695.621.81 - Public Key Infrastructure and Managing E-Security

Course Structure

The course materials are divided into modules which can be accessed by clicking Course Modules on the course menu. A module will have several sections including the overview, content, readings, discussions, and assignments. You are encouraged to preview all sections of the module before starting. Modules run for a period of seven (7) days.  The first module will open on Monday, August 28 at 8:00 AM.   Subsequent modules will open on Tuesdays at 8:00 AM.   

Several modules include team exercises.  All team exercises should be completed and posted within two weeks from the opening date.

Course Topics

Course Topics:  Fall 2023

This outline provides only a brief overview of the course topics and assignments by module week. Note that this outline may change. Please remember to check the individual modules for specifics regarding readings, assignments, and assignment due dates.  Important:  if there is ever a conflict on dates which leads to confusion, the assignment will be accepted at the latest date.  

Each course module runs for a period of seven (7) days, i.e., one week. Due dates for readings and other assignments are referred to by the day of the module week in which they are due. For example, if an assignment is to be completed by the end of the module and the module began on Tuesday at 8:00 AM, then the assignment should be completed by 8:00 AM Tuesday of the following week.

Dates shown in this outline are the date the module begins.   All Modules after Module 1 will open on Tuesdays, 8:00 AM.

Course Goals

The main course goal is for students to identify and describe the characteristics and components of a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and the state of PKI maturation in the USA. 

Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs)

• By the end of the course, students will be able to apply their knowledge of fundamental PKI concepts to address and find solutions for a wide variety of contemporary and future cyber-security issues. Specifically they will be able to:
• • Determine the roles a PKI has with regard to mitigation of various contemporary cyber-security threats.
• • Explain the difference between a PKI and public key cryptography.
• • Choose the appropriate asymmetric or symmetric encryption technology for encryption tasks.
• • Identify the technical and non-technical components of a PKI.
• • Evaluate existing PKI certificate policy statements and write unambiguous policy.
• • Research existing PKI technology standards and evaluate their applicability to their task environment.
• • Bookmark the "best" sites for PKI research materials.
• • Lead and/or participate in the planning, design, development, implementation and maintenance phases of a PKI.
• • Explain the role a PKI might play vis-à-vis the cyber-security engineering grand challenge of the National Academy of Engineers.

Textbooks

Adams, Carlisle, Steve Lloyd Understanding PKI: Concepts, Standards, and Deployment Considerations, 2nd edition. Boston, Mass: Addison-Wesley, 2003

ISBN-10: 0672323915 ISBN-13: 978-0672323911

Note that although this text is dated, it contains valuable conceptual information related to PKI. Up to date material from the National Institutes of Standards (NIST), the Federal PKI Policy Statements, and a wide variety of other sources supplement text materials to ensure students have the most recent information on PKI. Links to these materials will be provided in the course modules for students to download from the Internet at no cost.

Also, please note the text is available at no charge at the following link:

https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/temporary-access/

The first time you do this, you will create your John Hopkins Safari account, and every time thereafter, you will simply be logged in. Enter only your school email in the username field and tap in a space outside the username field. The system will then recognize this school's SSO Safari account, provide a Single Sign-in button which when clicked on, will redirect you to the John Hopkins School website, where you use your Canvas website log-in credentials to authenticate. This has been working. But if you have difficulty, please go to: support@oreilly.com

Required Software

Students will need to use Microsoft Word and Microsoft Powerpoint to participate in the course.   They will also use ZOOM to participate in the optional weekly office hour. 

Student Coursework Requirements

Success in this course typically requires 5–9 hours of effort per week. Students will want to read appropriate sections of the required text (1 hour); review and complete the online modules and associated materials (1–2 hours); complete assignments (1 hour); participate in discussion forums and group activities (1–2 hours); and work on the course term project (2–3 hours).

