Internet Security: Weakness and Targets

Tele-teaching lecture for the master programme at Beijing University of Technology (BJUT). The information below is from the most recent run in winter semester 2023/24, the 22nd transmission of this tele-lecture.

“Internet Security – Weaknesses and Targets” gives a detailed introduction to problems, especially security issues, concerning Internet and intranet security. A general introduction to Internet security and some basic knowledge and technologies of networks, the Internet and the WWW are given at the beginning. Then there are some remarks on risk analysis, computer crimes, as well as hackers and viruses. The weaknesses and targets of the Internet are discussed in detail, which covers: human factors and technical failures, attacks on accounts and passwords, attacks on Internet protocols, misuse of design and programming errors, weaknesses in common operating systems, targets in the WWW, and viruses. The course concludes with a discussion of possibilities to detect attacks and intrusions, and an introduction to the ethical issues.

Organisation

Every week one lecture unit (about 90 minutes) is streamed over the Internet. Three exercise (assignment) sheets are given out during the running period of the course. Each assignment includes several questions and some practical tasks, e.g., coding tasks or hands-on experiments. Students are supposed to finish the assignments and submit the solutions (in English) before the specified deadline. At the end of the course there is an oral exam.

Lecturer and tutors

• Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Christoph Meinel (HPI and BJUT Honorary Professor)
• Tutors: Prof. Lijuan Duan, PhD (BJUT) and Dr. Feng Cheng (HPI)

Lecture plan (WS 2023/24)

• 09.11.2023
  • Internet Security: An Overview
  • First Understanding of Internet and WWW
• 16.11.2023
  • Risk Analysis
  • Cyber Crime: Potential Attacks
  • Hackers and Viruses
  • First assignment given out
• 23.11.2023
  • Human Factor and Technical Failures
  • (Online) Reconnaissance
  • OS Fingerprinting
  • Attacks on Accounts and Passwords
• 30.11.2023
  • Weaknesses of Internet Protocols (1/2)
  • Weaknesses of Internet Protocols (2/2)
• 07.12.2023
  • Design and Programming Errors
  • Weaknesses in Unix/Linux
  • Weaknesses in Windows and Mac OS X
  • Second assignment given out
• 14.12.2023
  • Weaknesses in the World Wide Web (1/2)
  • Weaknesses in the World Wide Web (2/2)
• 21.12.2023
  • Wireless Security
  • Detection of Attacks and Intrusions
  • Legal and Ethical Issues in Internet Security
  • Third assignment given out

Literature

• Meinel/Sack: 网络技术及应用, Tsinghua University Press, Beijing, 2020 (in Chinese)
• Meinel/Sack: Internetworking – Technische Grundlagen und Anwendungen, Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg/New York, 2012 (in German)
• Meinel/Sack: 数字通信技术, Tsinghua University Press, Beijing, 2016 (in Chinese)
• Meinel/Sack: Digitale Kommunikation – Vernetzen, Multimedia, Sicherheit, Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg/New York, 2009 (in German)
• Stuttard/Pinto: The Web Application Hacker’s Handbook – Discovering and Exploiting Security Flaws
• Koziol/Litchfield/Aitel/Anley/Eren/Mehta/Hassel: The Shellcoder’s Handbook – Discovering and Exploiting Security Holes