CSIA Curriculum

The curriculum for the certificate program consists of two required courses and two elective courses in the area of Computer Security, each carrying three academic credits. The required courses are:

Csci 283: Computer Security Systems I
Techniques for security in computer systems. Authentication, logging, authorization, encryption, international common security criteria. Effects of operating systems and machine architecture. Countermeasures. Risk-analysis.
Prerequisite: Csci 131

Csci 286 (was CSci 383): Network Security Principles
Security in local, global, and wireless networks; packet-level communication security protocols; Intrusion detection systems and firewalls; network authentication protocols; secure network applications: secure E-mail and web operations; secure mobile agents. Prerequisite: CSci 283. (Spring)
Prerequisite: Csci 283

Additional Elective Courses available in the Certificate or Full Masters Degree Program

Csci 175: Information Policy
Roles, issues, and impacts of computer-based information systems in national and international arenas, focusing on privacy, equity, freedom of speech, intellectual property, and access to personal and governmental information. Professional responsibilities, ethics, and common and best practices in information use. Design of computer systems that fit present and likely future realities and avoiding decisions likely to lead to nonadoption, costly retrofitting, or abandonment of these systems. May be taken for graduate credit. (Fall)

Csci 284: Computer Cryptography
Cryptography and codes. Secure communications using symmetric and public key algorithms. Key management, authentication, and signatures. Secure voice, video, and data. Use of cryptography in secure Internet transactions.
Prerequisite: Csci 212

Csci 381: Advanced Cryptography
Cryptanalysis of AES. Factorization and primality. Computational and information-theoretic secrecy. Theory of secrecy. Zero-knowledge proofs. Secret sharing. Cooperative distributed cryptography. Provable security.
Prerequisite: Csci 284

Csci 287: Computer Network Defense
Defending computer networks against the common methods and tools used to harm them, including network scans, viruses, worms, denial of service attacks, e-mail bombs, and buffer overflow attacks. Students attack and defend a real, full-featured network unconnected to any other network. Ethics and legal implications are also discussed.
Prerequisite: Csci 286/383

Csci 289: E-commerce Security
Advanced technical topics in e-commerce security. X.500 registration systems, x.509/PKIX certification systems, secure payment methods, smart cards, authorization models in open distributed environments. Secure web systems, technologies, and applications.
Prerequisite: Csci 383/286

Csci 386: Java Security Mechanisms
Theoretical overview and practical aspects of Java security solutions. Students develop individual Java security modules and integrate them into a complete Java security system.
Prerequisite: Csci 383/286

Csci 387: Advanced Topics in Information Assurance
Seminar on current research and developments in information assurance. May be repeated for credit.

Csci 288: Wireless and Mobile Security
Security issues in wireless networks and mobile applications. Overview of wireless networks and mobile applications-Mobile Agents,Wireless Web, WAP, WEP, Peer-to-Peer Computing; secure routing; intrusion detection and authentication on wireless networks; security for handheld devices; encryption and cryptographic measures for wireless; real-time wireless security; security measures for embedded devices.
Prerequisites: CSci 383/CSci 286