Principles and sound practices of computer security with an emphasis on practical, real-world understanding and application in everyday life. ÊDetails will include data protection, Internet security, and malicious software, while applications discussed will include security in Windows, “smart” phones, social networking, electronic voting, electronic medical records, the power grid, and other areas that non-CS majors are likely to encounter.
Course Goals
Some goals we hope you achieve:
A general knowledge of computer security;
Learn how to be skeptical of claims and ask questions to better understand them;
Learn how to defend against many attacks;
Learn a few subject areas relating to computer security; and
Learn about computer security and assurance in daily life.
Prerequisite
Knowledge of computers at the level of ECS 15, Introduction to Computers
Text
None
Class Web Site
The class web site is on SmartSite.
To access it, go to http://smartsite.ucdavis.edu and log in using your campus login and password.
Then go to ECS 155 in your schedule.
Handouts and other documents will be posted there.
We will also post announcements there, too.
If you do not have access to SmartSite, you can go to the alternate web site
at http://nob.cs.ucdavis.edu/classes/ecs155-2013-04.
You can download the handouts from that site, but you cannot look at your grades or submit homework there.
Homework
Homework will be handed out in class and be available on SmartSite. Please submit your homework through SmartSite. Please turn it in on time. We will take late homework up to the beginning of the next class period, but will deduct 20% of your score as a late penalty.
Extra Credit
Extra credit in this course will be tallied separately from regular scores.
If you end up on a borderline between two grades at the end of the course, extra credit will count in your favor. However, failure to do extra credit will never be counted against you,
because grades are assigned on the basis of regular scores.
You should do extra credit if you find it interesting and think that it might teach you something.
Remember, though, it is not wise to skimp on the regular assignment in order to do extra credit!
Grading
Homework
50%
Midterm
20%
Final
30%
Exams
Midterm: Monday, November 4, in class Final: Wednesday. December 11, 10:30am–12:30pm
These are closed book/closed notes exams. No early or late exam will be given; if you miss an exam for medical reasons (you must document this; no other excuses are acceptable), you may be allowed or required to take a make-up exam, or the other parts of the course will be counted proportionally more (the choice is the instructorÕs). In particular, forgetting the time or place of an exam is not an excuse for missing it!
Academic Integrity
The UC Davis Code of Academic Conduct,
available at http://sja.ucdavis.edu/cac.html, applies to this class.
In particular, for this course:
All work submitted for credit must be your own. You may discuss your assignments with classmates, with instructors, or with teaching assistants or readers in the course to get ideas or a critique of your ideas, but the ideas and words you submit must be your own. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, collaboration is considered cheating and will be dealt with accordingly.
For written homework, you must write up your own solutions and may neither read nor copy another studentÕs solutions.
For programs, you must create and type in your own code and document it yourself. Note that you are free to seek help while debugging a program once it is written.
A good analogy between appropriate discussion and inappropriate collaboration is the following: you and a fellow student are each writing a book on the same topic. You and your competitor might choose to discuss general information about the topic, and sources, but you certainly would not exchange drafts or write sections for each other. Ask the instructor for clarification beforehand if the above rules are not clear.