6.857: Computer and Network Security (Spring 2014)

Announcements

Monday, March 12

There is NO LECTURE on Monday. The 5/12 lecture will be replaced by an expectation that you will see the Deroutzos lecture by Shafi Goldwasser or see the video for the same talk she gave at the Simons Institute at Berkeley. So, no need to show up on Monday 5/12 to class.

Wednesday, February 29

MIT Cryptography and Information Security Seminar

The CIS Seminar at MIT CSAIL hosts talks and conducts discussions on cryptography and information security. The seminar is sponsored by the Cryptography and Information Security Group of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL).

When: 10-11:30 on Fridays

Where: 32-G449

To subscribe to the mailing list, attend the reading group, etc, please visit the website at http://groups.csail.mit.edu/cis/cis-talks.html or email hjones01 at csail.mit.edu for more information.

MIT CSAIL Security Seminar

The Security Seminar/Discussion Group at MIT CSAIL hosts talks and conducts discussions on systems security, cryptography with potential for applications, or other areas related to security. Members come from a variety of groups within systems and cryptography, both from MIT and nearby institutions.

When: 4pm on Wednesdays

Where: MIT Stata Center

To subscribe to the mailing list, attend the reading group, etc, please visit the website at http://nms.csail.mit.edu/sys-security/ or email frankw at mit.edu for more information.

Monday, February 10

The first problem set has been posted on the handouts page, and is due Monday, February 24.

Thursday, February 6

There will be NO recitation this week on Friday 2/7. The first 6.857 recitation will be on Friday 2/14. See you in class!

Wednesday, February 5

The MIT Bitcoin Club presents:
WHAT IS BITCOIN? And Why Should I Care?
Featuring Jeremy Allaire, Founder and CEO of Circle Internet Financial

Date:     Tuesday, February 11
Location:  Maclaurin (4-370) - http://whereis.mit.edu/?go=4
Time:    6:30pm - Food and discussion
      7:00pm - Presentation and Q&A

Bitcoin is the world's first decentralized peer-to-peer digital currency and payment network. It has been described as "The Internet of Money" and breakthrough in computer science, but is primarily known for its price volatility and use for illicit purposes, such as in the notorious online black market, Silk Road. This event, organized by the MIT Bitcoin Club, will provide an overview of what bitcoin is and why it is so revolutionary, while addressing common questions and misconceptions often raised by mainstream media coverage.

The event will feature a presentation and Q&A with Jeremy Allaire, the Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Circle Internet Financial, who will provide an overview of what bitcoin is and why it is so revolutionary, while addressing common questions and misconceptions often raised by mainstream media coverage.

Circle is a Boston-based company that has raised over $9M from leading investors, including Jim Breyer, Accel Partners, and General Catalyst, to build a suite of online products for end-users, businesses and charities aimed at enabling greater ease-of-use in digital payments. Prior to his latest venture, Allaire was Founder and CEO of Brightcove, CTO of Macromedia, and creator of ColdFusion.

This event is generously sponsored by Circle Internet Financial.

Please register in advance at http://bitcoin101.eventbrite.com.

Stay up to date on bitcoin news and events via the MIT Bitcoin Club mailing list at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/mitbtc.

NSA Surveillance and What To Do About It
Speaker: Bruce Schneier

Host: MIT Big Data Initiative at CSAIL
Host Affiliation: MIT CSAIL

Date: Thursday, February 06, 2014
Time: 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Refreshments Time: 4:45 PM
Location: 32-123

ABSTRACT:
Edward Snowden has given us an unprecedented window into the NSA's surveillance activities. Drawing from both the Snowden documents and revelations from previous whistleblowers, this talk describes the sorts of surveillance the NSA conducts and how it conducts it. The emphasis will be on the technical capabilities of the NSA, and not the politics or legality of their actions. I will then discuss what sorts of countermeasures are likely to frustrate any nation-state adversary with these sorts of capabilities. These will be techniques to raise the cost of wholesale surveillance in favor of targeted surveillance: ubiquitous encryption, target dispersal, anonymity tools, and so on.

BIO:
Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist, called a "security guru" by The Economist. He is the author of 12 books -- including Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust Society Needs to Survive -- as well as hundreds of articles, essays, and academic papers. His influential newsletter "Crypto-Gram" and blog "Schneier on Security" are read by over 250,000 people. Schneier is a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, a program fellow at the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute, a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and an Advisory Board member of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. He is also the Chief Technology Officer of Co3 Systems, Inc.

Relevant URL: http://bigdata.csail.mit.edu For more information please contact: Susana Kevorkova, 617-324-8424, skevorkova@csail.mit.edu