052713 UE Network Security (2022S)

This course is an extension to the topics presented in the lecture Network Security VO. However, the topics of this course venture beyond what is presented in the VO and complement it with practical exercises across a broad range of security topics. Beyond network security, possible topics include basic Linux security, Web security basics, binary reverse engineering and simple binary exploitation.

The course is taught through a challenge-based approach, similar to the concept of Capture-the-Flag (CTF) competitions in information security. Challenges will be released throughout the semester, one at a time, which have to be solved within a timespan of 2-3 weeks. There will be an accompanying lecture for every challenge, introducing the basic concepts needed for getting started. The challenge descriptions and initial hints are deliberately kept to a minimum and students are expected to perform additional research to complete the challenges. In the case of getting stuck on a challenge, students can ask for help and/or additional hints. Additionally, a scoreboard tracks which students are the fastest to solve the challenges; this scoreboard is anonymized by default and does not influence grading in any way.

Having completed both VO and UE 'Network Technologies' is recommended and concepts presented in 'Operating Systems' can be helpful as well.