General Information

MIT catalog description

Prereq.: 6.102 and 6.180
G
3-6-3

Design and implementation of secure computer systems. Lectures cover attacks that compromise security as well as techniques for achieving security, based on recent research papers. Topics include operating system security, privilege separation, capabilities, language-based security, cryptographic network protocols, trusted hardware, and security in web applications and mobile phones. Labs involve implementing and compromising a web application that sandboxes arbitrary code, supporting TLS certificates, and adding two-factor authentication.

Class meetings

Lectures will be held TR 2:30-4 in 45-230.

Who should take 6.566?

6.566 is primarily intended for seniors, M.Eng., and PhD students who want to learn about how to build secure computer systems in detail. 6.566 counts as a systems TQE subject.

Communication

We will distribute assignments and announcements on the course web site. We expect students to check the 6.566 schedule and Piazza frequently. If you hear a rumor, check it there.

Grading policy

Grades in 6.566 will be based on the results of two quizzes (one in the middle of the term and one in final's week, 35% in total), labs 1-5 (55%), and class participation and homeworks (e.g., lecture question and reading answer) (together 10%). We expect students to attend the two quizzes at the time/location posted on the schedule.

Lab exercises will be graded on the correctness based on both the lab assignment and whether they fulfill the specifications imposed by the grading/checking scripts. Grading will be done with the unmodified Makefile and grading scripts, so you should pass all the tests without any modifications to those files.

Turn-in policy

Labs are due by 5pm on their due date (typically Friday). Lecture reading questions are due before lecture (2:30pm).

If you need an extension on a lab assignment due to extenuating circumstances, please contact MIT S3; we will give an extension on recommendation from an S3 dean. We will not accept late submissions of lecture reading questions.

If you have scheduling conflicts (e.g., need to attend a job interview, an athletic event), please plan in advance to turn in the assignments on time. If your plan failed and S3 will not recommend an extension, we will give a total of 3 late days for labs throughout the semester, to be used as whole days. You will need to contact the course staff to explain your situation and to get the extension added in Gradescope.

Collaboration

Please do the course labs individually: you are welcome to discuss the labs with others, but please do not look at (or hand in) anyone else's solution. If you are tempted to use an AI assistant to write code for you, consider that you'll then learn correspondingly less from the labs. We expect you to understand all of the code that you hand in, and to be able to reason about lab-related questions on the exams.

Please do not publish your code or make it available to current or future students. Github repositories are public by default, so please don't put your code there unless you make the repository private.

You may discuss the paper questions with other students, but you may not look at other students' answers. You must write your answers yourself.

Warning

You'll learn how to attack computer systems in this class in order to better understand how to design defenses. Please don't attack other people's computers or information without their prior permission. As well as being a bad idea, it may be illegal or a violation of MIT network rules and can get you into serious trouble. Don't do it.

Staff

Lecturers
Name	E-Mail	Office
Nickolai Zeldovich	nickolai at csail.mit.edu	32-G994

Teaching assistants
Name	E-Mail
Steven Jorgensen	st28850 at mit.edu
Derek Leung	dtl at mit.edu
Selena Qiao	scq at mit.edu

TA office hours
Day	Time	Location	TA
Monday	5:00pm-7:00pm	TBD	Selena
Tuesday	9:30am-11:30am	TBD	Steven
Tuesday	4:00pm-6:00pm	TBD	Selena
Thursday	4:00pm-6:00pm	TBD	Steven

Course mailing list: 6566-staff@lists.csail.mit.edu
Use this mailing list to contact all the 6.566 staff.