CS 588: Security and Privacy in Networked and Distributed Systems

Course Description

This course will cover foundational concepts and advanced topics in privacy-enhancing technologies for connected and distributed systems. The content will focus on techniques for confidential communication, integrity, anonymity and reliability in networked systems. Additionally, the course will discuss challenges that arise in distributed setups with adversarial parties. Along the way, the material will introduce the necessary background in cryptography and show how cryptographic tools are used in real systems to provide the aforementioned guarantees.

The class is intended for graduate students who are interested in learning about the security and privacy challenges of modern (large-scale) systems. Class meetings will typically include regular instructions and discussions of offline reading resources. The content will cover material from textbooks and academic papers. Students are expected to complete a semester-long project, and present their work in class. Prior experience in security or privacy is not required but will be beneficial in better understanding the material.

Syllabus

Projects

Course Information

Instructor: Anrin Chakraborti (anrin@uic.edu)

Lectures: Tuesday and Thursday 5:00pm–6:15pm (Central Time), BH 308

Prerequisites: CS 401; and CS 450 or CS 485; or consent of the instructor

Office Hours: Thursday 3:00pm - 4:00pm @ SEO 1326 (or by appointment)

Piazza: We will use Piazza for offline discussion and for announcements.

Grading

Schedule

Date Topic Reading
01/14 Introduction how to read a paper
01/16 Introduction to Cryptography Demystifying the Threat-Modelling Process,
01/21 Class cancelled due to weather Refer to the probability refresher
01/23 Perfect Secrecy Sec 2.1 of Graduate Handbook
01/28 Computational Secrecy Sec 2.2, 3.11 of Graduate Handbook
02/04 Block Ciphers Sec 4 of Graduate Handbook
02/06 Key Exchange Chapter 10 of Graduate Handbook

Resources

  1. Probability refresher: [1] , [2]

Academic Integrity Policy

As a student and member of the UIC community, you are expected to adhere to the Community Standards of academic integrity, accountability, and respect. Please review the UIC Student Disciplinary Policy for additional information. We abide by these standards in this course. All the work you submit must be your own; you should not use paraphrasing software like (QuillBot), or AI software for writing (like ChatGPT), or any AI tool for content generation (spell-checkers are allowed) – unless explicitly allowed to do so. All cases of plagiarism will be referred to the Dean of Students office, and depending on the severity of the offense, you risk being dismissed altogether from the course. The Dean’s office may further impose penalties including suspension and expulsion. If you have any question about whether some activity would constitute cheating, please feel free to ask.

Disability Accommodation Procedures

UIC is committed to full inclusion and participation of people with disabilities in all aspects of university life. If you face or anticipate disability-related barriers while at UIC, please connect with the Disability Resource Center (DRC) at drc.uic.edu, via email at drc@uic.edu, or call (312) 413-2183 to create a plan for reasonable accommodations. To receive accommodations, you will need to disclose the disability to the DRC, complete an interactive registration process with the DRC, and provide me with a Letter of Accommodation (LOA). Upon receipt of an LOA, I will gladly work with you and the DRC to implement approved accommodations.

Religious Accommodations

Following campus policy, if you wish to observe religious holidays, you must notify me by the tenth day of the semester. If the religious holiday is observed on or before the tenth day of the semester, you must notify me at least five days before you will be absent. Please submit this form by email with the subject heading: “YOUR NAME: Requesting Religious Accommodation.”

Classroom Environment

UIC values diversity and inclusion. Regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, geographic background, religion, political ideology, language, or culture, we expect all members of this class to contribute to a respectful, welcoming, and inclusive environment for every other member of our class. If aspects of this course result in barriers to your inclusion, engagement, accurate assessment, or achievement, please notify me as soon as possible. If your name does not match the name on my class roster, please let me know as soon as possible. My pronouns are he/him. I welcome your pronouns if you would like to share them with me. For more information about pronouns, see this page: https://www.mypronouns.org/wh


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