This course will consist of four basic student requirements, the completion of which will produce a final course score of up to 500 points. Points are distributed between the four requirements as follows:

              50 points   -    Module Completion and Participation in Online Activities
            100 points   -    4 Assignments             
            150 points   -    Research Project, Research Presentation, and Research Forum    
            200 points   -    Examinations:  Mid-Term and Final

1. Module Completion and Participation in Online and Team Activities (Class Discussions) (Maximum of 50 Points or 10% of Final Grade Calculation)

Each student is responsible for carefully reading all assigned material and responding to module challenge questions and the Cyber News discussion forum. You should post your pithy initial response to discussion questions by the evening of day 5 for that module week. Posting a well-reasoned, timely response to discussion questions and forums comprises 60% (30 points) of your grade for class discussions. (The 30 points is comprised of 20 points for the Cyber News discussion forum and 10 points for the lecture challenge questions.)   Note that simply posting your response to a discussion question is not sufficient; we want you to interact with your classmates. Feel free to agree or disagree with your classmates, but always ensure that your postings are civil and constructive.  Also, while it is not necessary to respond to all discussion questions in every module, students should be sure to participate often with quality responses.  Students may also pose questions in the discussion forums or post news of interest for class discussions.

The remaining 20 points (40%) of your grade for class discussion will be for your participation in four team exercises. Team activities are designed for more complex module discussion questions.  Up to 20 points will be awarded to each team member by the team.  Each team will have the flexibility to determine how they will assign points to each team member.  For example, if all team members participate equally in team activities, teams may assign each team member the same number of points. If teams find that one member never contributes, they may choose to assign no points to that member. Teams will also want to assess the quality of the participation in assigning points.  

Reading assignments will be important sources of material for your written assignments.

All assignments are due according to the dates in the Assignments items in Canvas. If, after submitting an assignment a student is not satisfied with the grade received, the student is encouraged to redo the assignment and resubmit it. If the resubmission results in a better grade, the two grades will be averaged and the average of the two will be substituted for the original grade.

Assignments vary in nature and the criteria by which each is evaluated are detailed in the respective assignments.  Students must answer each part of a homework question with supporting rationale and/or examples in order to receive full credit. Reductions may result from the following:

1. Missing parts of the answer or supporting rationale and/or examples (up to 25 points or 100% of each assignment).
2. Writing quality (up to 3 points).  Note that writing is expected to meet or exceed accepted graduate-level English and scholarship standards. That is, all assignments will be graded on grammar and style as well as content. When you have something important to convey, you must convey it without grammatical errors so that your readers will not stop reading and all your good ideas will be clearly expressed. You should use editing software and you may also ask a friend to edit your work for grammatical errors.
3. Missing references, if applicable (up to 3 points). If you use references, you must cite them.  Note that references are always helpful to illustrate or support your ideas.

Late submissions will be accepted but reduced by 2 points for each week late. Exceptions to the late policy may be granted with prior coordination with the instructor and a valid excuse such as work travel or heavy workloads.  In the case of a family or health emergency, first address the emergency and after all is well, inform the instructor.

3.  Research Project (Maximum of 150 points combined from: 80 points for the written formal research paper, 40 points for presentation of the research, and 30 points for the special research forum; or 30% of Final Grade Calculation combined from: 16% for the written formal research paper, 8% for presentation of the research, and 6% for the special research forum)

To enable students to tailor the course to their interests, each student will complete and present to the class a formal research paper.  The research will be assigned the first week of the course. The final two modules of the course will be devoted to a Special Research Forum in which students will present their research results.  

The three parts of the research project are listed below (the percentages listed in the tables are relative to the grading of the respective parts of the research project and not the final grade calculation of the course as a whole):


A. Written Formal Research Paper (Maximum of 80 points or 16% of Final Grade Calculation)

The written research paper will be evaluated by the following rubric developed by Dr. Stella Porto. Note that students may use the style manual of their academic discipline for research papers.

The presentation of the research will be evaluated by the following rubric.

 C:  Special Research Forum (Maximum of 30 points or 6% of Final Grade Calculation)

The special research forum will consist of individual student presentations of their research. All students are expected to participate in the research forum by reading, critiquing, and questioning the research of other students.  Students will be awarded up to 30 points for active and thoughtful participation in the research forum demonstrated by completing 6 evaluations of peer presentations.  Details will be provided in the forum modules. 

 4. Examinations (Maximum of 200 points combined from 100 points for the Midterm and 100 points for the Final or 40% of Final Grade Calculation combined from 20% for Midterm and 20% for Final)

The mid-term exam will be presented following the 6th course module and the final exam will be presented following the 12th course module.  Students will have up to 5 hours to complete both the midterm and the final exams once they access the exam questions. Therefore, students should be certain to block out a contiguous time period to complete each exam.

