Tentative Syllabus

Here are the planned topics for each week. This is tentative, because I may go slower (or faster) than this schedule shows, and I may add some topics and remove others. If there is something you want to hear about and it is not listed here, please ask me about it; I'm very willing to change topics based on class interest!

Week 1: September 29-September 30 (1 class, discussion section)

Topics: What is computer security? Policies, mechanisms, and assurance.

Week 2: October 3-October 7 (2 classes, discussion section)

Topics: Why are programs so touchy? Bad, and good, programming practices.

Week 3: October 10-October 14 (2 classes, discussion section)

Topics: How do you scramble information? ciphers and what "PKI" means.

Week 4: October 17-October 21 (2 classes, discussion section)

Topics: Who are you, and how can you prove it? Identity and authentication.

Week 5: October 24-October 28 (2 classes, discussion section)

Topics: How do I keep bad folks out? Access control on a system.

Week 6: October 31-November 4 (2 classes, discussion section)

Topics: Why doesn't a firewall get hot? Controlling access to networks.
Note: midterm scheduled for November 1

Week 7: November 7-November 11 (2 classes, discussion section)

Topics: Why can't I vote, or buy a house, over the Internet? E-voting and e-recording.

Week 8: November 14-November 18 (2 classes, discussion section)

Topics: Are computer programs alive? Computer viruses, worms, and their ilk.

Week 9: November 21-November 25 (1 class)

Topics: Is the web safe? The World Wide Web and security.

Week 10: November 28-December 2 (2 classes, discussion section)

Topics: How do you make things safe? Basic assurance and validation

Week 11: December 5-December 9 (2 classes, discussion section)

Topics: Miscellaneous