Course Syllabus

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INTLPOL 268 - Hack Lab: Introduction to Cybersecurity 

Autumn 2023

 

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Instructors:

TAs:

Lecture: Mon/Wed 1:30-2:50pm, room 320-105

Weekly Discussion/Lab Sections: You must sign up for one discussion section as seen on Explore Courses.

Lab Homework Due: Must be submitted via Canvas by noon PT every Monday

Law Reading Assignments: You have assigned readings from the course casebook for every Wednesday lecture. The casebook lists the reading assignment for each week.

Midterm Exam: The take-home midterm will be available after lecture on Wednesday, October 25th and due by 11:59pm on Sunday, October 29th. You will have four hours to complete what we intend to be a two-hour exam once you begin the exam in Canvas. The exam will cover both technical and legal topics with multiple-choice, short answer and practical lab-like questions. The exam will be open note and open reading.

Final Exam: Remote, synchronous, Wednesday, December 13, 2023, 3:30-6:30 PM Pacific (per University schedule); students may take the exam from home or in our classroom (320-105). We will not reschedule your exam if you have a conflict (except OAE) - this means you.

Office Hours & TA Section Assignments: 

  • Stamos
    • Open group office hours after Monday lecture, 2:50-3:30pm. Location TBD near class
    • Private office hours can be booked at https://calendly.com/alexstamos 
  • Pfefferkorn
    • Open group office hours after Wednesday lecture, 2:50-3:30pm. Location TBD near class
    • Private office hours by appointment; please schedule by email
  • Donovan
    • Office hours Friday 12:30-1:30pm on Zoom (password: 632201)
    • Discussion section 4, Wednesday 10:30-11:20am (160-325), and section 10, Friday 1:30-2:20pm (Thorton 211)
  • Ihyun
    • Office hours Tuesday 9:00-10:00am, Huang basement
    • Discussion section 11, Tuesday 10:30-11:20am (160-314)
  • Jay
    • Office hours Monday 3:30-4:30pm, Huang basement
    • Discussion section 3, Tuesday 4:30-5:20pm (160-120)
  • Danny
    • Office hours Thursday 2:00-3:30pm, Law School patio (Crocker Garden)
    • Discussion section 12, Wednesday 3:30-4:20pm (160-123)
  • Teddy
    • Office hours Tuesday 1:30-2:30pm, GSB Coupa, outside tables
    • Discussion section 6, Thursday 10:30-11:20am (160-314)

Discussion Board:  Ed, available to the left.

Welcome to the Hack Lab!

This course combines lectures with hands-on labs to give students a solid understanding of the most common types of attacks used in cybercrime and cyberwarfare. Taught by a long-time cybersecurity practitioner, a recovering cyberlaw litigator, and a group of hearty, motivated TAs, each week will begin with a lecture covering the basics of an area of technology and how that technology has been misused in the past. Students will then complete a lab section, with the guidance of the instructor and assistants, where they attack a known insecure system using techniques and tools seen in the field. Each week, there will be a second lecture on the legal and policy impacts of the technologies and techniques we cover. By the end of the course, students are expected to have a basic understanding of some of the most common offensive techniques in use today by adversaries of every level, as well as a comprehensive overview of the most important aspects of cyberpolicy and law, and the preparation necessary to continue learning on their own.

Students are required to have a Windows, Linux or Mac laptop and will be provided with testing virtual machines. No computer science background is required. Students must attend the lectures as well as one Lab discussion section per week (of the six sections listed above).

A Typical Hack Lab Week

All lectures are held in-person on campus. We will not have recording support for this class, and lecture and discussion attendance is required.

Let's talk through a typical week:

On Monday, you will need to turn in the weekly lab assignment before lecture - the deadline is 12:00 noon. You will then come to Alex's tech lecture from 1:30-2:50pm. This lecture will generally cover the basics of a fundamental piece of technology and the ways that technology can be exploited. We will not have lecture recordings available, so please attend. After lecture, Alex will hold open discussion time at a location close to class. You should start this week's legal reading assignment in the casebook by today, linked from the Pages tab.

Sometime Tuesday, you will want to get started on your weekly lab. Everybody should be enrolled in a discussion section with options starting on Tuesday morning. During this discussion, your TA will review some of the basic knowledge needed for the lab and then will give you time to work on the lab while they float around providing help. Discussions sections are required. The lab assignment will also contain questions from the legal content, but you can wait to start that work until after Wednesday. 

On Wednesday, you will attend Riana's lecture from 1:30-2:50pm, which will cover the legal and policy aspects of the tech issues we covered that week. You can then go back to the lab assignment and answer the legal questions drawn from this lecture.

