CYBER 262 Section 001: Cyber Defense Studio
University Park
Fall 2021
Syllabus
Class
Time & Room |
MWF
11:15 AM – 12:05 PM; E202 Westgate |
Course
Schedule |
Click
this link |
Instructor |
Professor
Peng Liu |
Office |
305A
SSB Building |
Office
Hours |
Friday:
12:10 pm – 1:30 pm or by appointment |
Phone
/ Fax |
(814)
863-0641 / 865-6426 |
E-mail |
TAs |
Zitong
Shang |
Office |
305
SSB Building |
Office
Hours |
TBD |
Phone |
NA |
E-mail |
Course Overview:
CYBER 262 is an introductory studio course on cyber defense.
It is a required core course for all Cybersecurity Operations and Analysis
majors. The objective of the course is to provide the students with lab-based
learning on applying the programming skills and the basic computer/security
concepts the students have learned before taking this course to solving a
selected set of concrete cybersecurity problems. Accordingly, this CYBER 262
course will be a sequence of in-classroom cyber-defense exercises focusing on
(a) learning (key cyber-defense concepts) by doing; (b) skill development. The course will cover the following
cybersecurity problems:
·
Behavior-based intrusion detection:
In this module, the students will apply their programming skills to implement a
simple log-analysis-based intrusion detector.
·
Control-hijacking attacks: In this
module, the students will conduct ethical hacking experiments on buffer overflow
attack, Return-to-Libc attack, and format string attack.
·
Vulnerability analysis: In this
module, the students will apply their debugging skills to conduct
vulnerability-oriented core-dump analysis.
For
each of the three modules, these will be a set of individual assignments, not group assignments. More details about
these assignments can be found in the Assignments section of the Penn
State Canvas website of this course.
In
addition, two “Capture the Flag”
internal security contests will be held at the end of the first module and the
third module, respectively. These two
security contests will be performed by each group of students. More
details about the security contests can be found in the Assignments section of the
Penn State Canvas website of this course.
The
prerequisite for the course is CYBER 100: Computer System
Literacy.
Course Objectives:
The objectives of this course are as follows:
Course Materials:
Required Reading Materials:
·
Chapters 4-6 out of the following
textbook:
o
Wenliang Du, Computer Security: A
Hands-on Approach, 2017.
Other Materials:
Examinations and Assignments:
This
course will have:
Grading:
Assignment Type |
Weight |
Attendance |
15% |
3 Individual Assignments in
Module 1 -- Each assignment 5% |
15% |
3 Individual Assignments in
Module 2 -- Each assignment 8% |
24% |
2 Individual Assignments in
Module 3 -- Each assignment 8% |
16% |
Security contest #1 |
14% |
Security Contest #2 |
16% |
TOTAL |
100% |
Grading Scale
Grades will be assigned based on the following scale:
Grade |
Percentage |
A |
93% to 100% |
A- |
90% to 92.9% |
B+ |
87% to 89.9% |
B |
83% to 86.9% |
B- |
80% to 82.9% |
C+ |
77% to 79.9% |
C |
70% to 76.9% |
D |
60% to 69.9% |
F |
less than 60% |
Course
Policies:
Classes, Exams, and
Assignments:
·
Security
Contests: There will be NO make-up
security contests unless an official excuse (document) is submitted and
pre-approved by the instructor.
· Late Policy: Starting right after the required submission
date of any assignment, 20% of the grade will be deducted per day up to two days.
NO points will be given to submissions more than two days late. A
documented chronic condition which could affect this policy must be immediately
brought to the attention of the instructor.
· Attendance: Attendance of students to all classes is required.
·
Readings: Students are expected to read the materials
that will be discussed in the class before the class meeting.
Academic Integrity:
·
According to the
Penn State Principles and University Code of Conduct: Academic
integrity is a basic guiding principle for all academic activity at Penn State
University, allowing the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest, and
responsible manner. In according with
the University’s Code of Conduct, you must not engage in or tolerate academic
dishonesty. This includes, but is not
limited to cheating, plagiarism, fabrication of information or citations,
facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, unauthorized possession of
examinations, submitting work of another person, or work previously used
without informing the instructor, or tampering with the academic work of other
students.
·
Any violation of
academic integrity will be investigated, and where warranted, punitive action
will be taken. For every incident
when a penalty of any kind is assessed, a report must be filed. This form is used for both undergraduate and
graduate courses. This report must be
signed by both the instructor and the student, and then submitted to the Dean’s
office.
Affirmative Action & Sexual
Harassment:
· The
Pennsylvania State University is committed to a policy that all persons shall
have equal access to programs, facilities, admission, and employment without
regard to personal characteristics not related to ability, performance, or
qualifications as determined by University policy or by Commonwealth or Federal
authorities. Penn State does not
discriminate against any person because of age, ancestry, color, disability or handicap,
national origin, race, religious creed, gender, sexual orientation, or veteran
status. Direct all inquiries to the
Affirmative Action Office, 211 Willard Building.
Americans with Disabilities Act:
· IST
welcomes persons with disabilities to all of its classes, programs, and
events. If you need accommodations, or
have questions about access to buildings where IST activities are held, please
contact us in advance of your participation or visit. If you need assistance during a class,
program, or event, please contact the member of our staff or faculty in charge.
An Invitation to Students with
Learning Disabilities:
· It
is Penn State’s policy to not discriminate against qualified students with
documented disabilities in its educational programs. If you have a disability-related need for
modifications in your testing or learning situation, your instructor should be
notified during the first week of classes so that your needs can be
accommodated. You will be asked to
present documentation from the Office of Disability Services (located in 116
Bouclé Building, 863-1807) that describes the nature of your disability and the
recommended remedy. You may refer to the
Nondiscrimination Policy in the Student Guide to University Policies and
Rules.