Network Security

Why is it possible to break into networked computer systems? What weaknesses are used? And what makes one protocol more secure than another? This course answers these questions and more. We begin the course by looking at weaknesses that have plagued networked systems for years. We then continue with countermeasures like firewalls and security protocols such as SSL, SSH and IPsec and investigate in detail what makes them secure. The course also gives a survey of cryptographic tools and explains how they can be utilized in protocols and applications, for example how to provide secure user authentication over a public network. Knowledge about possible threats and countermeasures is important not only for the network security specialist but also for application programmers and everyone else who wants to understand what level of security a system and an application can offer. By knowing the problems, future systems can be designed to be much more secure and reliable than today.