1. CS 2550 Foundations of Cybersecurity
Logistics
(the boring slides)

2. Hello! Welcome to CS 2550 Who am I? Are you in the right classroom?
Okay, good.
Who am I?
Professor Christo Wilson
ISEC 615
Office Hours: Thursdays 11-2pm or by appointment

3. Anti-Social Media Don’t friend me on Facebook Twitter: @bowlinearl
.. Because I’m not on Facebook
If you friend “Christo Wilson”, it’s a Russian bot
LinkedIn: if you pass the class, you can add me

4. Say Hi to the TAs TAs: Office hours: TBD Samir Elhelw
Walter Geanacopoulos
Matthew Kline
Martin Petrauskas
Garrett Tucker
Inbar Yaakobovich
Office hours: TBD

5. Why Take This Course?
Target TJ Maxx Yahoo Ashley Madison Sony Pictures The Office of Personnel Management Equifax The Democratic National Convention
What do they all have in common?
Victims of massive data breaches
Every company is now a tech company, and every company is now vulnerable

6. Why Take This Course? Heartbleed Shellshock Meltdown Spectre
What are these things?
Software vulnerabilities that enable malicious exploits
Software is so critical to our way of life that massive security vulnerabilities now achieve celebrity status

7. Why Take This Course?
Cybersecurity is now a fundamental aspect of life
It affects every person
It affects every company
It affects every nation
Adversaries are powerful and sophisticated
Cybercrime is a multi-million dollar industry
Nations are using the internet as a battleground
Every computer scientist needs to understand cybersecurity
Whether we like it or not, we are on the front lines
Enormous opportunity to help people navigate a hostile internet

8. Goals Fundamental understanding about cybersecurity
Ability to “think like an attacker” and model threats
Knowing essential security principles, practices, and tools
Grappling with ethical, legal, and social issues
Focus on software and tools
Not hardware
Minimal theory
Project-centric, hands on experience
Real projects that build concrete skills

9. Online Resources https://cbw.sh/2550/ Class forum is on Piazza
Sign up today!
Install their iPhone/Android app
When in doubt, post to Piazza
Piazza is preferable to
Use #hashtags (#lecture2, #project3, etc.)

10. Teaching Style I am a security researcher Solution: ask questions!
Things make sense to me that may not make sense to you
I talk fast if nobody stops me
Solution: ask questions!
Seriously, ask questions
Standing up here in silence is very awkward
I will stand here until you answer my questions
Help me learn your names
Say your name before each question

11. Following Along In Class
Whenever possible, I will do demos in class
All demos will be on the bash command line
Many will be in Python
I encourage everyone to follow along
Come prepared with a laptop that has a local bash command line
Week 2 and Project 0 will be a crash course in Linux
Basic command line skills
Everyone will setup Ubuntu in a Virtualbox Virtual Machine
Other VMs, Homebrew, Windows 10 + WSL are welcome, but don’t expect tech support

12. Books No textbook But, two required readings:
Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick
Countdown to Zero Day by Kim Zetter

13. Workload Projects (7) 4%, 6%, 10%, 10%, 10%, 10%, 10% (respectively)
Quizzes (5)
2% each
Midterm
15%
Final
Total
100%

14. Projects This course is project-centric 7 projects
Designed to give you real experience
Start early!
Seriously, start early!
7 projects
Due at 11:59:59pm on specified Friday
Use turn-in scripts to submit your code, documentation, etc.
Linux/command line basics
GPG key generation and essential cryptography
Password generation and cracking
Social engineering (essay assignment)
Mini-Capture the Flag, exploit development
Forensics and incident response

15. Project 0 Released later this week Get your VM setup this weekend!
We’ll use it in class next week for practice
Due Friday, January 18
Project questions?
Post them on Piazza!

16. Late Policy
Each student is given 4 slip days that they can use at any time to extend a deadline
You don’t need to ask me, just turn-in stuff late
Assignments are due at 11:59:59, no exceptions
1 second late = 1 hour late = 1 day late
20% off per day late

17. Quizzes There will be five in-class quizzes throughout the semester
Given on random days
Roughly minutes long
Goals of the quizzes:
Make sure you are paying attention and understanding key concepts
To incentivize attendance
Non-goals:
Shredding your mind with super hard questions

18. Exams Midterm and Final All exams are: Question format:
Midterm will be in-class, final date/time will be announced later
The final will be cumulative
All exams are:
Closed book, leave the laptop at home
If I see a smartphone, I will take it and sell it on ebay
You are allowed to bring an 8.5x11, double-sided cheat sheet
Question format:
Short answer
Pseudocode

19. Participation This is a college course
I’m not taking attendance
I don’t care if you skip lecture (but beware missing quizzes!)
That said, please come and participate!
Ask questions!
Ideally, I want to know everyone’s name by the end of the semester

20. Grade Changes
Each student is given 2 challenges to use as they see fit
Challenges can be spent asking for regrades
If you think there has been a grading error, come to my office hours
If the grade is incorrect, you keep your challenge
If the grade is correct, you lose your challenge
When your challenges are exhausted, you cannot ask for regrades
Why do I have this adversarial policy?
To discourage grade grubbing
Seriously, it is so, so annoying

21. Grade Changes (Continued)
Challenges may be used for:
Projects, quizzes, and tests
Challenges may not be used for:
Late assignments, use of slip days

22. Cheating Do not do it Cheating is an automatic zero
Seriously, don’t make me say it again
Cheating is an automatic zero
Must be referred to the university for discipline and possible expulsion
Project code and essays must be original
Written by you and you alone
Unless we give you starter code, obviously
If you have questions about an online resource, ask us
Projects and essays must be done individually
Copying answers from other students is forbidden

23. Final Grades
At the end of the semester, all of your grades will sum to 100 points
* = 100
Final grades are based on a simple scale:
A >92, A , B , B 83-86, B , …
I don’t curve grades
Projects
Exams
Quizzes

24. Ethics and the Law We will discuss sensitive topics in this class
Brazen criminal activity
Offensive hacking techniques
The goal is to help you understand the capabilities and motivations of attackers
Do not, under any circumstances, use these skills offensively
Run exploits on Khoury College machines
Use scanning or attack tools against public servers or websites
Infiltrate your roommates computer and spy on them
Etc.
Failure to comply may result in expulsion and/or arrest

25. Questions?