Course Description
This course is designed to help students understand the unique challenges of solving security problems at scale, and is taught by senior technology leaders from companies tackling hardware and software security for hundreds of millions of people. The course is split into five parts covering major themes: Basics, Securing Elections & Nations, Enterprises & Developers, Consumers, and AI at scale. The format of the class will include guest lectures from experts in each theme, covering a blend of both theory and real-world scenarios. Past speakers include the CEOs, CTOs and CISOs of OpenAI, FireEye, Roblox, Cloudflare, Reddit and Google. Prerequisite: CS110/ CS111. Recommended but not required: CS155.
Administrative
- Course syllabus (guest speakers and readings to be announced)
- Course staff
Instructors
- Anjney Midha, General Partner, A16Z. Former VP of Platform, Discord.
- Mike Abbott, EVP of Software, GM. Former VP of Engineering, Apple.
Course Assistants
- Avi Gupta
- Cody Ho
Lectures
Wednesdays: 12:30 pm - 2:20 pm, Landau 140 (Econ Bldg)
Attendance
In-person attendance and participation are mandatory. Classes will feature guest speakers and the opportunity to ask questions. We encourage you to be active during these sessions. To help prepare, as the quarter progresses, additional information about upcoming speakers will be added to the course syllabus.
Daily class attendance will be taken in class. We will permit one free absence with no grade penalty, no questions asked. Beyond that, we will only excuse absences in rare and extreme circumstances.
Midterm
There will be a midterm. The midterm will be a take-home exam with a 24-hour duration. The topics covered in the lectures and guest speaker sessions will be on the midterm. More information on the logistics for the midterm will be communicated soon!
Projects
The final project will be 25% of your grade. There will be no physical presentation in class for the project. The project will require you to submit a short video and a paper. More information will be communicated soon in class!
Grading
Final placement in the class will be determined by the following formula:
0.50 A + 0.25 M + 0.25 F
where:
A is your attendance at the lectures.
M is the average grade on the midterm.
F is your final project score.
Course Calendar
(See syllabus)