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.
- 5 classes: Security and Wireless Networking basics
-
- 4 classes: WEP and Related Issues
- 6 classes: Security (IDS, Secure Routing) in Ad-Hoc Networks
- 3 classes: Key Management in Wireless Networks
- 5 classes: Distributed Trust and Policy based Security
- 2 classes: Distributed Intrusion Detection
- 2 classes: Project Discussions
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
-
Exams Grad 30%, UnderGrad 35%
-
Paper Reports 10% Grad & Class Participation 5%
-
Project 55% Grad, UnderGrad 60%
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.