Network Security

Code:

M.EIC024

Acronym:

SR

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Cybersecurity

Instance: 2024/2025 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Informatics and Computing Engineering

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
M.EIC	13	Syllabus	1	-	6	39	162

Teaching language

English

Objectives

The security of communications and of computer network, services, and system infrastructure is of critical importance to the security of applications, users, information, and, with the deployment of the internet of things, of ‘things’ themselves. The goal of this curricular unit is to familiarize the student with 1) the limitations of protocols, services, systems, and communication infrastructure when they face a motivated attacker, as well as with 2) some of the existing solutions to mitigate or avoid the impact of these limitations.

Learning outcomes and competences

After completing this curricular unit, the student should:
1) know transversal security concepts such as CIA and different threat models, and how to apply them to different networks and systems;
2) be able to identify and exploit known network and system vulnerabilities at different layers of the TCP/IP stack and in different systems and applications, with passive and active methods including man-in-the-middle attacks;
3) be able to identify and design security mechanisms for networks and systems namely by changing the network architecture, and implementing access control, filtering, intrusion detection, and virtual private networks (VPN);
4) be able to develop and analyze applications that use cryptography-based communication protocols;
5) be able to autonomously explore new topics in security by analyzing scientific papers and other reports and by experimenting with the new topics in a lab.

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

Programming, computer networking, communication protocols.

Program

1. Security-related concepts including threat model, vulnerabilities and exploits, security policies, security by design and by obfuscation, risk management, and penetration testing methodology.
2. Known vulnerabilities in networks and systems -- sniffing and spoofing including scapy programming, higher layer attacks (TCP, HTTP, etc).
3. Security mechanisms based in access control and in network and traffic segmentation; filtering, firewalls, intrusion detection, and VPNs.
4. Cryptography-based communication protocols such as TLS, IPSec, 802.11, secure DNS, and secure BGP.
5. Selected topics in security including privacy, denial of service, malware and IoT malware, sandboxing, honeypots, cyber intelligence, and security operations centers.

Mandatory literature

W. Stallings; Cryptography and Network Security: Principles and Practice (7th Edition), Pearson, 2016. ISBN: 978-0134444284
W.Du; Internet Security: A Hands-on Approach, Self-published, 2019. ISBN: 978-1733003919

Complementary Bibliography

R. Hertzog and J. O'Gorman; Kali Linux Revealed: Mastering the Penetration Testing Distribution, Offsec Press, 2017. ISBN: 9780997615609
A. Zúquete; Segurança em Redes Informáticas (5ª Edição), FCA Editores, 2018. ISBN: 978-972-722-857-7

Teaching methods and learning activities

1) Exploration of the fundamental concepts in network, service, and system security through a) lectures, b) autonomous search for scientific papers, use case reports, and other information available online, c) flipped classroom technique with self-learning of previously identified content and with later discussion of these concepts in the classroom.
2) Practical assignments in the laboratory to explore vulnerabilities and practice defense mechanisms.
3) Project in selected topics in security that are of particular interest to students or proposed to them.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Trabalho prático ou de projeto	40,00
Trabalho laboratorial	10,00
Exame	50,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	52,00
Frequência das aulas	39,00
Trabalho laboratorial	71,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

Do guided labs, develop the project and submit a report for it.

Calculation formula of final grade

CF = 0,5*E + 0,5*DE; if ( E < 10,0 or DE < 10,0 ) then CF =MIN(CF, 9.0)
E - Exam
DE - Distributed Evaluation
DE = 20% Labs + 80% Project