General Overview of the Course Content

• Fundamentals of signal/data transmission and the physical properties of transmission media
• Classification of computer networks and network topologies; the ISO/OSI reference model
• The Internet Protocol family
• Communication protocols at the application layer: HTTP, SMTP, DNS, etc.
• Communication protocols at the transport layer: TCP, UDP, etc.
• Communication protocols at the network layer: IP, routing protocols, etc.
• Communication protocols at the data link layer: Ethernet, etc.
• Network and data security: terminology and basic principles
• Cryptography: principles and applications
• The data science of passwords and other secrets
• Firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and attack tracing
• Access control (models and engineering)
• Web security

For many of the course units, selected scientific articles are also assigned as required reading. Students are expected to study and work through the content of these articles independently.

Parts of the course are based on the following textbook: Tanenbaum, Andrew S.; Feamster, Nick; Wetherall, David: Computer Networks, Sixth Edition, Global Edition, Pearson, 2021 (available at the WU Library both physically and as an eBook). Various sections of this textbook are also included as required reading for the final examination.

WU Library

Objectives

The course aims to provide students with selected fundamental knowledge in the areas of computer networks, data security, and network security.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, students will be able to:

• Understand principles and fundamental relationships in computer communication and computer networks;
• Understand and critically analyze basic design principles and technology choices for computer networks;
• Characterize computer network architectures;
• Classify and evaluate computer networks and their infrastructures according to quality criteria;
• Identify similarities and differences in communication protocols at different layers;
• Critically reflect on and assess current technology-policy developments concerning computer networks (e.g., the transition to IPv6);
• Understand and describe fundamental threats and security mechanisms for software-based systems, and plan basic security measures;
• Independently work through the content of scientific research articles and apply the knowledge acquired to relevant questions and problems;
• Recognize relationships between different security problems and different security measures;
• Transfer security-related knowledge to situations that were not directly covered in the course (transfer knowledge);
• Understand and explain fundamental cryptographic concepts (secret-key cryptography, public-key cryptography, digital signatures, message authentication codes, public-key certificates, and Diffie-Hellman key agreement) and protocols (Transport Layer Security and IP security protocols), as well as their applications;
• Understand and explain the concept of information entropy and fundamental principles for selecting strong secrets (passwords, encryption keys); understand and explain different attacks (brute-force attacks, dictionary attacks, lookup-table attacks, hash-chain tables) and countermeasures (salting, CPU hardness, memory hardness);
• Understand and explain the basic principles of different types of firewalls (packet filters, proxies), intrusion detection systems (IDS), and different approaches to so-called attack tracing;
• Understand and explain the similarities and differences between different access-control models (Discretionary Access Control, Mandatory Access Control, Role-Based Access Control, Attribute-Based Access Control); understand and explain the concept of entailment constraints; and understand and explain the basic approach to policy engineering, particularly role engineering;
• Understand and explain different web-based attacks (cross-site scripting, clickjacking, injection flaws, phishing) and corresponding countermeasures; understand and explain basic concepts and characteristics of misinformation and propaganda on social media.

This course also develops the following skills:

• Identifying potential threats to software systems;
• Assessing threats to software systems;
• Designing and evaluating basic security measures;
• Developing a general understanding of relationships and interdependencies in IT security.

Attendance at the in-person sessions is strongly recommended. Attendance is mandatory for the various examination components.

The course combines instructor-led lectures with interactive discussions, practical examples, and two graded quizzes to support the understanding and application of key concepts. Selected scientific articles and textbook chapters are assigned as required reading and are studied independently by students. Students are encouraged to critically reflect on the presented concepts and apply their knowledge to practical and security-related problems.

The course is conducted as a course with continuous assessment.

Students who are registered for the course are automatically registered for the examination as well (i.e., no separate registration for the individual assessment components is required).

Students who complete at least one of the assessment components will receive a grade.

The following assessment components contribute to the final grade:

• Two unannounced short tests (quizzes) during the course sessions (20 points each);

• Final examination (60 points).

The final examination covers the entire content of the course, including the required reading.

To receive a passing grade (“satisfactory,” 4), students must obtain at least 50% (fifty percent) of the total available points. Further details will be provided during the course.

Registration and Waiting Lists

If, for any reason, you are unable or do not wish to attend the course, please deregister within the applicable deadline. By doing so, you free up a place that you no longer need, allow students on the waiting list to move up, and help ensure that the available places are used as effectively as possible.

Half of the available course places are freely accessible. This means that all interested students can register for one of these freely available places. The other half of the course places are reserved and therefore not freely accessible. These reserved places are allocated based on students’ academic progress.

After the registration deadline has passed, the reserved course places (50%, as described above) will be allocated to students who have registered on the waiting list. These places are allocated based on academic progress (successfully completed ECTS credits), not based on the student’s position on the waiting list. The allocation is carried out by the Student Affairs Department.

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