How do the world’s best hackers learn their craft? In this course, you’ll find out. An overview of our approach can be found in this youtube video: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vj96QetfTg)

This course has one goal: to significantly improve your skills at learning and applying computer security concepts to real problems. As a student in this class, you will gain new knowledge in cryptography, web security, software security, OS security, and network security.

Approximately half of your time in this class will be focused on CTF/wargame challenges. CTF challenges are just like homework problems in a math class ??" they are written to help learn and practice a specific skill. As you become more proficient, we give challenges that ask you to take bigger leaps based upon what you know.

• Giving back by writing CTF challenges yourselves. We will be working with the picoctf framework.
• Understanding real-life CVEs. We know that the world’s best at anything spend significant time studying work by other experts.

With respect to the CMU Core Competencies initiative:

• Collaboration and Teamwork: Practice teamwork in building up technical demonstrations of CVEs.
• Communication & Presentation: Your writeups and presentations will help you improve your communication skills.

In this class, expect that the instructor will focus on autodidactic learning more than lecture. That means this class will:

• Be a forum to give students time and space for self study, while committing to be held accountable for week over week results.
• A place to learn from your peers.
• A place to practice hands-on problem solving, working with both theoretical concepts and the muck of real systems.

Home department

Electronic and Computer Engineering

Faculty and instructors who have taught this course in the past

David Brumley