Homework

We will give out three sets of questions during the semester such that each set of questions is focused on the corresponding group of topics that is covered in the lectures. The homework tasks will be made public when we start to teach the corresponding topics. Three sets of homework tasks can give up to 50 points.

First homework covers the following topics: data protection, symmetric encryption, smart devices, privacy and anonymity. Second homework focuses on public key cryptography, HTTPS, PGP, smart cards and e-voting. Third homework is mostly about authentication and attacks.

• 1. Homework [results]
• 2. Homework [results]
• 3. Homework [results]

You can find the aggregated results from this table. The results of the tests can be seen from Moodle.

Tests

After each lecture, there will be a small test to check if the most important ideas or facts were understood. The tests will give up to 5 points during the whole semester and a single test will give between 0.5 to 1 points. The tests must be completed in Moodle (https://moodle.ut.ee) during the rest of the week. The lectures are held on thursdays and thus tests have to be completed by the end of sunday (GMT+2).

Essay

In addition to the homework tasks each student will have to write an essay. The essay will give up to five points and some example topics for the essays are posted below. You can also propose your own topic but make sure that it is relevant. If you are not sure if your own topic is relevant then we can approve it before you start to write.

Each student has to write one essay during the semester. However, different topics have different deadlines as shown below. For example, if a student wants to write on a topic belonging to the first group (privacy, anonymity, encryption), he or she will have to submit it by October x-th. After this deadline these topics are no longer available.

Topics for the essays will be announced here:

• First group: privacy, anonymity, encryption (deadline: due on 7th of October)
  • Surveillance and privacy – finding the balance
  • The price of online anonymity
  • Providing Tor relay in <enter country here> -- legal aspects
  • <Your own topic>
• Second group: public key encryption, HTTPS, smart cards, e-voting (due on the 6th of November)
  • E-voting and democracy
  • Smart cards, democracy, surveillance
  • How end-to-end encryption affects the society
  • <Your own topic>
• Third group: authentication, social engineering, malware, cyber attacks, web attacks, wireless attacks (due on the 2nd of December).
  • What is a cyber war?
  • Privacy in the age of Internet of Things
  • Internet of Things and security
  • <Your own topic>

The requirements for the essay:

• 2 - 3 pages (A4, 1.5 line spacing)
• argumentative essay (some helpful information about the structure of an essay)
• the topic and content has to relevant to the course, keeping in mind that this is a somewhat technical course
• has to be submitted as a PDF file

The essay has to be submitted through the following form.

Submission policy

Homework solutions have to be submitted before the midnight of the deadline. The deadline is fixed to be in the time zone GMT+2. There is a penalty for late submissions, each extra day will lower the maximum result by 10%.

• 1 day late - homework result is multiplied by 0.9
• 2 days late - homework result is multiplied by 0.8
• 3 days late - homework result is multiplied by 0.7
• etc.

If the homework submission is done more than nine days after the deadline then the solution will automatically get 0 points. The lecturer should be informed as early as possible if the submission will be late due to a medical reason or due to an important upcoming event. If there is a valid reason for not being able to submit the homework then in agreement with the lecturer it is be possible to get an alternate task.

The same policy applies for essays.

Plagiarism and Collaboration policy

When a solution contains text from other authors then citation has to be used. Missing citation is considered as plagiarism and this results in the homework being graded with 0 points. In addition, such cases will be handled according to the study regulations (chapter IX.10. Academic fraud and improper behaviour).

It is not allowed to submit a solution that was created by a third party. It is not allowed to use a solution created by another student. In case a copied solution is found all involved students will get 0 points. However, it is allowed to discuss the homework tasks with other students but the solutions have to be written independently. In this case, the names of the students involved in the discussion have to be mentioned in the solution. If this is not done then the solution is considered to be a case of plagiarism.