Concepts of Computer Security
This course will help students understand the advanced concepts of security and gain valuable skills related to security research, will learn about state-of-the-art security works from both industry and academia, and will go through a security focused project that will teach them critical thinking, security problems, solutions and trade-offs involved. Further, they will learn about the standard steps of writing conference quality security papers as part of developing and submitting the course project report.
Spring 2026 Schedule
| Week # | Date | Topic to be Discussed | Notes* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Classes Begin Jan 12 | |||
| 1 | January 16, 2026 | Introduction of the course, Research Methods I and Cryptography | HW1 released; Spring drop/add ends |
| Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday; no classes Jan 19 | |||
| 2 | January 23, 2026 | Secret Key Crypto | HW1 due |
| 3 | January 30, 2026 | Project – Intro and Logistics, Hashes and Message Authentication | HW2 released, Project Proposal assigned |
| 4 | February 6, 2026 | Public Key Cryptography, Key agreement and PKI | Project Proposal + HW2 due, HW3 released |
| 5 | February 13, 2026 | User Authentication + Authentication Protocols | Related work assigned, HW3 due |
| Midterm grading opens Feb 16 | |||
| 6 | February 20, 2026 | TLS + Access Control + Midterm Review | Related work Due, Research Plan assigned |
| 7 | February 27, 2026 | Midterm (in-person) | |
| Midterm grading closes March 3 | |||
| 8 | March 6, 2026 | Midterm Post Review, Research Methods II + OS Security | |
| 9 | March 13, 2026 | Multics and Program Vulnerabilities | |
| 10 | March 20, 2026 | No Class - Spring Break - March 16-22 | |
| 11 | March 27, 2026 | Worms, DoS, and Botnets | Research Plan due |
| Spring last day to withdraw Mar 28 | |||
| 12 | April 3, 2026 | TCP/IP Security | HW4 released |
| 13 | April 10, 2026 | Wireless and Routing | HW5 released (Bonus) |
| 14 | April 17, 2026 | Intrusion detection and IoT/Software Security Compliance | HW4 due |
| 15 | April 24, 2026 | Course Review | Project paper + HW5 due (bonus)** |
| Test Free Week April 25-30 | |||
| 16 | May 6, 2026 | Final exam (in-person and cumulative); 3-5 PM. | Check USF Final Exam Matrix |
| Spring final grading closes May 12 | |||
| Spring grades visible on Student Self-Service May 15 | |||
| * Always check University Calendar for Details | https://www.usf.edu/registrar/calendars/ |