CSCI E-170: Security, Privacy, and Usability

Overview:

From the catalogue description:

This course introduces computer and network security as it relates to enterprise and personal computing as well as to data networking. Special attention is paid to the implications of security technologies on enterprise and governmental policies including privacy policies, surveillance, and digital rights management. Topics include cryptography, forensics, human factors, watermarking, spyware, and privacy- and content-protecting technology. Students are expected to read a substantial amount of on-line material per lecture. Prerequisites: basic knowledge of computer networks and systems.

Readings:

All assigned readings will be available over the Internet. References may include material not on-line but only the on-line material is required for the course. Reading assignments will be posted on http://www.sobco.com/e.170/index.html and http://www2.sobco.com/e.170/index.html. (These two sites are on different servers - try www first but if that does not work try www2. It would be a good idea to print out and save this page in case of problems.

Lectures:

Lectures will be Fridays from 5:35 pm to 7:30 pm U.S. Eastern time in Maxwell Dworkin G125. The lectures will assume that the students will have read the assigned readings before the lecture. The web version of the lectures should be posted by 5pm U.S. Eastern time the Monday following the lecture except where there is a Monday holiday in which case the web version should be posted by 5pm Tuesday.

Exams

The exams are open-book take-home. The exams will be posted at about 8 pm U.S. Eastern time (after the lecture) and due (via email) at 4:30 pm U.S. Eastern time a week later. The exams cover the material from the lecture on the day the exam is posted. The final exam is cumulative and covers the entire course. All exams must be work done by the individual student -- no shared work is permitted. We are required to report any evidence of plagiarism to the Extension School authorities.

Grading:

The mid term exam counts for 40% of the course grade and the final exam counts for 60%.

Extra Credit Projects:

Special extra credit projects are possible upon prior request. Any extra credit is added to the class grade. All projects must be original work by the individual student. Projects cannot be material used in another class or copied from the other sources (such as the web). We are required to report any evidence of plagiarism to the Extension School authorities.

Office Hours:

Fridays at 4:00. Schedule in advance via email (sob@harvard.edu).