Cyber Security (CY)

Module ID Module Title Credit Description Content
CS961 Introduction to Cryptography 5 The module covers the basics of finite field arithmetic, private and public-key cryptography, existing cryptosystems and their security, cryptanalysis of existing systems and more.
  • ● Basics of finite field Arithmetic
  • ● Private and Public-key cryptography
  • ● Existing cryptosystems and their security
  • ● Cryptanalysis of existing systems
CS962 Operating System Principles 5 Practical understanding of operating system design is desirable for application developers, system software developers, security professionals and system administrators. The goal of this course is to provide better understanding of the OS from the system programmer's perspective with emphasis on security-related OS design principles such as separation of privileges at different levels and resource multiplexing with isolation guarantees.
  • ● Introduction to OS:
    • System call API for process, working of a shell
  • ● Memory Management:
    • Address space and virtual memory and the APIs
  • ● File Management:
    • File management APIs
CS963 Computer Networks I 5 The objective of this course is to introduce students with the concepts of networking including protocols, LAN, WAN and wireless networks.
  • ● Introduction and Background:
    • Basics of computer communication and networking
    • TCP/IP layering
  • ● Physical Layer:
    • Basics of time/frequency domain representation of signals, Bandwidth, Data Rate, Channel capacity
    • Different types of transmission media, errors in transmission: attenuation, noise, Repeaters, Amplifiers, Gain, Path loss
    • Encoding (NRZ, NRZI, Manchester, 4B/5B etc.) and Modulation (Amplitude and angle modulation)
    • Multiplexing (TDM, FDM), Spread spectrum
  • ● Link Layer:
    • Aloha, CSMA, CSMA/CD, CSMA/CA protocols
    • Ethernet, including Gigabit Ethernet and WiFi (802.11)
    • A quick exposure to Token Ring, Sliding Window, Stop and Wait protocols
    • Error detection and correction (Parity, CRC), Checksum
    • Sliding Window, Stop and Wait protocols
    • Design, specifications of popular technologies, switching
CS964 Introduction to Application Security, Mobile Security and Critical Infrastructure Security 5 Discover software bugs that pose cyber security threats, explain and recreate exploits of such bugs in realizing a cyber attack on such software and explain how to fix the bugs to mitigate such threats. Articulate the urgent need for cyber security in critical computer systems, networks and world wide web and explain various threat scenarios. Articulate the issues of Cyber Security in Mobile Computing Systems such as Android. Articulate the well-known cyber-attack incidents, explain the attack scenarios, and explain mitigation techniques. Articulate the cyber threats to critical infrastructures.
  • ● Application Security:
    • Control hijacking attacks – buffer overflow, integer overflow, bypassing browser memory protection
    • Sandboxing and Isolation
    • Privilege, access control and Operating System Security
    • Tools and techniques for writing robust application software
  • ● Security in Mobile Platforms:
    • Android vs. iOS security model, threat models, information tracking, rootkits
    • Threats to mobile applications, analysers for Mobile Applications to discover Security vulnerabilities
    • Android Security Architecture, Trust Zone Architecture, SE Linux
  • ● Issues of Critical Infrastructure Security and SCADA Security:
    • Security Issues in Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and Operational Technology (OT)
    • NIST Cyber Security Framework for ICS
    • SCADA Security and Threat Models
    • Intrusion Detection in ICS/OT systems
CS971 Computer Networks II 5 The objective of this course is to introduce students with the concepts of network, transport and application layer protocols of the TCP/IP protocol stack.
  • ● Network Layer:
    • Network layer functions, Router architecture, Internet protocols IPv4 and IPv6, NAT, ARP
    • Routing algorithms i.e. Link State and Distance vector protocols, Intra and inter-AS routing protocols i.e. OSPF and BGP, ICMP, SDN architecture
  • ● Transport Layer:
    • UDP, TCP: Connection establishment and termination
    • TCP flow and congestion control, timers, retransmission, TCP extensions
    • Introduction to sockets and socket programming
  • ● Application Layer:
    • Application layer details, client-server vs P2P, HTTP, email service, web caching, DNS
  • ● Network Security (may be):
    • Concepts of symmetric and asymmetric key cryptography, Public vs private key cryptosystem, Authentication protocols, Message integrity
CS972 Introduction to Linear Algebra 5 Matrices and Gaussian Elimination: Geometry of Linear Equations, Matrix Notation and matrix multiplication, Gaussian elimination, Row transformations, row exchanges, triangular factors, Inverses, transposes, solving Ax=b, A=LU decomposition. Vector Spaces: Vector spaces, subspaces, solving Ax=0 and Ax=b, Linear independence, Basis, bases and dimension. Four fundamental subspaces of a matrix. Linear Transformations. Orthogonality: Orthogonal vectors, orthogonal subspaces, Projections onto lines, projections onto subspaces and least squares, Gram-Schmidt. Example: Fast Fourier Transform, Fourier series.