Students will choose 5 questions to answer from the 6 questions which are presented on the midterm and 5 questions to answer from the 6 questions which are presented on the final. The format of the questions will be short answer essay which will cover material from the first six course modules for the midterm and material from all course modules for the final.

Exams are graded anonymously.  Up to 20 points per question will be awarded for answering questions accurately and succinctly. Students who choose to answer all presented questions will be graded on the results of their best 5 scores. 

Grading Policy

Student assignments are due according to the dates in the Assignments items. I will post grades within one week following assignment due dates.

Recalling that each student has the opportunity to earn a total of 500 points during the course, the final course letter grade will be assigned as indicated below.

450(90%)–500(100%) =  A
400(80%)–449(89.8%) = B
350(70%)–399(79.8%) = C
Below 350(<70%) = F -  Non-passing

Note that each student has the opportunity to earn 500 points. Therefore, every student has the opportunity to earn an A in the course.  Note, too, that the grading brackets strictly apply.  A final total score of 449 will be a B.

Academic Policies

Deadlines for Adding, Dropping and Withdrawing from Courses

Students may add a course up to one week after the start of the term for that particular course. Students may drop courses according to the drop deadlines outlined in the EP academic calendar (https://ep.jhu.edu/student-services/academic-calendar/). Between the 6th week of the class and prior to the final withdrawal deadline, a student may withdraw from a course with a W on their academic record. A record of the course will remain on the academic record with a W appearing in the grade column to indicate that the student registered and withdrew from the course.

Academic Misconduct Policy

All students are required to read, know, and comply with the Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts and Sciences (KSAS) / Whiting School of Engineering (WSE) Procedures for Handling Allegations of Misconduct by Full-Time and Part-Time Graduate Students.

This policy prohibits academic misconduct, including but not limited to the following: cheating or facilitating cheating; plagiarism; reuse of assignments; unauthorized collaboration; alteration of graded assignments; and unfair competition. Course materials (old assignments, texts, or examinations, etc.) should not be shared unless authorized by the course instructor. Any questions related to this policy should be directed to EP’s academic integrity officer at ep-academic-integrity@jhu.edu.

Students with Disabilities - Accommodations and Accessibility

Johns Hopkins University values diversity and inclusion. We are committed to providing welcoming, equitable, and accessible educational experiences for all students. Students with disabilities (including those with psychological conditions, medical conditions and temporary disabilities) can request accommodations for this course by providing an Accommodation Letter issued by Student Disability Services (SDS). Please request accommodations for this course as early as possible to provide time for effective communication and arrangements.

For further information or to start the process of requesting accommodations, please contact Student Disability Services at Engineering for Professionals, ep-disability-svcs@jhu.edu.

Student Conduct Code

The fundamental purpose of the JHU regulation of student conduct is to promote and to protect the health, safety, welfare, property, and rights of all members of the University community as well as to promote the orderly operation of the University and to safeguard its property and facilities. As members of the University community, students accept certain responsibilities which support the educational mission and create an environment in which all students are afforded the same opportunity to succeed academically. 

For a full description of the code please visit the following website: https://studentaffairs.jhu.edu/policies-guidelines/student-code/

Classroom Climate

JHU is committed to creating a classroom environment that values the diversity of experiences and perspectives that all students bring. Everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect. Fostering an inclusive climate is important. Research and experience show that students who interact with peers who are different from themselves learn new things and experience tangible educational outcomes. At no time in this learning process should someone be singled out or treated unequally on the basis of any seen or unseen part of their identity. 
 
If you have concerns in this course about harassment, discrimination, or any unequal treatment, or if you seek accommodations or resources, please reach out to the course instructor directly. Reporting will never impact your course grade. You may also share concerns with your program chair, the Assistant Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, or the Office of Institutional Equity. In handling reports, people will protect your privacy as much as possible, but faculty and staff are required to officially report information for some cases (e.g. sexual harassment).

Course Auditing

When a student enrolls in an EP course with “audit” status, the student must reach an understanding with the instructor as to what is required to earn the “audit.” If the student does not meet those expectations, the instructor must notify the EP Registration Team [EP-Registration@exchange.johnshopkins.edu] in order for the student to be retroactively dropped or withdrawn from the course (depending on when the "audit" was requested and in accordance with EP registration deadlines). All lecture content will remain accessible to auditing students, but access to all other course material is left to the discretion of the instructor.