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Special Topic
SPECIAL TOPIC: SECURITY PROTOCOL VERIFICATION Security protocols, or cryptographic protocols, ensure the reliable communication and data exchange between different entities or systems over the Internet. These protocols are commonly used to protect against unauthorized access, data tampering, and other security threats, which often involve cryptographic techniques to secure the transmission of sensitive information. However, over the years, there have been numerous flaws and exploits found in the design and implementation of cryptographic protocols, such as Heartbleed (2014, Buffer overflow attack on OpenSSL) and KRACK (2017, Key installation attack on WPA2). COSC437 systematically introduces methodologies that help to exploit flaws in protocol design and to prove that a system is indeed correct. We will study the philosophy underlying security protocol design, analyse attack patterns, and get familiar with formal verification tools. Overall, the course will cover topics in formal methods, applied cryptography, key management, provable security, web3 and blockchain technologies.PREREQUISITESCOSC362 Data and Network Security or Approval from HOD
Become familiar with the cryptographic building blocks and understand how they are used in the design of security protocols; Critically analyse security protocols by using formal analysis; Write code for formal models and prove a claim with formal verification tools; Develop a good understanding that security is always conditional, and a proof of security is only valid under certain assumptions.
Subject to approval by Head of Department.
Students must attend one activity from each section.
Time Commitment: 150 hours 24hr Lecture (2hr/week – 12 weeks) 126hr Self-directed learning (reading notes, books, and writing code)
Chenyi Zhang
Recommended ReadingBruce Schneier: Applied Cryptography Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C, John Wiley & Sons 1996, 784 Pages Leslie Lamport: Specifying systems: the TLA+ language and tools for hardware and software engineers, Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co. 2002, 364 pages (available on the internet with video classes) Arvind Narayanan: Bitcoin and cryptocurrency technologies: a comprehensive introduction, Princeton University Press, 2016.
Domestic fee $1,110.00
International fee $5,275.00
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see Computer Science and Software Engineering .