Determinants: Introductions, properties of the Determinant, Formulas for the Determinant, Applications. Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors: Diagonalization of Matrix, Powers A^k, Complex Matrices, Similarity Transformation, *Difference Equations and powers A^k, *Differential Equations and e^{At}. Positive Definite Matrices: Minima, Maxima, Saddle points, Tests for Positive definiteness, Singular Value Decomposition SVD.
*Matrix norm, Condition number, Iterative methods for Ax=b, Linear Programming *represents optional topics.
  • ● Row exchanges, Triangular factors:
    • LU=b, inverses, transposes, intro to vector space, solving Ax=0
  • ● Solving Ax=b, linear independence:
    • Basis, dimension, four subspaces. Orthogonality definition, projections onto lines
  • ● Projections onto subspaces:
    • Least squares minimization, orthogonal bases, Gram-Schmidt, FFT, Fourier transforms
  • ● Determinants:
    • Properties, formulas, applications, area, volume etc.
  • ● Eigenvalues and e-vectors:
    • Diagonalization, Complex matrices, similarity transformations. *A^k, e^{At}
  • ● Positive Definite Matrices:
    • Minima-maxima, saddle pt, tests of psd, SVD
  • ● Reserved for overflow:
    • Additional topics: Matrix norm, condition no, Linear Programming
CS973 Machine Learning for Cyber Security 5 1. Articulate and explain which problems in Cyber Security may be solvable with Machine Learning.
2. Understand and implement machine learning algorithms and models for Cyber Security problems such as malware analysis, intrusion detection, spam filtering, fraud detection, online behavior analysis etc.
3. Get basic hands-on experience with supervised, unsupervised learning methods.
4. Understand basic theory of supervised and unsupervised machine learning.
5. Understand feature extraction from data.

Even though we will not make it mandatory to implement machine learning models for a cyber security problem, more advanced students with programming skills may also be able to develop tools for cyber defense using machine learning having taken this course. However, that will not be evaluated.
  • ● Basic Probability theory and Distributions
  • ● Linear Regression:
    • Uni- and multi-variate
  • ● Logistic Regression
  • ● Basic Classification Techniques:
    • Bayesian Classification
    • Other Classification Techniques
  • ● Unsupervised Learning:
    • Spectral Embedding
    • Manifold Detection
    • Anomaly Detection
  • ● Supervised Learning:
    • Decision Trees
    • Ensemble Learning
    • Random Forest
  • ● Cyber Security problems that can be solved using Machine Learning:
    • Malware Analysis
    • Intrusion Detection
    • Spam Detection
    • Phishing Detection
    • Financial Fraud Detection
    • Denial of Service Detection
CS974 Introduction to Web Security, Network Security, and Defenses 5 To understand and discover security vulnerabilities on browser-side web applications and corresponding security threats.

To understand and discover vulnerabilities on the web server-side and corresponding security threats.

To understand and discover mitigation techniques to reduce the risk of cyber-attacks on web applications.

