CS161 Summer 2026
Instructors: Justin Yokota, Peyrin Kao / Lecture: MTuWTh, 12:30–2:00 PM, Hearst Field Annex A1 [Zoom, Playlist]
Announcements
Check Ed for Announcements!
- CS 161 does not use the website to host announcements!
- Check out the EdStem to read the weekly announcements, post questions, and discuss content with your peers.
Course Calendar
| Wk. | Date | Lecture | Discussion | Project |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Mon Jun 22 | 1. Introduction and Security Principles Slides / Ch. 1 |
0. 61C Review Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides |
Project 1 Checkpoint
(due Wed Jul 01) |
|
Tue Jun 23 | 2. x86 Slides / Ch. 2 / x86/GDB Cheat Sheet |
|||
|
Wed Jun 24 | 3. Memory Safety Vulnerabilites I Slides / Ch. 3 |
1. Security Principles and x86 Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Video / Slides |
||
|
Thu Jun 25 | 4. Memory Safety Vulnerabilities II Slides / Ch. 3 |
|||
| 2 |
Mon Jun 29 | 5. Mitigating Memory Safety Vulnerabilities I Slides / Ch. 4 |
2. Memory Safety Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Slides |
|
|
Tue Jun 30 | 6. Memory Safety Buffer Slides |
|||
|
Wed Jul 01 | 7. SQL Injection and XSS Slides / Ch. 17 / Ch. 22 |
3. Memory Safety Mitigations and Injection Attacks Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Slides |
Project 1
(due Wed Jul 08) |
|
|
Thu Jul 02 | 8. Passwords and CSRF Slides / Ch. 14 / Ch. 21 |
|||
| 3 |
Mon Jul 06 | 9. Cryptographic Hashes Slides / Ch. 7 |
4. Cookies Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Slides |
|
|
Tue Jul 07 | 10. MACs Slides / Ch. 8 |
|||
|
Wed Jul 08 | 11. Signatures Slides / Ch. 12 |
5. Hash, MACs, Sigs Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Slides |
Project 2 Spec Quiz
(due Fri Jul 10) |
|
|
Thu Jul 09 | 12. Public-Key Infrastructure Slides / Ch. 13 |
|||
| 4 |
Mon Jul 13 | Midterm 5-7 PM [No Lecture] |
Project 2 Design Checkpoint
(due Fri Jul 17) |
|
|
Tue Jul 14 | 13. Symmetric-Key Encryption Slides / Ch. 6 |
|||
|
Wed Jul 15 | 14. Authenticated Encryption Slides |
6. Symmetric Cryptography Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Slides |
||
|
Thu Jul 16 | 15. Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange, Public-Key Encryption Slides |
|||
| 5 |
Mon Jul 20 | 16. Low-Level Network Attacks Slides |
7. Public Key Encryption and Key Exchange Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Slides |
Project 2 Testing Checkpoint
(due Fri Jul 24) |
|
Tue Jul 21 | 17. TLS Slides |
|||
|
Wed Jul 22 | 18. What TLS doesn't solve: DoS, Tor Slides |
8. Networking Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Slides |
||
|
Thu Jul 23 | 19. Randomness, Crypto Implementation Bugs Slides |
|||
| 6 |
Mon Jul 27 | 20. Isolation I: What to Isolate Slides |
9. DoS and Tor Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Slides |
Project 2
(due Fri Jul 31) |
|
Tue Jul 28 | 21. Isolation II: How to Isolate Slides |
|||
|
Wed Jul 29 | 22. Isolation III: Access Control Slides |
10. Isolation Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Slides |
||
|
Thu Jul 30 | 23. Software Supply-Chain Attacks Slides |
|||
| 7 |
Mon Aug 03 | 24. Hardware Attacks Slides |
11. Access Control Discussion: Worksheet / Slides |
Project 3
(due Wed Aug 12) |
|
Tue Aug 04 | 25. LLMs, Summary Slides |
|||
|
Wed Aug 05 | 26. No Lecture | 12. Hardware Security Discussion: Worksheet / Slides |
||
|
Thu Aug 06 | 27. No Lecture | |||
| 8 |
Mon Aug 10 | 28. [Optional] Case Study: Signal | No Discussion | |
|
Tue Aug 11 | 29. [Optional] Case Study: iPhone Security | |||
|
Wed Aug 12 | 30. No Lecture | No Discussion | ||
|
Thu Aug 13 | Final Exam |
|||