: ITE 328
Office Phone: 455-2590
E-Mail Address: joshi@cs.umbc.edu
Office Hours: By appointment  

Books: No text is prescribed, we will cover most of the material from papers.

  • Recommended Several new texts have appeared dealing with wireless security issues in 802.11 type networks. We'll provide references to some of these as we go along.

    Prerequisites:

    CSEE senior or graduate (or equivalent). Must have UG level background in syst ems (CMSC421) . Talk to the instructor if you would like to take the course, but are not sure of your background.

    Course Information (or Stuff you should know up front ...)

    A few noteworthy points. First, this course is meant for seniors and grad students. While the formal prerequisite is only 421, upper level coursework in CS will help in giving you the right background. In addition, we assume that you are proficient in programming (i.e., have written more complex programs than typically assigned in CS1/CS2 courses). In case your background is deficient, it is your responsibility to catch up. In class, I will assume that all students have the requisite background. Second, this is a course in the "systems" area. That means that hands on work is almost as important as theoretical knowledge, and projects will account for almost 60% of your grade. Expect to be putting in significant effort! I will expect you to follow good programming practices (commenting, headers, version control, makefiles, etc. etc.) that you have learnt in previous classes. Quizzes may be given if needed to ``encourage" students to read the assigned material. We will give a single exam in the April timeframe.

    As we go through the course material, several reference papers will be provided to you. For each of these papers, the graduate students in the course will be expected to produce a brief (one page) summary and submit it in class on the day the paper is discussed. In other words, you would have read the paper before we discuss it in class. Undergraduate students are encouraged to read the papers as well, but are not required to submit summaries. The project(s) will be done in groups. Please form groups of upto two students. You may wish to start the process of group formation soon, we expect to hand out the projects about 3 weeks into the semester. The project(s) will involve substantial coding and the use of equipment available in the cyberdefence lab.

    We will use the World Wide Web as a convenient tool for distributing course material and presenting other information. The URL for the class web page is http://www.cs.umbc.edu/courses/graduate/CMSC691A/Fall03/. A "news and notes" link from the class page will provide important announcements and news about the class, and provide links to homeworks and projects as they are released. It is your responsibility to check it often. If you need to communicate with the instructor, please send an email with CMSC691A as the first element of your subject line.

    Tentative Course Outline

    This is a rough outline of the course, and subject to change as we progress through the semester. Its online counterpart will likely reflect the changes as we go along.

    The Important Stuff (i.e. grades)

    Given the format of this course, attendance and class discussion are essential for the learning process. While I cannot require attendance, your regular attendance will be needed in order to participate in class and in order to take the (unannounced) quizzes. I will not give any makeups for these quizzes. Course grades will be a function of your performance in the projects, paper presentations, quizzes, and exams, as well as of your participation in class. The grades will be based on a curve. A tentative breakdown of grades, likely to change as we go along is

    Academic Dishonesty

    Academic integrity is a vital ethical commitment of the scholarly community and UMBC has defined an academic integrity policy. As you have probably been told umpteen times by now, violating this policy is a strict no-no! If we catch anyone cheating, we will take the maximum action possible against them, including reporting the matter to the appropriate university authorities. Please cooperate by doing your own work and not seeking inappropriate help from your classmates. You may, of course, discuss homeworks and assignments amongst yourselves, as long as that discussion does not lead to a exchange of solutions. More information can be found here.

    ADA Compliance

    We recognize that some of you may have disabilities that require special attention from the instruction staff. Please make us aware of them at your earliest so that UMBC can make suitable arrangements.