To understand and discover security vulnerabilities in Networked Systems, Protocols and the Internet.

To understand and discover security vulnerabilities in Wireless LAN and defense mechanisms against such vulnerabilities.
  • ● Network Security:
    • Security Issues in TCP/IP – TCP, DNS, Routing (Topics such as basic problems of security in TCP/IP, IPSEC, BGP Security, DNS Cache poisoning etc)
    • Network Defense tools – Firewalls, Intrusion Detection, Filtering
    • DNSSec, S-BGP, IPSec
    • Threat Models, Denial of Service Attacks, DOS-proof network architecture
    • Wireless-LAN Security – WEP, WPA, WPA2 and WPA3
    • Threat Modelling, Attack Surfaces, and other comprehensive approaches to network design for security
  • ● Web Security:
    • Security architecture of World Wide Web, Security Architecture of Web Servers, and Web Clients
    • Web Application Security – Cross Site Scripting Attacks, Cross Site Request Forgery, SQL Injection Attacks
    • Content Security Policies (CSP) in web
    • Session Management and User Authentication, Session Integrity
    • HTTPS, SSL/TLS
CS980 Cyber Laws, Case Studies and Trends 5 The importance of cyber laws and extant cyber laws in India. Comparison between cyber laws regime in India and US/Europe.
  • ● The importance of Cyber Laws and Extant Cyber Laws in India
  • ● Comparison between Cyber Law regime in India and US/Europe
  • ● Cyber Security Regulation
  • ● Cyber Security Standards
  • ● Cyber Security Policies, Architecture, and Compliance
  • ● Compliance Automation
  • ● Case Studies from the field
CS981 Advanced Topics on Cryptography 5 This course focuses on some recent advanced topics on cryptography. The first part of this course would focus on public key cryptography and the impact of quantum computing on cryptographic applications. Public key cryptography plays a major role in maintaining the security and integrity of communication channels. However, due to the advent of quantum computing, existing public-key cryptographic algorithms like RSA or elliptic curve cryptography will cease to remain secure. Shor’s algorithm can find prime factors of integer numbers efficiently on quantum computers, thus undermining the basic security assumption of RSA and elliptic curve cryptography. In this course, we will cover the basic concepts and traditional attacks on public key cryptography, followed by some concepts on quantum computing and Shor’s algorithm. Additionally, we would also describe very briefly a post-quantum secure public key algorithm, based on lattice-based cryptography. The second part of the course would focus on advanced cryptographic protocols like authentication, attestation, bit-commitment protocols and oblivious transfer etc. The contents selected for the course are based on research papers from top-tier journals and conferences such as IEEE TIFS, IACR TCHES, IEEE TC, ACM TECS, IEEE TVLSI, DAC, DATE etc.
  • ● Public Key Cryptography:
    • RSA and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC)
    • Attack on RSA and ECC
  • ● Quantum Computing:
    • Quantum Gates, Multi Qubit States
    • Deutsch’s Algorithm
    • Bernstein-Vazirani Algorithm
    • Quantum Fourier Transformation
    • Shor’s Algorithm
  • ● Lattice Based Cryptography:
    • Learning with error
    • CRYSTALS-Kyber
  • ● Security Protocols:
    • Authentication, Attestation, Bit Commitment and Oblivious Transfer
    • PUF Based Authentication
    • Remote Attestation
CS982 Computational Number Theory for Cryptographers 5 The module covers Elementary Operations, Polynomials, Integer Lattices, Elliptic Curves and more. The module covers Elementary Operations, Polynomials, Integer Lattices, Elliptic Curves and more.
  • ● Topics Covered:
    • Elementary Operations
    • Polynomials
    • Integer Lattices
    • Elliptic Curves
    • Other relevant areas in computational number theory for cryptography
CS983 Embedded, Cyber Physical Systems and IoT Security 5 To understand different IoT system architecture and related components. To know various sensors and actuators used in IoT applications. To develop an IoT system in a simulated environment. To obtain the knowledge of various communication protocols and networking strategies used in IoT systems. To understand security threats in IoT systems, attack detection methodologies and digital forensics of IoT systems. To get an overview of new trends and applications in various domains.
  • ● Introduction to IoT:
    • New trends and applications
    • IoT architecture – 3, 5, 7 layers approach
    • Middleware
    • Fog computing
    • Sensors and actuators
  • ● IoT communication protocols:
    • NFC, RFID
    • Bluetooth, Zigbee, WiFi etc
    • MQTT, HTTP etc
  • ● IoT sensor networks:
    • Network topologies
    • Challenges in designing wireless sensor networks
    • Optimization techniques
    • Routing protocols
    • Network structure
  • ● IoT security:
    • Device security
    • Communication security
    • Attack detection techniques
    • Digital Forensics
  • ● IoT applications using AI/ML/DL methods:
    • Smart cities
    • Healthcare
    • Agriculture
    • Manufacturing
CS984 Introduction to Hardware Security 5 To understand and discover security vulnerabilities of physical implementation of cryptographic algorithms. Will get to know about different hardware security threats like side channel attacks, hardware Trojans, fault attacks.

