Course Info

• Course Name: CSE 468, Computer Network Security
• Semester: Fall 2026
• Instructor: Jed Crandall
• Meeting location: Tempe campus, PSH153
• Canvas is where to find other course info

Syllabus

• The syllabus is here.

Slides

• More to come…

Homework assignments

• Will be posted in Canvas only

What we’ll cover this semester

• WiFi security; and crypto from symmetric ciphers through Diffie-Hellman
  • Basic tool usage, including SDR software and Wireshark
  • Attacks on radio communications
  • Fourier transforms and Haddamard transforms
  • Wireless network security (case studies: WEP, WPA, WPA2, WPA3)
  • Secure hash functions and authentication, rogue certificates (as a preview for RSA and TLS)
  • Basic math of crypto (finite fields, modular exponentiation, information theory, birthday paradox)
  • Symmetric crypto (case studies: historical ciphers, DES, AES, RC4), including stream ciphers, block chain modes, and linear and differential cryptanalysis
  • Fermat’s Little Theorem and the Extended Euclidean Algorithm
  • Asymmetric crypto for key exchange (case study: Diffie-Hellman)
  • Logjam attack
• Securing network protocols (DNS, BGP, etc.) and sockets (TCP/IP, etc.); and crypto from perfect forward secrecy through RSA
  • Ring theory
  • RSA, non-repudiation, and semantic security
  • Padding Oracle Attacks
  • Basic tool usage, including tshark, tcpflow, Linux commands for investigating DNS
  • Physical, link, and routing layer security (case studies: ARP, BGP)
  • DNS security
  • DNSSEC and RPKI
  • Malleable encryption, perfect forward secrecy, future secrecy, and other advanced topics (case study: Signal messenger)
• Port scans, exploits, malware, and network intrusion detection
  • Basic tool usage, including nmap, Suricata, and Tor
  • Port scans
  • Denial of Service (DoS)
  • Side channel attacks
  • Firewalls
  • VPNs
  • NIDS and NIDS evasion
  • Internet censorship and evasion (case studies: China’s Great Firewall, Russia’s TSPU, Tor)
  • Analysis of encrypted traffic
  • Post tag systems
  • Exploits, malware, and targeted attacks
  • Ransomware attacks, crypto backdoors, and other topics in cryptovirology
  • Application security (case studies: TLS and SSH, including the xz backdoor)
• Quantum computers and networks
  • How not to shoot yourself in the eye with a laser
  • Quantum computing and its impact on cryptography
  • Quantum network security
  • Quantum Key Distribution
  • Quantum-safe cryptography