252-1414-00L  System Security

SemesterAutumn Semester 2021
LecturersS. Capkun, A. Perrig
Periodicityyearly recurring course
Language of instructionEnglish


AbstractThe first part of the lecture covers individual system aspects starting with tamperproof or tamper-resistant hardware in general over operating system related security mechanisms to application software systems, such as host based intrusion detection systems. In the second part, the focus is on system design and methodologies for building secure systems.
Learning objectiveIn this lecture, students learn about the security requirements and capabilities that are expected from modern hardware, operating systems, and other software environments. An overview of available technologies, algorithms and standards is given, with which these requirements can be met.
ContentThe first part of the lecture covers individual system's aspects starting with tamperproof or tamperresistant hardware in general over operating system related security mechanisms to application software systems such as host based intrusion detetction systems. The main topics covered are: tamper resistant hardware, CPU support for security, protection mechanisms in the kernel, file system security (permissions / ACLs / network filesystem issues), IPC Security, mechanisms in more modern OS, such as Capabilities and Zones, Libraries and Software tools for security assurance, etc.

In the second part, the focus is on system design and methodologies for building secure systems. Topics include: patch management, common software faults (buffer overflows, etc.), writing secure software (design, architecture, QA, testing), compiler-supported security, language-supported security, logging and auditing (BSM audit, dtrace, ...), cryptographic support, and trustworthy computing (TCG, SGX).

Along the lectures, model cases will be elaborated and evaluated in the exercises.