Mar 6, 2009 - The project
presentations have been scheduled.
Feb 10, 2009 - Some minor
changes to the schedule; there is now a lecture on Mar 5 and on Mar 26.
Course Description
Our increasingly networked world and the upcoming of new technologies,
such as RFID, trusted computing, or electronic voting, raise many
security
challenges. The goal of this course is to make students aware of these
challenges and to introduce them to current research in computer and
communications security. Students will also learn basic principles in
security and cryptography. The course assumes a basic knowledge of
computers, networks, and distributed systems, but does not assume any
prior knowledge of security or cryptography.
Lectures
The instructor will give several introductory lectures devoted to basic
principles of
security and cryptography. In the following lectures, two students will
each
present a research paper and lead a short discussion on the paper. The
presentation should be conference-style and take about 25 minutes,
which will leave about 15 minutes for discussion. See the reading list for a list of the discussed topics. Each presenter should submit his/her slides before the lecture to the instructor.
All students should read the two assigned papers prior to a lecture and
submit a short review
for one of them.
The reviews are due before class
on the day of the presentation of a paper. The (anonymized) reviews
will be accessible by the other students. The presenter of a paper
does not have to submit a review the day of the presentation. (He/she
should still submit a review for the other student's presentation, see below.)
Giving oral presentations is an important skill that grad students
should train during graduate school. Feedback is essential for this
training. Therefore, after every lecture, all students should submit a review for both
presentations. The reviews are due at
5pm the day after a presentation. A presenter will
have access to her/his (anonymized) reviews.
Project
Students will work in groups of two on a project in which
they will undertake novel privacy or security research. Possible ideas for projects will be mentioned
in class. Students will have to submit a proposal, present their work
in class at the end of the term, and write a workshop-quality
report. The report should be formatted using one of the ACM
templates (option 1
for LateX users). The report should not have more than 10 pages,
excluding the bibliography. A PDF of the report should be emailed to
the instructor by April 20.
Grading
Paper presentations
25%
Paper reviews
15%
Class participation (including presentation feedback)
Academic Integrity: In order to maintain a culture of
academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo community
are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and
responsibility. All members of the UW community are expected to hold
to the highest standard of academic integrity in their studies,
teaching, and research. The Office of
Academic Integrity's website contains detailed information on UW
policy for students and faculty. This site explains why academic
integrity is important and how students can avoid academic
misconduct. It also identifies resources available on campus for
students and faculty to help achieve academic in integrity out and of
the classroom.
Grievance: A student who believes that a decision
affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or
unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy
70 - Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4.
Discipline: A student is expected to know what
constitutes academic integrity, to avoid committing academic offenses,
and to take responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is
unsure whether an action constitutes an offense, or who needs help in
learning how to avoid offenses (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about
“rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance
from the course professor, academic advisor, or the Undergraduate
Associate Dean. When misconduct has been found to have occurred,
disciplinary penalties will be imposed under Policy 71 – Student
Discipline. For information on categories of offenses and types of
penalties, students should refer to Policy
71 - Student Discipline.
Avoiding Academic Offenses: Most students are
unaware of the line between acceptable and unacceptable academic
behaviour, especially when discussing assignments with classmates and
using the work of other students. For information on commonly
misunderstood academic offenses and how to avoid them, students should
refer to the Faculty
of Mathematics Cheating and Student Academic Discipline Policy.
Appeals: A student may appeal the finding and/or
penalty in a decision made under Policy 70 - Student Petitions and
Grievances (other than regarding a petition) or Policy 71 - Student
Discipline if a ground for an appeal can be established. Read Policy
72 - Student Appeals.