227-0579-00L  Hardware Security

SemesterAutumn Semester 2021
LecturersK. Razavi
Periodicityyearly recurring course
Language of instructionEnglish


AbstractThis course covers the security of commodity computer hardware (e.g., CPU, DRAM, etc.) with a special focus on cutting-edge hands-on research. The aim of the course is familiarizing the students with hardware security and more specifically microarchitectural and circuit-level attacks and defenses through lectures, reviewing and discussing papers, and executing some of these advanced attacks.
ObjectiveBy the end of the course, the students will be familiar with the state of the art in commodity computer hardware attacks and defenses. More specifically, the students will learn about:

- security problems of commodity hardware that we use everyday and how you can defend against them.
- relevant computer architecture and operating system aspects of these issues.
- hands-on techniques for performing hardware attacks.
- writing critical reviews and constructive discussions with peers on this topic.

This is the course where you get credit points by building some of the most advanced exploits on the planet! The luckiest team will collect a Best Demo Award at the end of the course.
LiteratureSlides, relevant literature and manuals will be made available during the course.
Prerequisites / NoticeKnowledge of systems programming and computer architecture is a plus.