This course was previously COMPSCI 590J.
This course will cover a broad range of topics related to cyber security and operations. This course will include real world studies of computer network operations and attack, with an emphasis on hands-on exercises and projects. The structure of the course will include weekly lectures, discussions, technical assignments, and a final capstone project. Topics will include computer architecture and assembly language, principles of embedded security, the essentials of exploit development and analysis (including using industry standard tools such as Ghidra, and utilizing computer security databases such as CVE), and discussion of real-world events and techniques. Additional course details are available.
Syllabus
UNIV Section 1 Jr. & Sr. CS majors who have completed COMPSCI 230 (or E&C-ENG 322) and COMPSCI 360 (or COMPSCI 460 or E&C-ENG 371) with a grade of C or better. UNDERGRADS MAY SUBSTITUTE ANY INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER/NETWORK SECURITY COURSE AT THE 300-LEVEL OR HIGHER WITH A GRADE OF C OR BETTER FOR CMPSCI 360, WITH PERMISSION OF INSTRUCTOR.
Graduate Students: No pre-requisites for COMPSCI and ECE graduate students. Suggested basic knowledge of reverse engineering and cybersecurity concepts. Other students: Permission of lead instructor.
UNIV Section 2 CS and ECE graduate students.
UWW Section 1 MS-CMPSCI students as well as any other student at the grad level with instructor's permission.
Synchronous course. Course material is available on Moodle. Weekly lecture meetings will be held at the scheduled times. Students must attend all lectures. Classes are offered in person for UNIV sections and UWW section is offered remotely synchronous.
Instructors will be from a cohort of industry cyber effects subject matter experts from the MITRE Corporation.
Nick Merlino is a Cyber Mobile Research Engineer within the Distributed Systems department at the MITRE Corporation. Since he started in 2016, he has supported projects for multiple government agencies spanning from low level analysis to high level development. Nick's focus has been on network security and various aspects of mobile device security. He holds a BS and MS in Computer science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a concentration in cybersecurity.
Dr. Seth Landsman is a software and cyber engineer who has worked across multiple government agencies to support their unique national security missions. Seth has specific expertise in mobile environments, command and control systems, and system integration and holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Brandeis University.
Dan Walters is a Principal Embedded Security Engineer at The MITRE Corporation, where he has worked in the area of embedded systems since 2006. He helped develop MITRE's Secure Electronics Lab, which researches electronic implementation-security issues such as side-channel leakage, fault induction, and trusted hardware.
Dr. Ed Walters is a Principal Software Systems Engineer at the MITRE Corporation in the Tactical Edge Systems Group. He has a B.S. and an M.S. in Aero/Astro from MIT, an M.S. in Computer Science from Stevens Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from UMass Amherst. He has worked for various companies, including Volvo and Bell Labs, and worked on everything from internet infrastructure to compiler and simulator design for a research processor. At MITRE he has been involved with projects in the fields of Space Communication, Navigation, and Radar Systems. His research interests include computer system and hardware simulation, high-performance computing, and program analysis. On his off time, Ed enjoys cooking, hiking, and spending even more time in front of the computer gaming.
Jeff Hamalainen is an embedded security engineer and lead for the Secure Implementation Analysis and Exploitation group at the MITRE Corporation. He has over 15 years experience applying cutting edge research in side-channel analysis, fault injection, and communications to important problems across multiple government agencies. Jeff has previously organized multiple collegiate Embedded Capture-the-Flag security competitions and taught classes in fault injection. He received his B.S and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Tufts University and Northeastern University (respectively).
Adam Woodbury is the Chief Engineer for Embedded Security within the Electronic Systems Development and Embedded Security department at the MITRE Corporation, where he has worked since 2003. Adam previously worked at NTRU Cryptosystems where he developed efficient hardware and software implementations of lattice-based public-key cryptography. He holds a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute where he studied efficient implementations for elliptic curve cryptography.