Computer viruses, worms, Trojan Horses, spyware, exploits, poorly designed software, identity theft, inadequate technology laws, and terrorism: these issues have a profound affect on our daily computing life. New technological innovations such as file-sharing software, social networking, and location-based tracking tools also have major political and social implications. Unfortunately, basic understanding of the security, political, and social issues concerning the use of technologies is lax, and is a major reason why people are continually affected by computer security breaches and technology misuse. Granted, the problems are only getting worse. Issues including electronic voting, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) will be discussed. This course will also delve into reverse engineering of software, digital forensics, understanding exploits (e.g. buffer overflow, Denial of Service, rootkits, SQL injection), and how to protect yourself from malicious computer activities. Then, the issues will be put into a global context to answer the question: we have dug ourselves into a deep hole; how do we dig out of it?
This course will have some major changes:
Ming Chow
mchow@cs.tufts.edu
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6 - 7:15 PM in Braker 222
This course is open to all, regardless of area of study. No software development or computer programming knowledge is required. Basic knowledge on computer technology and concepts is sufficient. The only requirement is that you are curious on the security, privacy, political, and legal issues in computer technology, and why they are important in society.
The teaching style that I will employ in my class will be balanced and dynamic. Because of the nature and subject of the course, computer technology will obviously be used. Computer technology will be used to present some of the lectures, and more importantly, to demonstrate real-world examples. Such examples include showing why and how computer software can be designed and developed improperly, presenting legal documentation, statistical studies, common computing mistakes, and the process to reverse engineer software. However, and too often as of late, computer technology is overused and unnecessary in many situations. Many educators have been too reliant on computer technology to present the course, and ultimately, divert attention away from the students.
The nature of the subject matter (politics, legal, privacy, and security issues in computer technology) is sensitive and complex. From many years of learning and listening to experts and university professors on the subject matter, the most effective way to understand the information is by participation and debates. One of my goals of the course is to have students understand that debates are healthy and encouraged. There are always truths and benefits from both sides of debates. Ultimately, it will encourage students to be bi-partisan, a quality of citizenship. Being bi-partisan is critical in presenting, and being involved in this subject matter because the topics affect society as a whole, regardless of beliefs. Therefore, there will be two debates in the course, which I will moderate. There will also be two expert panel sessions where a group of students will speak about a particular topic of my choosing, and that has been presented to the students weeks before. Each student in the class must serve once on either a debate or an expert panel session. Questions and comments from the rest of the students after the debate or expert panel session are strongly urged. Finally, I hope to invite guest speakers (e.g. experts from the industry, government officials, educators) for the course, whom will be of tremendous value to discuss their experiences and insights on the subject matter.