CE235-5-SP: COMPUTER SECURITY
Year: 2013/14
Department: Computer Science and Electronic Engineering (School of)
Essex credit: 15
ECTS credit: 7.5
Available to year(s) of study:
Available to Study Abroad / Exchange Students: Yes Comments: PreRequisite - Programming in a language that uses pointers or divert memory access would be useful for this module (eg. C)
| Module is taught during the following terms |
| Autumn |  | Spring |  | Summer | |
Module Description
This course considers security as it relates to a single computer at an introductory level. Cryptography is introduced and the various architectures that support encryption and authentication are investigated. There will be practical work that will give students an opportunity to explore key security tools. The management and planning issues are covered in policy and risk management.
Learning Outcomes
After completing this module, students will be expected to be able to:
1. Identify and describe common security vulnerabilities.
2. Recommend security tools and procedures for specific attacks.
3. Describe the nature of malicious code and how it can spread, be identified and removed.
4. Compare the performance of various cryptographic schemes.
Outline Syllabus
Principles of security
-Confidentiality, integrity and availability (CIA)
-Vulnerabilities, threats, controls
-Forensics and recovery of systems
Security tools
-Internal and external scanning
-Log file analysis
-Intrusion detection
Secure applications
-Common problems in applications
-Detailed example of stack based buffer over?ow
Malware and malicious code
-viruses, trojans, worms
-History and classification
-Anatomy of a virus and how viruses spread
-Identifying viruses and antivirus software
Cryptography
-Applications of encryption to computer security
-Types of encryption algorithms
-Examples of encryption algorithms commonly used
-Key and password management
User authentication
-Methods of user authentication
-One way functions and MD5
-Biometric access control (e.g. fingerprint, iris etc.)
-Other techniques (e.g. smartcard)
Security policy
-Example security policy
Learning & Teaching Methods
Lectures and Labs
Assessment
30 per cent Coursework Mark, 70 per cent Exam Mark
Coursework:
Progress Test: worth 10%, held in week 21;
Programming assignment 1: worth 20%, submitted in week 23
Exam Duration and Period
2:00 hour exam during Summer Examination period.
Other information
STUDENTS SHOULD NOTE THAT THIS MODULE INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO REVIEW AND CHANGE.
Bibliography
- Recommended reading
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C.P.PFLEEGER, C., and S.L.PFLEEGER, Security in computing, any edition.
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A detailed book that the course uses to describe the general principles and risk analysis.
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Computer Security by Dieter Gollman (any edition)
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Introduction to Cryptography and Network Security, Behrouz Forouzan
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