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/ |