Module CS4515-KP12

Duration

2 Semester

Turnus of offer

each year, can be started in winter or summer semester

Credit points

12

Course of studies, specific fields and terms:

• Master Entrepreneurship in Digital Technologies 2020, advanced module, specific
• Master Entrepreneurship in Digital Technologies 2014, advanced module, specific
• Master Computer Science 2019, optional subject, advanced module

Classes and lectures:

• Computer Security (lecture, 2 SWS)
• Advanced Systems Security (lecture, 1 SWS)
• Advanced Systems Security (practical course, 3 SWS)
• Computer Security (practical course, 3 SWS)

Workload:

• 20 hours exam preparation
• 255 hours private studies
• 85 hours in-classroom work

Contents of teaching:

• Project on a scientific problem in the field of system security
• Preparation of a scientific report using Latex and in English based on the results of the project
• Participation in a peer review process that replicates the scientific peer review process
• Presentation of project results in English
• Applied cryptography in systems and protocols: Overview of common methods and their applications
• Efficient and secure implementation of common crypto procedures: multiple-precision arithmetic, efficient exponentiation, constant time algorithms etc.
• Physical implementation attacks and countermeasures: Error injection attacks, passive physical attacks such as SPA/DPA and timing attacks, modern inference methods and associated cryptanalysis methods, classes of protective measures
• Virtualization security and microarchitecture attacks: security concepts in the operating system and hypervisor, microarchitecture attacks such as cache attacks, spectre, etc., measures to restore system security
• Trusted computing and hardware-assisted system security: How TPMs, Secure Elements and Trusted Execution work environments, basics and cryptographic techniques, design basics for secure systems

Qualification-goals/Competencies:

• Students are able to work independently on a scientific topic.
• Students are able to present complex scientific topics in a clear and structured manner tailored to a target group and using standard academic formatting.
• Students can present their work appropriately in presentations for specific audiences within given time constraints.
• Students have experience in scientific discussions and can ask competent questions and interpret their own results.
• Students understand the review process of scientific papers and can offer constructive criticism in the review process.
• The students can demonstrate a deep understanding of cryptographic methods and their applications in communication systems.
• They can construct secure and efficient cryptographic primitives and implement them securely in computer systems.
• They can explain methods and algorithms for efficient multiple-precision arithmetic.
• They can perform basic side-channel attacks on systems with physical access or shared systems with code execution rights.
• They can implement protection against specific physical attacks for cryptographic primitives.
• They can evaluate the security of existing primitives.

Grading through:

• Written or oral exam as announced by the examiner
• written homework

Responsible for this module:

• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Eisenbarth

Teacher:

• Institute for IT Security
• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Eisenbarth

Literature:

• S. Mangard, E. Oswald & T. Popp : Power analysis attacks: Revealing the secrets of smart cards Vol. 31, Springer Science & Business Media, 2008
• D. Stinson : Cryptography: Theory and Practice 4th ed., CRC Press, 2018
• Stallings, Brown : Computer Security: Principles and Practice 4th ed., Pearson, 2018
• Katz, Lindell : Introduction to Modern Cryptography 2nd ed., CRC Press, 2014
• : Recent literature

Language:

• English, except in case of only German-speaking participants

Notes:

Last Updated:

11.12.2025