Security of Wireless Networks AS14

Autumn semester 2014
Course no. 252-1411-00L, (5 ECTS)

Lecture: Tuesday, 13-15h, in protected pageML H 41.1 (GIF, 114 KB).
Exercises: every second Friday, 13-15h, in protected pageCAB E 87.2 (GIF, 127 KB) (enter via 88.1).

Course responsible: Srdjan Capkun () and Claudio Soriente ()
Assistants: Luka Malisa, Nikos Karapanos and Arthur Gervais.

For any issues, contact us at the following e-mail address:

Course Announcements

08.12: Final exam schedule online
02.12: Tentative exam schedule online
13.11: Lab4 material online.
31.10: Lab3 material online.
28.10: Cantenna material online.
16.10: Lab2 material online.
02.10: Lab1 material online.
26.09: Lab group assignments are online.
14.09: The first lecture will take place on 16.09.

Oral Exam Schedule

The exam will take place in CNB F102.2 and will roughly last 20 minutes per student. The exam is not necessary if you don't need a grade ("Schein").
In the case that you cannot make it to the exam for any reason, please contact the Pruefungsplanstelle (+41 44 632 20 68).

Exam schedule: [protected pagePDF (PDF, 909 Bytes)]

Course description

Core elements: Wireless communication channel, Wireless network architectures and protocols, Attacks on wireless networks, Protection techniques.

Course content: Wireless channel basics. Wireless electronic warfare: jamming and target tracking. Basic security protocols in cellular, WLAN and multi-hop networks. Recent advances in security of multi-hop networks; RFID privacy challenges and solutions.

Learning objectives: After this course, the students should be able to: describe and classify security goals and attacks in wireless networks; describe security architectures of the following wireless systems and networks: 802.11, GSM/UMTS, RFID, ad hoc/sensor networks; reason about security protocols for wireless network; implement mechanisms to secure 802.11 networks.

Evaluation:
Oral exam = 80% of the grade
20% exercises and related reports

Detailed content

Wireless Electronic Warfare
basics (wireless channel equations)
jamming and antijamming
low-probability of intercept signals (LPI)
source localization techniques
Related exercise: cantenna
Security of WiFi networks
802.11 architecture and protocols
(un)authorized access: MAC filtering, WEP, WPA, 802.1X, 802.11i
Selfish behavior in WiFi networks
Related exercises: WiFi security issues
Security of Cellular networks
GSM and UMTS security architectures
Attacks on GSM networks
Security in wireless multi-hop networks
architectures and protocols
naming and addressing
key establishment/management
secure distributed computing
thwarting selfish behavior
Secure RFID systems
readers and tags
security issues: privacy, forgery, sabotage
RFID security protocols
Special (research) topics
wireless device pairing
broadcast authentication
secure localization and time synchronization
....

Course Material

Week 1: Introduction, Basic Security Notions, Wireless Communication Basics [protected pagePDF (PDF, 911 Bytes)]
Week 2: Device pairing [protected pagePDF (PDF, 911 Bytes)]
Week 3: Device pairing (continued)
Week 4: Security of 802.11 [protected pagePDF (PDF, 911 Bytes)]
Week 5: Using the physical layer for confidentiality/authentication/access control [protected pagePDF (PDF, 911 Bytes)]
Week 6: Jamming, jamming-resistant communication [protected pagePDF (PDF, 911 Bytes)]
Week 7: Broadcast jamming-resistant communication [protected pagePDF (PDF, 911 Bytes)]
Week 8: Broadcast jamming-resistant communication (continued)
Week 9: GPS [protected pagePDF (PDF, 917 Bytes)]
Week 10: GSM/UMTS [protected pagePDF (PDF, 911 Bytes)]
Week 11: Key distribution in sensor networks [protected pagePDF (PDF, 911 Bytes)]
Week 12: Ad-hoc routing [protected pagePDF (PDF, 913 Bytes)]
Week 13: Wireless privacy [protected pagePDF (PDF, 913 Bytes)]

Lab Exercises

Labs will be organized in separate groups and all will be held in protected pageCAB E 87.2 (GIF, 127 KB). Lab materials will be released progressively throughout the semester.

The following groups will be created:

Group A: every second Friday, 10:00 - 12:00, first lab on 03.10
Group B: every second Friday, 13:00 - 15:00, first lab on 03.10
Group C: every second Friday, 15:00 - 17:00, first lab on 03.10
Group D: every second Friday, 13:00 - 15:00, first lab on 10.10

Group assignments: [protected pagePDF (PDF, 917 Bytes)]

Lab booklet: [protected pagePDF (PDF, 899 Bytes)]

Cantenna lab: [protected pagePDF (PDF, 899 Bytes)]

DSSS: [protected pageZIP (ZIP, 891 Bytes)]