Will obtain knowledge about passive side channel attacks (power and electromagnetic attacks) and corresponding countermeasures. Will obtain knowledge about fault attacks and corresponding countermeasures.

To understand and discover security vulnerabilities of different micro-architectural attacks.

Will get to know hardware security primitives like Physically Unclonable Functions (PUF), True Random Number Generator (TRNG), Logic locking and security protocol.
  • ● Passive Side Channel Attacks:
    • Introduction to Side Channel Attacks
    • Power Side Channel Attacks: Simple Power Attack
    • Power Side Channel Attacks: Difference of Mean and Correlation Power Attack
    • Evaluation of Side Channel Attacks: TVLA and Success rate
    • Power Attack Countermeasures
  • ● Fault Attacks and Hardware Trojan:
    • Introduction to Fault Attacks
    • Fault Attacks on AES
    • Fault Attacks on ECC
    • Introduction to Hardware Trojan
    • Hardware Trojan Examples
  • ● Micro-Architectural Attacks:
    • Introduction to Cache Attacks
    • Spectre and Meltdown
    • Performance Counter based Attacks
  • ● Hardware Security Primitives:
    • Introduction to Physically Unclonable Functions (PUF)
    • Example of PUFs
    • Introduction to True Random Number Generators (TRNGs)
    • TRNG Examples
    • Logic Locking: Attacks and Countermeasure
    • Security Protocols
CS985 Introduction to Malware Analysis 5 The module covers malware classification, types, and platform-specific issues with malware. It also explores intrusion into IT and operational networks (OT) and their signs. Students will learn manual malware infection analysis, signature-based malware detection and classification – pros and cons, and the need for machine learning-based techniques.
  • ● Malware classification, types, and platform-specific issues:
    • Malware types and behavior across Windows, Linux, and Android platforms, including unique challenges per platform
  • ● Intrusion into IT and OT networks:
    • Identifying signs of compromise in IT and operational networks, understanding attacker objectives
  • ● Manual malware infection analysis:
    • Techniques and procedures for manually analyzing malware infections
  • ● Signature-based detection:
    • Detection and classification using traditional signatures – pros, cons, and limitations
  • ● Need for machine learning-based techniques:
    • Introduction to modern detection approaches using AI/ML to detect and classify malware
  • ● Static, dynamic, and hybrid analysis:
    • Analysis methods for malware – static (code-based), dynamic (behavioral), and hybrid approaches
  • ● Case studies:
    • Recent case studies from cybersecurity conferences; practical demonstrations and presentations
CS986 Game Theory 5 The module covers non-cooperative game theory, complete information sequential move games, complete information simultaneous move games, incomplete information games, cooperative Game Theory, and more.
  • ● Non-cooperative game theory
    • Quantitative models of strategic interaction: rationality, intelligence, common knowledge
    • Complete information simultaneous move games – normal form representation
    • Ideas of equilibria: domination of strategies, Nash equilibrium
    • Existence results for mixed and pure Nash equilibrium
    • Correlated equilibrium
  • ● Complete information sequential move games – extensive form representation
    • Perfect and imperfect information extensive form games
    • Equilibria concepts – subgame perfect equilibrium, perfect Bayesian equilibrium, analogies with pure and mixed Nash equilibrium