There are discussion sections on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and you will have the weekend to work on the lab assignment for the week. The weekend is also a good time to hit the pre-read materials for the next week, linked from the Pages tab.

The lab needs to be turned in on Monday, and we'll see you for the next lecture!

Weekly Topics

We have revamped our syllabus this year to build from the bottom-up, starting with low-level networking and finishing with discussions of complex, multi-step intrusions against large enterprises. The law lectures will follow the same path, starting with an introduction to legal concepts necessary for non-lawyers to understand this space and finishing with real examples of major incidents. This schedule may be adjusted during the quarter.

Week Tech Lecture Law Lecture Lab
1 NO SCHOOL Intro to Cybersecurity NO LAB
2 How does the Internet work? TCP/IP, Routing, Ports, Services Legal Overview / Wire Fraud Initial setup, nmap, shodan
3

DNS, ARP, WiFi Interception

 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act part 1 Wireshark
4 Cryptography CFAA part 2 WiFi sniffing and key cracking
5 Electronic Communications Privacy Act part 1 (lectures swapped!) NO LECTURE, MIDTERM STARTS NO LAB
6 Web Hacking ECPA part 2 Web/IDOR
7 Mobile Apps The Encryption Debate Mobile/Firebase
8 Law of Government Hacking Dark Web and Cryptocurrencies Dark Web and Crypto Tracing
9 Real-World Intrusions International Cyber Conflict Metasploit
10 Looking forward and career advice Review and mini-talk NO LAB

Grading

Each week, there will be a practical lab assignment and legal questions due before Monday lecture. Late submission of the lab answers will be accepted for one additional week (meaning no later than 12:00 noon PT the Monday after the due date) for 50% credit.

Our goal is for every student to complete every lab assignment! This lab can be completed on your own or with the help of your fellow students and instructors by attending a Lab discussion period. If you are having difficulties with the lab assignment, please take advantage of the Lab sections and office hours. 

If you are unable to complete an assignment on time due to sickness, please let the TAs know as soon as possible. Extensions are available for labs, but students must show proof of illness (e.g. a doctor's note, OAE letter, or RA letter). Students may receive an extension for 100% credit instead of 50% credit on one (1) lab during the quarter for reasons other than sickness (extenuating circumstances, family emergency, etc.). As we have to support infrastructure for each lab, the maximum extension for any assignment is one week. There are no exceptions, including for OAE requests.

Grading will be based upon the following formula:

  • 10% - Weekly Discussion Attendance
  • 30% - Weekly Lab Assignments (due noon Monday)
  • 25% - Midterm Exam (practical and written)
  • 35% - Final Exam (practical and written)

If you miss a weekly discussion section, please attend a different section that week and make sure to tell the TA so they record your attendance. Please don't sign up for a discussion section you expect not to be able to attend (such as for practice or work). We have tried to create a lot of options and will add more sections as they fill.

Requests to re-grade a score on an assignment (such as a lab) or exam (such as the midterm) must be made within one week of receiving the original grade. Barring extenuating circumstances, re-grade requests made after more than one week will be disregarded. In addition, these requests should be made judiciously and for a genuine reason (such as an assignment inaccurately being scored as missing or late, or Canvas incorrectly scoring an answer as wrong), not simply because you’re unhappy with your grade. Grade-grubbing is unbecoming to Stanford students, and your time and energy are better spent mastering the material. (Please read this Ed post for a warning about unexpected behaviors in Canvas that may mess up your assignment score.)

The teaching team will actively monitor and answer questions posted to the class Ed board. Please don't be shy; you may help out your entire class by pointing out a problem with a lab or asking a question on many students' minds. Please, however, ask any pertinent questions at a reasonable time before an exam or final. We cannot guarantee answers hours before an exam. In addition, don't use the Ed board as a replacement for going to your discussion section. We have seen a lot of Ed postings about difficulties completing the lab that could have been avoided by attending discussion and getting assistance from the TA.

Use of AI technologies: Unless explicitly authorized, you are not allowed to use ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, or any other large language model systems to write or supplement your answers to assignments or tests.

Students with Documented Disabilities: Students who may need an academic accommodation based on the impact of a disability must initiate the request with the Office of Accessible Education (OAE). Professional staff will evaluate the request with required documentation, recommend reasonable accommodations, and prepare an Accommodation Letter for faculty. Unless the student has a temporary disability, Accommodation letters are issued for the entire academic year. Students should contact the OAE as soon as possible since timely notice is needed to coordinate accommodations. The OAE is located at 563 Salvatierra Walk (phone: 723-1066, URL: https://oae.stanford.edu/).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Course Summary:

Course Summary
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