The Grainger College of Engineering Security and Privacy Research at Illinois (SPRAI)

Courses ​

Security and privacy courses at Illinois, from foundational concepts and hands-on programming to current research.

400-level courses

CS 407

Equivalent to ECE 407

Cryptography

Cryptography is a powerful toolbox for building secure systems - not just for private communication, but also for building fault tolerant protocols, for securely outsourcing computation to untrusted services, and more. The goal of this course is to introduce the concepts of modern cryptography, including a combination of theoretical foundations (how do we precisely state security guarantees and assumptions, and prove that a protocol is designed correctly?) and practical techniques (how do we combine secure primitives to make effective systems?). This course is intended for senior undergraduate students with an interest in applying cryptographic techniques to building secure systems, and for graduate students with an interest in cryptography or systems security.

  • Cryptography
  • Fault Tolerance
  • Secure Systems
Learning format:
Lectures, discussion sections, and hands-on projects.
Prerequisites:
CS 225 (for ECE 407).

CS 460

Equivalent to ECE 419

Security Laboratory

Operating systems security: access control, least privilege mechanism and malware techniques. Network security: firewalls, sniffing, tunnels, intrusion detection, AAA and worm structure. System security: forensics security architectures, and attack/defend exercises. Complements CS 461 via hands-on project. This course is instructor approval only because it is primarily intended for Illinois Cyber Security Scholars Program students.

  • Operating Systems Security
  • Network Security
  • System Security
Learning format:
Hands-on labs and projects.
Prerequisites:
CS 461 or ECE 422 or a combination of CS 463 and one of CS 340, CS 341, or ECE 391.

CS 461

Equivalent to ECE 422

Computer Security I

Fundamental principles of computer and communications security and information assurance: ethics, privacy, notions of threat, vulnerabilities, and risk in systems, information warfare, malicious software, data secrecy and integrity issues, network security, trusted computing, mandatory and discretionary access controls, certification and accreditation of systems against security standards. Security mechanisms: authentication, auditing, intrusion detection, access control, cryptography, security protocols, key distribution.

  • Access Control
  • Application Security
  • Cryptography
  • Network security
Learning format:
Lectures, discussion sections, and hands-on projects.
Prerequisites:
One of CS 241, CS 341 or ECE 391, or a combination of CS 233 and CS 340.

CS 463

Equivalent to ECE 424

Computer Security II

Program security, trusted base, privacy, anonymity, non-interference, information flow, confinement, advanced auditing, forensics, intrusion detection, key management and distribution, policy composition and analysis, formal approaches to specification and verification of secure systems and protocols, and topics in applied cryptography.

  • Applied Cryptography
  • Data privacy
  • Machine Learning
  • Trusted Computing
Learning format:
Lectures, discussion sections, and hands-on projects.
Prerequisites:
CS 225 and one of CS 361, STAT 361, ECE 313, MATH 362, MATH 461, MATH 463 or STAT 400. CS 441 completion is recommended.

500-level courses

CS 507

Topics in Cryptography

Modern cryptography helps realize a variety of tasks: from computations on and proofs about secret data, to verifiably offloading computation to untrusted clients, to making programs unintelligible while preserving functionality, to testing untrusted quantum devices. Covers a selection of such cutting-edge topics in cryptography. We will understand how any adversary that counters the security of modern protocols can be transformed into an adversary that contradicts basic mathematical assumptions. We will understand key ideas in recent cryptography research and identify new directions and problems for the future.

  • Cryptography
  • Multiparty Computation
  • Quantum Cryptography
  • Zero-Knowledge Proofs
Learning format:
Research-paper reading and reviews, student presentations, discussion, and a team research project.
Prerequisites:
Offerings in separate semesters may specify additional prerequisites each term, depending on the specific topic offered.

CS 562

Advanced Topics in Security, Privacy, and Machine Learning

Advanced topics in security and privacy problems in machine learning systems, selected from areas of current research such as: adversarial machine learning, differential privacy, game theory enabled defenses, robust learning methods, machine learning based cybercrime analysis, network intrusion detection, and malware analysis, and machine learning interpretation techniques.

  • Adversarial Machine Learning
  • Interpretability
  • Privacy
  • Machine Learning for Security
  • Robustness
Learning format:
Research-paper reading and reviews, student presentations, discussion, and a team research project.
Prerequisites:
One of CS 446 or ECE 449 and one of CS 463 or ECE 424, or equivalent courses, by consent of instructor. Additional prerequisites or corequisites may be specified each term.

CS 563

Equivalent to ECE 524

Advanced Computer Security

Current research trends in computer and network security. Privacy, tamper-resistance, unwanted traffic, monitoring and surveillance, and critical infrastructure protection. Subtopics will vary depending upon current research trends. Students work in teams in close coordination with the course instructor to develop one of the topics in depth by carrying out background research and an exploratory project.

  • Critical Infrastructure
  • Monitoring and Surveillance
  • Privacy
  • Systems Security
Learning format:
Research-paper reading and reviews, student presentations, discussion, and a team research project.
Prerequisites:
One of CS 461, CS 463, ECE 422, or ECE 424.

CS 591 SP

Security and Privacy Research Seminar

A weekly forum for the Illinois security and privacy community to share research, exchange ideas, and connect across disciplines. Talks span foundational and theoretical research, including cryptography, as well as systems research and emerging security challenges. Everyone in the Illinois community is welcome to attend.

  • Security and Privacy Research
  • Cryptography
  • Systems Security
Learning format:
Research talks and discussion with students, faculty, and invited speakers.
The Grainger College of EngineeringSecurity and Privacy Research at Illinois (SPRAI)
Urbana, IL 61801

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