CS 568: Advanced Computer Security and Online Privacy

Spring 2024

Overview

This course will explore recent advances in web and mobile security and privacy. Students will read, analyze, and discuss recent and/or important papers in the area. A variety of topics will be discussed. Each student will present 1 paper (may change depending on class enrollment).

• Piazza (enroll)

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites. Students are encouraged to have taken and passed a (graduate) course in computer security, and be familiar with concepts of computer security and web technologies. Students that have participated in active research activities are strongly encouraged.

Papers

Reading, analyzing, and discussing academic papers is the primary component of this course. To that end, each student is expected to read every paper and come to class prepared to discuss them.

Reading papers

Reading and comprehending a research paper can be a challenging activity. When reading a paper, keep these questions in mind:

1. What problem does this work try to solve? (Note that this isn't a question about what technical problem the paper overcomes.)

2. Is this an important problem?

3. Why is prior work (if any) insufficient to solve the problem?

4. What is the proposed solution?

5. What technical contribution does the proposed solution contain?

6. How is the proposed solution evaluated?

7. Is the evaluation reasonable?

8. How would you continue this line of research? (I.e., what future work would you do if you were working on this topic.)

Paper summaries

You will write a structured paper summary for each paper we read in the course. The summary is due at 12:00 (noon) on the day of the class. If for whatever reason you cannot do so, you must contact the instructor no later than the day before; no nonemergency exceptions. Use the summary template to write your summary and turn them in using Piazza. You should write about a paragraph for each section in the template. Summaries should not consist of sentences copied from the paper. Use your own words to describe the key ideas. Do not use tools like ChatGPT for generating your reviews.

Paper discussions

We will discuss the papers we read in class. This is a key component of the course. Everybody must participate. The paper summaries are intended to help you focus your thoughts about the papers.

Research Projects

The other major component of the course is a research project related to the themes explored during the course. The project will consist of original research.

Students will give a presentation during the last week(s) of class about their project and submit a short 8 page writeup (in ACM SIG Proceedings Templates format). The goal is to have the resulting writeup to be of sufficient quality and novelty to submit to a workshop or conference in computer security.

Exams

There are no exams.

Grading

Grades will be determined as follows:

• Project: 45%
• Presentation: 25%
• Paper Summaries: 10%
• Class Participation: 20%

Course Policies

Electronic Communication Policy

All electronic communication should take place on Piazza unless emails are specifically requested by the instructor. The instructor may, from time to time, respond to emails, but a response to one email does not guarantee a response to a second. Use Piazza!

Attendance Policy

Class attendance is mandatory, as participation during the paper discussion constitutes a significant portion of the grade.

Collaboration Policy

Students may work with their assigned project team-memebrs on the project. It is expected that all students in a team contribute to all parts of the project, including giving the final presentation.

Late Policy

The deadlines for the project presentation and writeup are hard: no late assignments will be accepted.

Academic Integrity Policy

As an academic community, UIC is committed to providing an environment in which research, learning, and scholarship can flourish and in which all endeavors are guided by academic and professional integrity. All members of the campus community–students, staff, faculty, and administrators–share the responsibility of insuring that these standards are upheld so that such an environment exists. Instances of academic misconduct by students will be handled pursuant to the Student Disciplinary Policy.

The following are examples of academic misconduct.

• Claiming someone else’s work as your own.
• Searching for existing solutions to assignments.
• Falsifying program output.
• Working with anyone outside your group, other than the instructor.
• Sharing code or solutions with anyone outside your group, other than the instructor.
• Using AI tools.

Religious Holidays

Students who wish to observe their religious holidays shall notify the faculty member by the tenth day of the semester of the date when they will be absent unless the religious holiday is observed on or before the tenth day of the semester. In such cases, the student shall notify the faculty member at least five days in advance of the date when he/she will be absent. The faculty member shall make every reasonable effort to honor the request, not penalize the student for missing the class, and if an examination or project is due during the absence, give the student an exam or assignment equivalent to the one completed by those students in attendance. If the student feels aggrieved, he/she may request remedy through the campus grievance procedure.

Academic Deadlines

See the academic calendar.

Grievance Procedures

UIC is committed to the most fundamental principles of academic freedom, equality of opportunity, and human dignity involving students and employees. Freedom from discrimination is a foundation for all decision making at UIC. Students are encouraged to study the University's Nondiscrimination Statement. Students are also urged to read the document Public Formal Grievance Procedures. Information on these policies and procedures is available on the University web pages of the Office of Access and Equality.

Course Evaluation