CSC474 - Network Security #


This is the course website for the Spring 2025 offering of CSC 474 - Network Security at North Carolina State University (NC State).

This course introduces students to network security. Students will learn about network attacks and vulnerabilities as well as current defenses. Topics covered include cryptography, authentication protocols, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, routing and DNS security, communication privacy and anonymity, and wireless security.

Course Name CSC 474 - Network Security
Semester Spring 2025
Meeting Times Monday, Wednesday 6:00pm – 7:15pm
Meeting Location 1021 Engineering Building 2 (EB 2)
Format In-person, recorded
Instructor Dr. Dominik Wermke (Web)
Credits 3

Course Overview #

This introductory course will impart a broad understanding of the underpinnings of security techniques, security best practices, and security failures. Coverage of high-level concepts such as confidentiality, integrity, and availability applied to hardware, software, and data.

  • The course should help students to understand the mindsets of attackers (the bad guys and gals who do malicious things on the network) and system designers and defenders (the good guys and gals who try to stop the attackers).
  • The course should prepare students to understand and assess security threats, become familiar with security engineering best practices, and write better software, protocols, and systems.

Prerequisites:

  • CSC 230 or ECE 209, Computer Science Majors
  • Credit not allowed for both CSC 474 and CSC 574

Structure #

This course meets in-person twice a week. Content is primarily delivered via lectures with integrated learning activities. Homework assignments provide written questions that apply knowledge taught in the classroom. The instructor will not take any formal attendance for class meetings. Participation will be assessed via the online discussions.

Learning Outcomes #

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

  • Explain concepts related to applied cryptography, including plaintext, ciphertext, symmetric cryptography, asymmetric cryptography, digital signatures.
  • Outline the requirements and mechanisms for identification and authentication of users and computer systems, including authentication protocols and key management. Identify the possible threats to each mechanism and ways to protect against these threats.
  • Explain common network and Web vulnerabilities and attacks, defense mechanisms against these attacks, and cryptographic protection mechanisms.
  • Describe the methods and motivation of Internet malware, and explain existing defense mechanisms and their limitations.

Topics #

  1. Course Introduction
  2. Security Fundamentals
  3. Symmetric Cryptography
  4. Hashes and MACs
  5. Asymmetric Cryptography
  6. Key Management
  7. User Authentication
  8. Authentication Protocols
  9. Transport Layer Security
  10. Net Background + TCP/IP Attacks
  11. Malware
  12. Firewalls and Tunnels
  13. Intrusion Detection Systems
  14. Routing Security
  15. DNS Security
  16. Wireless Security
  17. Cloud Security
  18. Web Security
  19. Anonymity

Optional Materials #

The following online books provide additional information.

  • Paul C. Van Oorschot. Computer Security and the Internet: Tools and Jewels. Springer. 2020. Note: Author’s self-archived version is freely available.
  • Ross Anderson. Security Engineering, 2nd Edition. Wiley. April 2008.
  • Alfred J. Menezes, Paul C. van Oorschot and Scott A. Vanstone. Handbook of Applied Cryptography. CRC Press. October 1996.

Staff #

Dr. Dominik Wermke
Role Instructor
Email dwermke@ncsu.edu
Web https://dwermke.com

Further Resources #

Further resources for wellbeing:

Overview at NC State’s “Academic and Student Affairs” website: https://dasa.ncsu.edu/support-and-advocacy/find-help/