Reading Schedule

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Reading schedule

August 31: The Logic of Terrorism

Modern terrorism has been with us since the 1870s. What can history teach us about the strategy, tactics, and limits of terrorism?

  • Steve Maurer, UC Berkeley: What Can History Teach Us?

Readings:

  • Walter Laqueur, No End to War: Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century (2004) (text; Amazon.com). Please read this text in three segments, concluding 9/21.


September 7: Terrorism as Warfare

Historically, nation states were the only entities that could credibly make war. Have new technologies and the vulnerabilities of modern life changed the rules?

  • Steve Maurer, UC Berkeley: Can Terrorism Challenge the Nation State?

Readings:

  • Walter Laqueur, No End to War: Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century (2004) (text; Amazon.com). Please read this text in three segments, concluding 9/21.


September 13 (Tuesday): The Al Qaida Threat

Can US foreign policy discourage rogue nations from putting WMD into the hands of terrorists?

  • Michael Nacht, UC Berkeley: Post 9/11 Diplomacy: The Bush Doctrine, Rogue Nations, and US Non-Proliferation Policy

Readings:


September 21: Technology Policy and the War on Terror

Can new technologies improve current trade-offs between civil liberties and security? How do homeland security experts use Threat, Vulnerability, and Consequence (TVC) models to identify and protect society’s most critical assets?

  • Don Prosnitz, LLNL: Security and Civil Liberties: Can Technology Improve the Balance?
  • Steve Maurer, UC Berkeley: The Bioshield Dilemma: Developing New Technologies at an Affordable Price
  • Eric Norman, LLNL: Cargo screening technologies

Readings:


September 28: Profiling the Terrorist Adversary

What are the motives and capabilities of current terrorist groups? How likely are they to use WMD or attack the nation’s cyber-infrastructure?

  • Gary Ackerman & Jeffrey Bale, Monterey Institute: Profiling the Terrorist Adversary

Readings:


October 5: Computer Security Primer

Comprehensive introduction to basic computer security principles, mechanisms, and approaches. Essentially, the highlights of an undergraduate computer security course, reduced to 3 hours.

  • Geoff Voelker, UCSD

Readings:


October 12: Cyber Security In-The-Large

Using information technology to attack – or to amplify attacks on – various elements of the nation’s critical infrastructure.

  • Ed Lazowska, UW: Assessing Cyber-Vulnerabilities: PITAC and Beyond
  • Phil Venables, CISO, Goldman Sachs: The Resilient Enterprise: Convergence of Security, Compliance, Redundancy and Risky
  • Kirk Bailey, ex-CISO, City of Seattle: Cyber-attacks and cyber-defense in the City of Seattle

Readings:

October 19: Nuclear, Radiological & Chemical Weapons

The physics and technology of WMD.

  • Richard A. Muller, UC Berkeley and LBNL: The Physics of WMD
  • Christine Hartmann-Siantar, LLNL: Radiation and Human Health
  • Steve Maurer, UC Berkeley: Nuclear Fear

Readings:

R. Muller, "Chain Reactions, Nuclear Reactors, and Atomic Bombs," http://muller.lbl.gov/teaching/Physics10/chapters_Jan_2005/Chapter05.pdf

R. Muller, "The Dirty Bomb Distraction," http://muller.lbl.gov/TRessays/29-Dirty_Bombs.htm

R. Muller, "Crop Duster Terrorism," http://muller.lbl.gov/TRessays/02_Cropduster_Terrorism.htm

R. Muller, "Al Qaeda's Anthrax, http://muller.lbl.gov/TRessays/03_Al_Qaeda_Anthrax.htm

October 26: Biological Weapons; Remediation and Recovery Technologies

The biological weapons threat: today and tomorrow. Recovering from WMD attacks.

  • J. Patrick Fitch, LLNL: Biological Weapons and Detection Technologies
  • J. Keasling, UC Berkeley: Synthetic Biology and Tomorrow’s Bioweapons
  • Tina Carlson, LLNL: Remediation
  • Christine Hartmann-Siantar, LLNL: Recovery Technologies

Readings:

November 2: WMD Defenses

Technology and Policy Options for Early Detection of WMD.

  • Michael Nacht & B. Perez, UC Berkeley: Port Security.

Readings:

  • Online Paper


November 9: Large-Scale Internet Criminal Activity

Internet crime. Denial of service, extortion, phishing, botnet reselling, spam, spyware, etc.

  • Dave Aucsmith, Senior Director, Institute for Advanced Technology in Governments, Microsoft Corp.
  • Steve Gribble, UW: Spyware

Readings:


November 16: Incentives to Exploit and Protect

What do we know about the Internet’s vulnerabilities? History of past exploits, worms, viruses. What could a determined, well-funded adversary accomplish?

  • Hal Varian, Berkeley: incentive-based strategies for enhancing cyber security
  • Stefan Savage, UCSD: Internet outbreaks: Epidemiology and Defenses
  • Vern Paxson, ICIR and LBNL: Network intrusion detection systems

Readings:

November 23: Cyber-defenses

Host-based, network-based, software engineering with security goals

  • Mark Pustilnik, Microsoft, Eliminating security vulnerabilities from commercial software.
  • Josh Lackey, Microsoft (ex-IBM), Ethical hacking: Using white-hat cyber-attacks to improve security.
  • Eric Rescorla, consultant, Does it make sense to discover/publicize vulnerabilities?

Readings:

November 30: Intelligence and Interrogation

How can IT improve US intelligence capabilities?

  • (TBD)
  • Steve Maurer: Databases and Intelligence
  • S. Scotchmer: Do Terrorism Futures Make Sense?

Readings:

December 7: Cyberforensics

What constitutes evidence for computer exploitation crimes, how is it gathered, etc.

  • Possible: Butler Lampson
  • Possible: FBI

Readings: