SATC: EDU: Network Design for Security using Protocol Trust Boundary Observations

University Of Houston, Houston TX

Investigators

Abstract

"Network security" is a typical core course in master's and bachelor's level curricula in electrical/computer engineering or computer science or technology. This project makes a novel attempt to relate "Network Security" to "Software Systems Security", where a solid educational foundation has been using threat modeling with effective tools and associated defense and mitigation techniques. This novel approach enables network security education to use the same principles that apply to information systems security. Namely, by viewing each network system as a collection of software systems, this project will enable the use of techniques developed for Software Systems Security education for Network Security education. The main goal of this project is to create novel instructional material to teach network security from the perspective of a built-in security posture within the network design process, with a focus on the creation of protocol behavior knowledge modules with a trust boundary analysis enhanced through hands-on lab experiments, instantaneous feedback, reflections on learnings, as well as a comprehensive project component for application of the gained knowledge. The instructional material is composed of lecture modules, documentation, lab modules with network topologies, an extension mechanism for other instructors to create new network models, and a hands-on lab system that is based on the Jupyter Notebooks, a web-based interactive computing platform supportive of diverse learning styles. The lab material includes exercises that load within the Jupyter Notebooks and are auto-graded through the lab system for immediate feedback on learnings of specific concepts. The question descriptors are also open source and available for the adopting instructors to tailor to their own learning objectives in specific offerings of the instructional material. The instructional material has a broader impact in attracting and retaining underrepresented minorities and female students to the field by providing equitable access mechanisms along with multiple forms of delivery of the concepts in modern interfaces. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.