Computer
Networking
and
Practical
Security

Fall 2006
course
navigation

assignments

 

term grade

  due Sun Dec 17

Final Project

The final two weeks' work will be focused on a small project of the student's choice. Viable projects include an expansion of a previous assignment, exploration of a new tool or concept, or a short (but educated) 2-3 page essay
  due Fri Dec 8

Assignment 10

  due Fri Dec 1

Assignment 9

  due Fri Nov 17

Assignment 8

First, put yourself in the goblin's shoes. All you know is that this transport function exists in the game. How could you a) figure out how it works, and b) recreate its effects on your victim? What additional information might you need?
Second, what methods could the game server use to protect against this sort of malicious behavior? What methods could you use? How would they affect performance?
Some good tools to start with include ethereal, netcat (nc), and iptables. While you don't need to actually execute either the attack or defense, your answer should include detailed explanations of how to use these (or other) tools.

  due Fri Nov 10

Assignment 7

  due Fri Nov 10

Assignment 6

  due Fri Oct 27

Assignment 5

  due Fri Oct 6

Assignment 4

So two computers want to talk to eachother. They both have the same network card. Let's call the output and input connections on the plug of the card A and B, respectively. So since both our computers have the same cards, if we plug a patch cable into them, they're both transitting on the "A" connections, which are both sending data in the same wires. Conversely both "B's" are listening for data that will never come. If we plug in a crossover cable instead, Computer 1's A sends data to Computer 2's B, and vice versa. Hooray crossover cables!
Assume we want to make more than a two computer network though? Well, then we're probably going to want a switch somewhere in there. What do you connect your computer to a switch with? A patch cable. Why does this work? Because switches "cross" the wires internally. That's fine and dandy, but now we have two different cables to deal with.
So MY idea was, why bother with internal crossing? Then we can just use crossover cables for everything. Problem solved.
I immediately proposed this idea to a friend of mine who has less networking experience than me, but knows much more about hardware. Words were said and pictures were drawn. "No, no," he argued, "that won't work if the switch doesn't do internal crossing, and here's the picture to prove it: http://cs.marlboro.edu/~glein/images/switch_weirdness.pdf." (The rectangles in the picture are switches.) Eventually (after nearly an entire day of debate) we figured out that one of us had made an error. Who was it, and what was their mistake?
Hint: I'm used to dealing with switches, whereas my friend is used to dealing with hubs, which are purely mechanical.
These wiki pages might be helpful:
  due Fri Sep 29

Assignment 3

Given what we know so far, do you believe their claims? Furthermore, take a moment to think about this from a security perspective, specifically the "FNapps." We'll come back to this later in the semester once we know more. Your response shouldn't be much more than a page, but no less than two (full) paragraphs.
  due Fri Sep 22

Assignment 2

  due Fri Sep 15

Assignment 1

http://cs.marlboro.edu/ courses/ fall2006/networking/ special/assignments
last modified Wednesday January 28 2009 12:48 pm EST