The Computer Security Track

The Computer Security track is intended for students who wish to develop state-of-the-art knowledge of computer and network security technologies. Security considerations pervade personal, corporate, military, governmental, and national infrastructure systems and networks. This track will help you develop leading-edge knowledge in security.

1. Overall Requirements

Students must complete at least a total of 30 graduate points.

  • Security Track requires:

    - Breadth courses
    - Required Track courses (15pts)
    - Track Electives (6pts)
    - General Electives (6pts)

  • 5 required courses (15 credits): COMS W4118 (OS), COMS W4156 (Adv. Software Engineering), COMS W4180 (Network Security), COMS W4187 (Security Architecture and Engineering), and either COMS W4261 (Introduction to Cryptography) or COMS E6185 (Intrusion Detection).

  • 2 elective courses (6 credits) selected from the list of Elective Track Courses (See Section 4); at least 1 of these courses must be a 6000-level CS course.

  • 1 general elective graduate CS course (3 credits), at 4000 level or above.

  • Must have 6 credits at the 6000-level, at least 3 of these 6000-level credits must be selected from the list of Elective Track Courses (See Section 4).

2. Core Requirements

Students are required to satisfy Breadth Requirements by taking 1 course from Group 1, 1 course from Group 2, 1 course from Group 3, and 1 more course from any of the three groups.

Group
 Courses
Group 1 (Systems)

All CS 41xx courses except CS 416x and CS 417x
All CS 48xx courses, and CS 4340, 4444, and 4460

Group 2 (Theory)
All CS 42xx courses and COSR 42xx
Group 3 (AI and Apps)
All CS 47xx courses, and CS 416x and CS 417x

3. Required Track Courses

Candidates are required to complete the following three courses:

Course ID

Title
COMS W4118
Operating Systems
COMS W4156
Adv. Software Engineering

COMS W4180

Network Security

COMS W4187

Security Architecture and Engineering

Either COMS W4261
or COMS E6185

Introduction to Cryptography or Intrusion Detection

4. Elective Track Courses

Candidates are required to complete two courses out of the following list*; at least one course must be 6000 level. Please note that courses with * are offered alternate years.

Course ID

Title

COMS W4115

Programming Languages and Translators

COMS W4119

Computer Networks

COMS W4261

Introduction to Cryptography

COMS W4995 

VOIP Security 

COMS W4995

Introduction to Computer Security

COMS E6118

Operating Systems, II

COMS E6181

Advanced Internet Services

COMS E6183* 

Security 

COMS E6184*

Privacy & Anonymity

COMS E6185

Intrusion and Anomaly Detection Systems

COMS E6261*

Advanced Cryptography

COMS E6901

Projects in Computer Science

COMS E6998

Advanced Topics in Security

COMS E6998 

Network Theory

COMS E6998

Virtual Machines

COMS E6998

Software Security and Exploitations

COMS E6998

Cloud Computing

COMS E6998
Formal Hardware & Software Verification
COMS E6998
Resilient Hardware Systems

ELEN E4703

Wireless Communications

ELEN E6761

Computer Communication Networks

ELEN E6886 

Topics in Multimedia Security 

ELEN E6950

Wireless & Mobile Nets, I

ELEN E6951 

Wireless & Mobile Nets, II

5. General Electives

Candidates are required to complete at least 1 Computer Science graduate-level course. Students may take up to 3 credits of non-tech course approved by the advisor. Please complete a non-tech approval form, and once it is signed, forward it to Janine Maslov or Remi Moss.

6. Track Planning

Please visit the Directory of Classes to get the updated course listings.

Please also note that not all courses are offered every semester, or even every year. A few courses are offered only once every two or three years or even less frequently. For more information, please see the SEAS Bulletin CS course-offering schedule (This schedule can change due to unforeseeable circumstances; thus, it should only be used as a reference).

7. Contact

Please direct all questions concerning the Computer Security Track to Prof. .

8. Graduation

Candidates preparing for graduation should submit a completed application for degree to the Registrar's Office and submit a track graduation form to CS Student Services (an example of a completed form is available here).

 

*The list of electives may be updated to reflect changes in the schedule of course offerings.

**Please note that these course offerings are listed on a provisional basis only and may change from what is listed here.

Last updated 7/23/2012.