  • ● Incomplete information games
    • Bayesian games
    • Equilibria concepts tied to the belief system
    • Nash and Bayesian equilibria in incomplete information games
  • ● Cooperative Game Theory
    • Utility representation in form of coalition
    • Transferable utilities game
    • Imputation, core, Shapley value, nucleolus
CS987 Advanced Critical Infrastructure Security 5 To identify the key research questions in cyber-security of critical infrastructure. To apply research methods which includes survey, experiments, and articulation of research problems in this area and methods for finding solutions to selected problems. To become adept at the use of machine learning for cyber security. To present in written and/or verbal form key findings in the specific subject area of the course from contemporary research papers. To read and analyze research papers from journals and conferences in the specific subject area of the course.
  • ● Critical Infrastructure and Cyber Physical Systems
  • ● Introduction to PLC/SCADA/OT
  • ● Dynamics of CPS and Attack Surfaces
  • ● IT-OT Convergence and enhanced Attack surfaces
  • ● Intrusion to Affect Physical Dynamics
  • ● Intrusion Detection Methods – Rule Base
  • ● Intrusion Detection Methods – Machine Learning Based
  • ● Modeling of Cyber Physical Systems and Cyber Attacks
  • ● Risk Aware Cyber Security of Cyber Physical Systems
CS988 Honeypots and Deception Technologies for Advanced Protection 5 The module covers Cyber Threat Intelligence Collection Techniques, OSINT, Deception Technology for Monitoring Cyber Threat, Client-Side Deception Techniques, Service side Deception techniques, IT honeypots, OT honeypot, ICS Honeypots and more.
  • ● Cyber Threat Intelligence Collection Techniques
  • ● OSINT
  • ● Deception Technology for Monitoring Cyber Threat
  • ● Client-Side Deception Techniques: Honey Tokens, Honey Credentials, Honey Files etc
  • ● Service side Deception techniques: IT Honeypots, OT Honeypots, and ICS honeypots
  • ● IT honeypots: for services such as SQL DB, Web, SSH, Telnet and other services
  • ● OT honeypot: SCADA Honeypots
  • ● ICS Honeypots: Conpot and IoT Honeypots
CS989 Introduction to Blockchain Technology 5 The module covers Basic Cryptographic primitives used in Blockchain Secure, Collision-resistant hash functions, digital signature, public-key cryptosystems, zero-knowledge proof systems, basic Distributed System concepts, Blockchain 2.0, Blockchain 3.0, E-Governance and other contract enforcement mechanisms, and more.
  • ● Basic Cryptographic primitives used in Blockchain: Secure, Collision-resistant hash functions, digital signature, public key cryptosystems, zero-knowledge proof systems
  • ● Basic Distributed System concepts: distributed consensus and atomic broadcast, Byzantine fault-tolerant consensus methods
  • ● Basic Blockchain (Blockchain 1.0): concepts germane to Bitcoin and contemporary proof-of-work based consensus mechanisms, operations of Bitcoin blockchain, crypto-currency as application of blockchain technology
  • ● Blockchain 2.0: Blockchains with smart contracts and Turing complete blockchain scripting – issues of correctness and verifiability, Ethereum platform and its smart contract mechanism
  • ● Blockchain 3.0: Plug-and-play mechanisms for consensus and smart contract evaluation engines, Hyperledger fabric platform
  • ● Beyond Cryptocurrency: applications of blockchain in cyber security, integrity of information
  • ● E-Governance and other contract enforcement mechanisms
  • ● Limitations of blockchain as a technology and myths vs. reality of blockchain technology