The course will cover a wide range of topics in network security and online privacy, trying to strike a balance between core concepts and recent advancements. Although clearly distinguishing between "systems" and "network" security is often challenging, our focus will be on technologies, protocols, attacks, and defenses most closely related to the network rather than the endpoints. Indicatively, some of the topics we will explore include: core network protocols, eavesdropping, scanning, DoS attacks, firewalls, VPNs, proxies, intrusion detection, forensics, honeypots, encrypted communication, authentication, services and applications, botnets, targeted attacks, exfiltration, privacy, anonymity.
All topics will be covered from a highly practical perspective, following a mixed format of lectures, research paper discussions, and case studies.
There will be lectures in class but, in addition, the student is expected to study class notes, recommended references and supplemental videos to enhance their learning over the course of the semester.