PA193 Secure coding
principles and practices
Overview of the subject
Zdeněk Říha & Petr Švenda
I PA193 - Introductory info1
PA193 Secure coding principles and proposal
• Relatively new subject
– Introduced in September 2013
• Secure coding
– How to write code in a secure way
– So that the program cannot be attacked/exploited
– ≠ Programming of security applications
• 2/2/2
– Lecture: 2 hours weekly
– Seminar: 2 hours weekly (2 seminar groups)
– Homework: about 3-6 hours weekly
I PA193 - Introductionary info2
Aims of the subject
• To learn how to program in a way that the resulting
application is more secure
– Free from security related bugs
– Cannot be attacked/exploited
• To understand security consequences of decisions
made by programmer
• Many issues are independent on programming
language
• Most examples are based on C/C++ and Java
I PA193 - Introductionary info3
Position of PA193 among other subjects
• PV079 – Applied cryptography
– Practical aspects of cryptography
• PV181 – Laboratory on Security and Applied
Cryptography
– Using common crypto libraries and smart cards
• PA018 Advanced Topics in Information Technology
Security
– Practical project
• PA168 Postgraduate seminar on IT security and
cryptography
– Discussions on current issues of IT Security
• PB173 Domain specific development in C/C++
– Group focused on implementation security and applied crypto
I PA193 - Introductionary info4
Requirements
• Basic knowledge of (applied) cryptography and IT security
– symmetric vs. asymmetric cryptography, PKI
– block vs. stream ciphers and usage modes
– hash functions
– random vs. pseudorandom numbers
– basic cryptographic algorithms (AES, DES, RSA, EC, DH)
– risk analysis
• Practical experience in programming with C/C++ language
• Basic knowledge in formal languages and compilers
• User-level experience with Windows and Linux OS
I PA193 - Introductionary info5
Organization
• Lectures + seminars + homeworks + project + exam
• Homeworks
– assigned every week/seminar
– individual work of each student
– expected workload: 3-6 hours
• Project
– groups of 2-3 students
– topic assigned in first half of semester
– project defense in last seminar of the term
– expected workload: 20 hours/project/participant
I PA193 - Introductionary info6
Grading
• Points
– Homework (30)
– Project (30)
– Written exam (90)
• Grading
– A ≥ 90% of maximum number of points
– B ≥ 80% of maximum number of points
– C ≥ 70% of maximum number of points
– D ≥ 60% of maximum number of points
– E ≥ 50% of maximum number of points
– F < 50% of maximum number of points
I PA193 - Introductionary info7
Attendance
• Lectures
– Attendance not obligatory, but highly recommended
– Not recorded
• Seminars
– Attendance obligatory
– Absences must be excused at the department of study affairs
– 2 absences are ok
• Homeworks and projects
– Done during students free time (e.g. at the dormitory)
– Access to our lab is possible
I PA193 - Introductionary info8
Course resources
• Lectures (PDF) available in IS
– IS = Information System of the Masaryk University
• Homeworks/assignments available in IS
– Submissions also done via IS
• Additional tutorials/papers/materials from time to
time will also be provided in IS
– To better understand the issues discussed
• Recommended literatures
– To learn more …
I PA193 - Introductionary info9
Recommended literature
• Ross Anderson - Security
engineering, Wiley
• Michael Howard, Steve Lipner - Secure
Development Lifecycle, MS Press
• John Viega, Matt Messier - Secure
programming cookbook, O'Reilly
• Michael Howard - Writing
secure code, MS Press
I PA193 - Introductionary info10
Plagiarism
• Homeworks
– Must be worked out independently by each student
• Projects
– Must be worked out by a team of 3 students
– Every team member must show his/her contribution
• Plagiarism, cut&paste, etc. is not tolerated
– Plagiarism is use of somebody else words/programs or ideas
without proper citation
– IS helps to recognize plagiarism
– If plagiarism is detected student is assigned -5 points
– In more serious cases the Disciplinary committee of the faculty
will decide
I PA193 - Introductionary info11
Topics covered (1)
1. Language level vulnerabilities: Buffer overflow,
type overflow, …
2. Defence in depth, …
3. Input processing (all input is evil …)
4. (Automatic) Code checking
5. Security testing: blackbox vs. whitebox testing,
fuzzing, …
6. Access control, privilege separation, …
7. Automata based programming, securing API, …
I PA193 - Introductionary info12
Topics covered (2)
8. Integrity of modules, parameters, temp files, …
9. Concurrent issues: IPC, race conditions, Valgrind, …
10.(Pseudo)random numbers, their generation and
usage, …
11.Security primitives: secure channel, secure storage,
key management, …
12.Security code review
I PA193 - Introductionary info13
Labs - organization
• Dedicated teaching room close to security
laboratory (G201)
• Pre-prepared environments (Windows, Linux)
– compilers, analyzers...
• Virtual images for selected exercises
– can be used also outside laboratory
• Necessary software available for students
– freeware tools preferred for easy home-use
14 I PA193 - Introductionary info
Protostar virtual image with exercises
15 I PA193 - Introductionary info
Compiler settings for /DEP and /ASLR
16 I PA193 - Introductionary info
Deeper look into disassembly
17 I PA193 - Introductionary info