Secure Computer Systems Course ID 15793 Description This course is broadly focused on full-stack system security and will cover the foundations of building secure systems and cryptography. During the course we will cover hardware, system software, and cryptographic primitives for building secure systems, both within the datacenter environment and in the decentralized setting. The course will focus on the cross-cutting security requirements of systems and how to bolster their security guarantees using a combination of systems and cryptographic techniques. The lectures will cover fundamental security concepts (e.g., threat models, trusted computing base), and do a deep dive into state-of-the-art attacks and defenses (e.g., speculative execution attacks). The course will span a set of hardware security topics including trusted execution environments, side-channels, hardware attacks (e.g., Meltdown, Spectre, Rowhammer), software systems such as blockchains, anonymous messaging, and secure machine learning. Key Topics Threat Models, Trusted execution environments, Sandboxing, Side channels, Speculative execution, Virtualization, Memory Integrity, Fully Homomorphic Encryption, Anonymous messaging, Privacy-preserving machine learning, Blockchain Required Background Knowledge Background in systems like 15-213, 15-410, 15-418 or equivalent will be helpful but there is no strict requirement in security background. Course Relevance The course should be appropriate for graduate students in all areas and for advanced undergraduates. Course Goals Understand the state-of-the-art secure hardware architectures and software systems that power modern datacenters and the internet. Have a solid grasp on modern cryptographic techniques, and understand how to leverage them for building practical systems with strong security guarantees and functionalities. Identify the security implications of shared hardware resources and develop an understanding of existing attack vectors, defense mechanisms, and their limitations. Develop and evaluate secure hardware and software systems with a focus on robust experimental methodology and cross-layer explanation of design decisions. Learning Resources There is no book prerequisite, material will be based on Computer Security and the Internet, research papers. Assessment Structure Grading will be based on a set of programming assignments and a class project: Lab Assignments: 15% Seminar participation: 30% Exam: 15% Final research project: 40% Extra Time Commitment n/a Course Link https://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/course/15/793/www/
