Network Security

Catalog description

Advanced methods and technologies for network security. CSE 545 Network Security (3) CSE 545 covers the major topics and emerging trends in network security. We begin with a discussion of the basic problems, architectures and devices in current and next generation networks. This will include a discussion of how these topics relate to popular articles and the press. This part of the class relies heavily on case studies to illustrate how security impacts the social and technical aspects of the Internet and computing systems. The second major topic focuses on the use of applied cryptography supporting network protocols. This will provide a deeper view of the basics of cryptographic constructions and consider formal methods for proving their correctness. The realities and limitations of the current use of cryptography will be considered. Students will spend a considerable amount of time developing and analyzing their own security protocols. The third section of this course will focus on the management and vulnerabilities of current network environments. This will begin with a discussion of emerging authentication systems (federated authentication, graphical passwords, biometrics), and then turn to the security problems of large-scale network management. The class will then review major thrusts in network security: the management and vulnerabilities of wireless systems. The course concludes with a discussion of topical areas in network security. This is the most flexible part of the class, and will reflect the needs and desires of the instructors and students on a semester-to-semester basis.