CIS 6930 - Cellular and Mobile Network Security Introduction - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

CIS 6930 - Cellular and Mobile Network Security Introduction

Professor Patrick Traynor 8/23/2018

Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

Rapid Communication Over Distance

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Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

Modern Smoke Signals

• We have come to take the presence and availability of cellular 


networks to be a given.

• When was the last time you were somewhere without 


coverage for an extended period of time?


• For something you rely upon every day,


what do you really know about these
 networks?


• Why is now the right time to start 


investigating security issues facing these
 devices and infrastructure?

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Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

Why Do I Need This Course?

• As engineers and scientists, you need to underpinning of our global

communications networks.


• With this information, you will be able to help design and implement the

next generation of networked systems and applications.


• As virtually every person on the 


planet “comes online”, you need to 
 understand the implications and 
 architecture of these systems.

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Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

Goals

• My Goal: To provide students with the tools to evaluate the security of current and

evolving cellular and mobile systems.

• Cellular Networking Fundamentals
• Recognize trade-offs between different technologies.
• Develop research resulting in a conference publication.
• Prepare you for advanced research in this area.

• This is going to be a hard course. The key to success is sustained effort. Failure to

keep up with readings and project will likely result in 
 poor grades, and ultimately little understanding of the 
 course material.

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Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

Caution

• Networking and Security courses tend to have a lot of acronyms.
• Jargon makes communicating complex concepts and relationships simple

for those working in the area.


• Telephony takes acronyms to a whole new level.
• Think nested acronyms, multiply defined acronyms 


(depending on the portion of the network), etc.


• I usually do not stress memorization, but 


some amount is necessary here to survive!

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Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

What Topics Will We Cover?

• This course is a systems course covering general topics in computer and

network security. We will investigate the tools and problems of contemporary security. Topics will include:

• Wireless basics, spectrum issues, core network architectures (GSM,

ISDN, IMS, SIP), air interfaces (GSM, 3G), mobility management, authentication between devices and the network, end-to-end authentication, congestion and denial of service, privacy and eavesdropping...

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Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

You need to understand ...

• IP Networks
• Basic Security Constructions and Issues
• Modern Operating Systems
• Advanced Mathematics
• Basics of systems theory and implementation
• E.g., Distributed systems, networking, operating systems,

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Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

Who should NOT take this class?

• Students without the necessary background courses.
• Students who have poor judgement.
• Students who are not willing to put forth significant effort.
• Students who are not interested in learning.
• Students interested in doing harm to people, property and infrastructure.

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Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

Course Materials

• Website - I am maintaining the course website at
• https://www.cise.ufl.edu/class/cis6930fa18cmn/
• Course assignments, slides, and other artifacts will be made available on

the course website.

• Course textbook
• P

. Traynor, P . McDaniel and T. La Porta. Security for Telecommunications Networks. Springer, Series: Advances in Information Security, August, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-387-72441-6.

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Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

Course Calendar

• The course calendar as all the relevant readings, 


assignments and test dates

• The calendar page contains electronic links to 

• nline papers assigned for course readings.
• Please check the website frequently for 


announcements and changes to the schedule. 
 Students are responsible for any change on the 
 schedule (I will try to make announcements in class).

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Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

Grading

• Grading in this class will be distributed as follows:


50% Course Research Project 
 15% Assignments 
 25% Mid-term Exam 
 10% Class Participation

• I reserve the right to give “Unannounced Learning Experiences”.
• You get the grade that you earn, so be sure


that you earn a grade you like.

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Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

Assignments, Quizzes, Reviews

• Assignments: Practice Exam Questions
• Conceptual Questions (Basic and Complex)
• Constructions
• Precise Answers
• Review of Papers (for each class)
• Define Concepts
• Comparison with Other Approaches
• Details of Approach
• Written and Oral Reviewing Are Important

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Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

Readings

• There are readings in this course covering various topics. These

assignments are intended to:

• Support the lectures in the course (provide clarity)
• Augment the lectures and provide a broader exposure to security

topics.

• Students are required to do the reading!
• About 10-20% of questions on the tests will be off the reading on topics that

were not covered in class. You better do the reading or you are going to be in deep trouble when it comes to grades.

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Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

Lateness

• All assignments are due at the beginning of class.
• Submit everything via Canvas, please!
• Late assignments are assessed a 15% per-day late penalty, with a maximum
• f four days.
• Students with legitimate reasons should contact the professor before the

deadline to apply for an extension.

• Unless the problem is apocalyptic, don’t


give me excuses.

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Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

Course Project

• End Result: Research Paper
• Motivation for an Experiment
• Background
• Related Work
• Experimental Approach
• Experimental Evaluation
• I will provide sample topic areas
• General Areas... but you should be thinking about it already
• Start with an Existing System/Approach
• Break It
• Improve It
• Aim for a Research-Quality Result

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Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

Ethics Statement

• This course considers topics involving personal and public privacy and security. As part of

this investigation we will cover technologies whose abuse may infringe on the rights of

• thers. As an instructor, I rely on the ethical use of these technologies. Unethical use may

include circumvention of existing security or privacy measurements for any purpose, or the dissemination, promotion, or exploitation of vulnerabilities of these services. Exceptions to these guidelines may occur in the process of reporting vulnerabilities through public and authoritative channels. Any activity outside the letter or spirit of these guidelines will be reported to the proper authorities and may result in dismissal from the class and or institution.

• When in doubt, please contact the instructor for advice. Do not undertake any action

which could be perceived as technology misuse anywhere and/or under any circumstances unless you have received explicit permission from Professor Traynor.

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Danger of death

Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

A Note on Academic Integrity

• As scientists and engineers, we must trust each other to make progress.

• Numerous examples exist to show the consequences of this breakdown.
• Jan Hendrik Schon...

• Academic dishonesty, whether from cheating, copying, fabricating results or

through any other dishonest practice will not be tolerated.

• I take this personally - you should too.

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Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) Research

Next Time...

• Security Basics
• Read Traynor et al Chapter 2.
• Remember, you need to read it BEFORE you come to class!

• Start thinking about ideas for your semester project.

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