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CS 858 (F22)

The goal of this assignment component is to prepare you with a typical research experience in the software security area.

Details

A typical software security research project consists of two to three components:

  • Find a vulnerability type in a software system, AND
  • Choose to develop either
    • a defense mechanism, OR
    • a detection algorithm, OR
    • Both.

To qualify as a research project, at least one of the above-mentioned component needs to be novel. Here are some perspectives you can use to argue about novelty:

  • a new vulnerability type,
  • a new way to defend against an existing vulnerability type,
  • an optimization (e.g., performance, efficiency, etc) to an existing defense mechanism,
  • a new approach to detect an existing vulnerability, or
  • an optimization (e.g., scalability, accuracy, precision, efficiency, etc) to an existing detection mechanism.

You task for this assignment is to

  • define a novel research project and
  • execute it to the fullest extent possible within this term.

Deliverables

Here are the steps you are expected to follow

  1. Proposal: Your research project must be approved in advance by the instructor. This is done by submitting a title and an abstract in the HotCRP system (also known as paper registration). Technically, you may submit the proposal at any time before the due date of the project. However, the sooner you submit the proposal, the sooner we can help you polish the idea and shape your research project, so it is highly encouraged for you to submit the proposal as early as possible.

  2. Presentation: At the end of the term, you need to present your research work to the whole class and upload your presentation slides (or a write-up if you prefer) in the HotCRP system and hit the submit for review button to mark completion. Your presentation should include a summary of existing work on your topic, as well as how your approach differs from them (i.e., the novelty bit). In the scenario where the whole project is not finished within this term, your presentation should clearly highlight the steps forward and how you plan to complete the project after the term ends.

Grading

Grading of a research project will be based on peer feedback. After your final project presentation, all attendees will evaluate the presentation on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) in HotCRP and the grade for this assignment component is simply the average score of the received evaluations.