Studies

Information Security


This lecture belongs to the Business Networks track of the MScIS program. Interested graduate students of other programs are welcome as well.


Course Material


Material accompanying the lecture can be found in our Learnweb at: Fachbereich 4 → Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik → Business Networks: Information Security, SoSe 2014, Böhme


Time and Location


  • Summer term 2014
  • Tue 4 PM–6 PM c.t., LC 18 (lecture)
  • Wed 4 PM–6 PM c.t., LC 18 (lecture + exercise)
  • Lecture start: 8 Apr 2014
  • Oral exams: tba

Description


This lecture covers the foundations of information security including the specification of protection goals, adversary models, security mechanisms (e.g., authentication, access control) and cryptographic primitives to enforce protection goals in distributed systems (e.g., symmetric and asymmetric encryption, integrity protection). Since the highest levels of security conceivable in theory are hardly reachable in practice, the course will also deal with common ”second best” solutions, such as reactive techniques (e.g., intrusion detection and prevention, forensics) as well as managerial implications (e.g., patching policy, system architecture). Security mechanisms will be discussed both from the perspective of a system operator, who protects a larger distributed system, as well as from the end users’ point of view, who may wish to use security technology to self-protect against untrustworthy system operators. The lecture is accompanied by exercises, which are intended to deepen the understanding of the techniques.


Language


The lecture and exercises are taught in English. Exams are in English only.



Bitcoin


This lecture and seminar is a specialization module of the BSc program. Interested undergraduate students of other programs are welcome as well.


MBC'13 – 1st Münster Bitcoin Conferenz


All students will present their papers at the first Münster Bitcoin Conference, that is taking place on 17 – 18 July.


Course Material


Material accompanying the lecture can be found in our Learnweb at: Fachbereich 4 → Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik → Bitcoin (V+S), SoSe 2013, Böhme/Breuker


Time and Location


Lecture: Wed 12 PM-2 PM, LC 10.2


  • 10 April: Introduction, basics
  • 17 April: Electronic payment systems (room change, TBA)
  • 24 April: The Bitcoin protocol
  • 2 May (Thursday!): Economic aspects

Exercise: Tue 4 PM-6 PM, LC 10.2


  • 16 April: Assignment of topics; How to write a conference paper (room LC 3.115)
  • 30 April: Bitcoin tools
  • 7 May: Exercise sheet to prepare for the exam

Written exam: 15 May, 1 PM-2 PM


Important dates for the conference seminar


  • 31 May: Submissions due
  • 15 June: Blind reviews due (by participants and advisers)
  • 28 June: Final papers due
  • 17-18 July: Block seminar (LC 10.2)

Description


Bitcoin is an innovative way of establishing digital money on the Internet. It is a decentralized electronic currency, which uses cryptographic primitives and distributed puzzle solving to ensure secure irrevocable transactions and protection against inflation. This specialization module sets out to analyze and understand technical and economic principles behind the Bitcoin system as well as broader consequences of a decentralized currency and its growing ecosystem (of exchanges, mining pools, wallet services etc.) on businesses, policy, the economy, and society at large. The course covers selected topics at the intersection of finance, economics, computer science, security, and privacy.


The specialization module consists of a short lecture series with associated exercises covering the necessary technical and practical background of the Bitcoin system, followed by a conference seminar. Students simulate an academic conference on Bitcoin by solving little research problems, writing a short research paper, contributing to a constructive peer-review process, presenting and discussing the results with their peers.


Call for Papers


Here is our Call for Papers. Please use this link to the electronic submission system. We will explain this further in the exercise on 16 April.


Rules


  • Lecture and seminar cannot be taken individually. Interested guest are always welcome.
  • The conference paper can be written in English.

Multimedia Security


This lecture and seminar is a specialization module of the BSc program. Interested undergraduate students of other programs are welcome as well.


Course Material


Material accompanying the lecture can be found in our Learnweb at: Fachbereich 4 → Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik → Multimedia-Sicherheit (V+S), SoSe 2013, Böhme


Time and Location


  • Summer term 2013 
  • Wed 10 AM–12 PM s.t., Leo 2 (lecture)
  • Thu 10 AM–12 PM c.t., Leo 2 (exercise)
  • Two days 9 AM–2 PM, Leo 2 (block seminar, participation required)
  • The lecture on 17 April will be held in LC 18
  • The exercise on 11 and 18 April will be held in room 115 (building Leo 3)
  • Lecture start: 10 Apr 2013
  • Lecture end: 16 May 2013
  • Written exam: 5 Jun 2013
  • Deadline for term paper: 30 Jun 2013
  • Block seminar: 8-9 Jul 2013

Description


This lecture covers the foundations of multimedia security. Starting from basic properties of digital media data (and in particular digital images), the course specifies relevant protection goals and explores mechanisms to achieve these goals. Particular emphasis is put on covert communication (steganography and steganalysis) as well as passive and active methods to assess authenticity and integrity of digital images (digital watermarking and digital image forensics, respectively). The lecture is accompanied by exercises, which are intended to deepen the understanding of the techniques and to gain insight into their pratical implementation. Specific topics are further detailed in individual term papers and presented to the group in final seminar talks.


Language


The lecture and exercises are taught in German. Term papers and seminar presentations are in German by default. English term papers and seminar talks are possible on request.