CS161 Spring 2026
Instructors: Henry Corrigan-Gibbs, Raluca Ada Popa / Lecture: MWF, 3:00–4:00 PM, Wheeler 150 [Zoom, Playlist]
Course Calendar
| Wk. | Date | Lecture | Discussion | HW | Project |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Wed Jan 21 | 1. Introduction and Security Principles Slides / Recording / Ch. 1 |
0. 61C Review Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides |
HW1
(due Fri Jan 30) |
Project 1 Checkpoint
(due Fri Feb 06) |
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Fri Jan 23 | 2. x86 Assembly and Call Stack Slides / Recording / Ch. 2 / x86/GDB Cheat Sheet |
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| 2 |
Mon Jan 26 | 3. Memory Safety Vulnerabilities Slides / Recording / Ch. 3 |
1. Security Principles and x86 Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides Exam Prep: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides Bridge: Slides |
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Wed Jan 28 | 4. Memory Safety Vulnerabilities II Slides / Video / Recording |
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Fri Jan 30 | 5. Mitigating Memory Safety Vulnerabilities Slides / Recording / Ch. 4 |
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| 3 |
Mon Feb 02 | 6. Intro to Cryptography Slides / Recording / Ch. 5 |
2. Memory Safety Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides Exam Prep: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides Bridge: Slides |
HW2
(due Fri Feb 13) |
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Wed Feb 04 | 7. Pseudorandom Functions and Block Ciphers Slides / Recording / Ch. 6 / Ch. 9 |
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Fri Feb 06 | 8. Block Cipher Modes of Operation Slides / Recording / Ch. 6 |
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| 4 |
Mon Feb 09 | 9. Collision-resistant Hash Functions Slides / Recording / Ch. 7 |
3. Memory Safety Mitigations Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides Exam Prep: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides Bridge: Slides |
Project 1
(due Fri Feb 13) |
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Wed Feb 11 | 10. Message Authentication Codes Slides / Recording / Ch. 8 |
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Fri Feb 13 | 11. Authenticated Encryption Slides / Recording |
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| 5 |
Mon Feb 16 | No Lecture (Presidents’ Day) |
4. Symmetric Cryptography Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides Exam Prep: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides Bridge: Slides |
HW3
(due Fri Feb 27) |
Project 2 Spec Quiz
(due Fri Feb 20) |
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Wed Feb 18 | 12. Key Exchange and Diffie-Hellman Slides / Recording / Ch. 10 |
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Fri Feb 20 | 13. Public-key Encryption Slides / Recording / Ch. 11 |
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| 6 |
Mon Feb 23 | 14. Digital Signatures Slides / Recording / Ch. 12 |
5. Integrity and Authenticity Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides Exam Prep: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides Bridge: Slides |
Project 2 Design Checkpoint
(due Fri Feb 27) |
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Wed Feb 25 | 15. Randomness and Crypto Implementation Bugs Slides |
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Fri Feb 27 | 16. Introduction to Web Slides / Ch. 18 / Ch. 19 / Ch. 20 |
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| 7 |
Mon Mar 02 | 17. Cookies and CSRF Slides / Ch. 20 / Ch. 21 |
6. Asymmetric Cryptography Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides Exam Prep: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides Bridge: Slides |
HW4
(due Fri Mar 06) |
Project 2 Testing Checkpoint
(due Fri Mar 20) |
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Wed Mar 04 | 18. Certificates, Passwords, and Case Studies Slides / Ch. 13 / Ch. 14 |
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Fri Mar 06 | 19. XSS Slides / Ch. 22 |
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| 8 |
Mon Mar 09 | 20. UI Attacks Slides / 23 |
7. Cookies and CSRF Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides Exam Prep: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides Bridge: Slides |
HW5
(due Fri Mar 20) |
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Wed Mar 11 | |||||
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Thu Mar 12 | Midterm (7-9PM) |
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Fri Mar 13 | 21. SQL Injection and CAPTCHAs Slides / Ch. 17 / Ch. 24 |
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| 9 |
Mon Mar 16 | 22. iPhone Security Slides |
8. SQL Injection and XSS Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides Exam Prep: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides Bridge: Slides |
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Wed Mar 18 | 23. Intro to Networking I Slides / Ch. 25 |
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Fri Mar 20 | 24. Intro to Networking II Slides |
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| 10 |
Mon Mar 23 | No Lecture (Spring Recess) |
No Discussion (Spring Recess) | HW6
(due Fri Apr 10) |
Project 2
(due Wed Apr 01) |
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Wed Mar 25 | |||||
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Fri Mar 27 | |||||
| 11 |
Mon Mar 30 | 25. Local-Area Networking and Attacks Slides / Ch. 26 / Ch. 27 / Ch. 28 / Ch. 29 |
9. ARP, DHCP, WPA Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides Exam Prep: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides Bridge: Slides |
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Wed Apr 01 | 26. Internet Protocols Slides / Ch. 30 |
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| Project 3
(due Fri Apr 10) |
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Fri Apr 03 | 27. DNS Slides / Ch. 32 |
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| 12 |
Mon Apr 06 | 28. Case study: Mirai Botnet Slides |
10. TCP and TLS Discussion: Worksheet / Slides Exam Prep: Worksheet / Slides Bridge: Slides |
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Wed Apr 08 | 29. TLS I Slides / Ch. 31 |
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Fri Apr 10 | 30. TLS II Slides |
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| 13 |
Mon Apr 13 | 31. Encrypted Messaging: Signal, WhatsApp, etc. Slides |
11. DNS Discussion: Slides Exam Prep: Slides Bridge: Slides |
HW7
(due Fri Apr 24) |
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Wed Apr 15 | 32. Metadata-hiding communication systems (mix nets, Tor, etc.) | ||||
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Fri Apr 17 | 33. Intrusion Detection Slides / Ch. 36 |
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| 14 |
Mon Apr 20 | 34. AI Security | 12. Intrusion Detection Discussion: Slides Exam Prep: Slides Bridge: Slides |
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Wed Apr 22 | |||||
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Fri Apr 24 | |||||
| 15 |
Mon Apr 27 | 35. AI Security | 13. AI Security Discussion: Slides Exam Prep: Slides Bridge: Slides |
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Wed Apr 29 | |||||
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Fri May 01 | 36. iPhone Security | ||||
| 16 |
Mon May 04 | No Lecture (RRR Week) |
Topical Review Sessions (RRR Week) | ||
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Wed May 06 | |||||
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Fri May 08 | |||||
| 17 |
Wed May 13 | Final Exam (7–10PM) |
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