Announcements

Folks,

I am going to have to cancel class on Monday, November 24, unfortunately. My apologies for the short notice.

No class on November 26, due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

I will see you all on Monday, December 1.

Hope this helps,

Matt Bishop

Hi, all,

Due to sickness, TA's office hour on Nov.21st would be postponed to next Wednesday 10-12. Thank you all!

Best,

Muwei

Hi, folks,

As announced in class,

I had to miss Wednesday's office hours. So I am holding today's office hour, 12-1pm, over Zoon. Here is the link:

Folks,

Due to the Canvas outage (caused by an AWS outage), I am extending the due dates of Homework 2 and Extra Credit 2 to Friday, October 24.

Hope this helps,

Matt Bishop

Hi, folks,

A number of people got added to the class this week, so I am extending the due dates of Homework 1 and Extra Credit 1 to October 10 (previously it was October 8).

Hope this helps,

Matt Bishop

Folks,

I am unavailable this morning, so I must cancel my office hour today.

Instead, I will hold an extra in-person office hour tomorrow from 1:30 to 2:30 in my office, 2203 Watershed Sciences.

Hope this helps,

Matt Bishop

Hi, folks,

Problem 8 of Homework 1 requires you to write a program, and it must run on the CSIF (where we will grade it).

Here is a web page that shows you how to get to the CSIF, and it has a link to the instructions for logging in:

Hi Everyone,

My office hours are set as follows:

• Monday: 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
• Friday: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

They will begin this Friday, as I am waiting for final approval on the TA room key request (expected to be resolved this week).

To help you make the most of office hours, here’s what I can and cannot assist with:

✅ I CAN help with:

• Questions about course materials
• Questions about homework assignments

❌ I CANNOT help with:

• Blank homework submissions (please don’t bring an untouched assignment and ask me to walk through every question 😁)
• Project-related questions (all project matters are handled directly by the professor)

Tips from your TA:

• Come to office hours if you’re unsure what a homework question is asking. Homework is graded based on addressing the critical points, and I’ve seen students lose points after misunderstanding the question, even with lots of effort put in.
• Tools like ChatGPT can be useful references, but please be cautious: in computer security, especially when studying various models presented in this class, the field is both deep and specialized. AI models may provide incomplete or inaccurate answers (“hallucinations”). Just, don’t trust every single thing ChatGPT tells you. For reliable understanding, original papers, textbooks, and lecture materials are your best resources.

Thanks,

Muwei

Welcome to the course! I’m excited to be your TA this quarter and look forward to working with you all.

A quick note regarding TA office hours:

Office hours are currently to be determined, as all TA office hour schedules need to be approved by the department. I’m waiting on final confirmation before announcing the exact time and location.

I’ll keep you updated as soon as I receive the approved schedule. In the meantime, if you have any urgent questions or need help, feel free to reach out via email or through the course platform.

Looking forward to a great quarter!

Best,

Muwei Zheng

Hello, folks, and welcome to ECS 235A!

Welcome to ECS 235A, Computer and Information Security!

As of the first day, there are 70 students enrolled and 60 students on the waiting list. In the past, the wait list length tended to decrease fairly rapidly, so I expect that some on the wait list will get in. If you are on the wait list, be sure you have an alternate class you can take in case you do not get in.