Computer Science CS 13401 User Level Computer Security
Call Number 11528
SYLLABUS
Spring, 2011

Time and Place:

Monday and Wednesday, 2:15-3:30 in room 115 MSB

Course Description:

This is a course on the safe use of computers and computer networks; we will cover topics such as viruses, spyware, rootkits, firewalls, hackers and script kiddies, spam, identity theft and phishing.

Prerequisite:

None

Instructor:

Michael Rothstein, 268 MSB, phone 330-672-9065.

Email address:

rothstei at cs.kent.edu
Although I also receive email at my mrothste at kent.edu address, I check it less frequently, so use the first one for a quicker response. (Substitute @ for `` at '')

Web address:

http://www.cs.kent.edu/~rothstei

Office Hours:

Monday: 10:00 to 12:00 and 3:45-5:00, Wednesday, 10:00-12:00. Also, you can always send email with questions and/or to set up an appointment. Usual turnaround will be a few hours during the day. Email use is to be preferred over voicemail, which will not be checked as often.

Textbook:

Walker, Andy, Windows Lockdown!: Your XP and Vista Guide Against Hacks, Attacks and other Internet Mayhem, Que Publishing, 2008, ISBN 0-7897-3672-1

Goal of the Course

The goal of the course is to provide a description of the dangers provided by the internet and some of the ways we can defend ourselves against these dangers.

Attendance policy

By initiative of the Provost of the University, I have been charged with keeping full attendance records, at least for the first ten weeks of the semester. Though I will not compute these records into your final averages, when I assign letter grades, I will give you a slightly better grade if you have a better attendance record. I will also give pop quizzes at random times; the probability of such a quiz increases with the lack of attendance. Note that the quizzes replace the midterm. Also, there may be material created, either spontaneously or in response to questions, and covered in the classroom; often there will not be any written notes of this material, so it might be a good idea to team up with somebody who keeps good notes to make sure you have all the material covered. Some of this material may show up in a quiz.

Read the text. Only general reading assignments will be given. The class will mostly cover material in the same order as the text book, there may be exceptions however. It is the student's responsibility to maintain an awareness of the material in the text that is currently being covered. Ask the instructor if you are unsure of the text material currently being covered.

The syllabus may be changed during the semester if necesary: changes will be announced in class; they will also show up on the instructor's website.

Class disruptions

Disruptions should be kept to a minimum; these include (in increasing order of seriousness):

1. Early departure (if announced and done discreetly: please sit near the door so that as few people as possible notice.)
2. Late arrival
3. Use of electronic devices or other devices which may interfere with your or other student's participation. Laptops are acceptable for taking notes, however, please sit in the last row of the room so that your screen does not distract/block other students.
4. Conversation among students.
5. Aiding and/or abetting these or any other student's disruptive behaviors.

Guidelines pertaining to class disruptions are outlined in Chapter 4 of the University Policy Register in section 4 - 02.2.

Material to be covered:

We will cover the whole book this semester. That works out to a little less than a chapter a week. In addition, we will cover some general security issues and other operating systems.

Grading:

Your grade will mainly depend on pop quizzes, the term paper and the final; there will also be a grade participation grade, based on the number of relevant questions asked: though I don't believe there are any dumb questions, they do have to be relevant to the class material; specially good questions or catching my mistakes gets extra points. The weights are:

Class Participation	10%
Pop quizzes	40%
Free topic (preapproved) term paper, due April 15 at 10 PM	30%
Take Home Final (Due Friday May 6 at 3 PM)	20%

All submissions should be electronic, via email to either rothstei at cs.kent.edu or mrothste at kent.edu (substitute @ for `` at '')

All quizzes and exams will be comprehensive. This includes the final.

Test make-up policy:

I will need signed documentation to verify each individual absence in order to provide make-ups; only university accepted reasons will be honored.

Grading scale:

I will assign number grades during the session and only convert them to letter grades when I turn them in at the end of the session. No decision can be made regarding a conversion table until the very last minute due to such imponderables as test difficulty, class attendance and participation, etc. which will influence the grade. However, I guarantee that:

95-100	will convert into an A
92-94	will convert into at least an A-
89-91	will convert into at least a B+
86-88	will convert into at least a B
83-85	will convert into at least a B-
80-82	will convert into at least a C+
77-79	will convert into at least a C
74-76	will convert into at least a C-
71-73	will convert into at least a D+
66-70	will convert into at least a D

Special accommodations for Students with Disabilities:

University
policy 3342-3-18 requires that students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access to course content. If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments. Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for these through Student Disability Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit

http://www.registrars.kent.edu/disability/default.htm

for more information on registration procedures).

Registration Requirement:

The official registration deadline for this course is January 23, 2011. University policy requires all students to be officially registered in each class they are attending. Students who are not officially registered for a course by published deadlines should not be attending classes and will not receive credit or a grade for the course. Each student must confirm enrollment by checking his/her class schedule (using Student Tools in FlashFast) prior to the deadline indicated. Registration errors must be corrected prior to the deadline.

The last day to withdraw is March 20, 2011.

On cheating, plagiarism and other unethical behavior

You are encouraged to discuss class problems with other students but required to work independently of anybody else except the instructor and/or tutors, unless otherwise indicated. Copying other people's work, allowing your work to be copied (even inadvertently!) and plagiarizing work will not be tolerated and will be dealt with according to University regulations, as described in the University Policies and Procedures, a condensed version of which is attached.

Notes:

1. By default, the penalty for cheating in this course is an ``F'' in the course.
2. University regulations require me to notify Student Conduct in case of violations. if that office receives enough notifications, you may face harsher penalties,
3. Cooperation is just as bad as the deed itself: so, deciding which of two is the original is a non-issue: both are equally guilty.