This course consists of a networking and a security part. The networking part introduces the basics of networking with the TCP/IP protocol stack in networks with switches and routers and familiarises students with the fundamental concepts that underpin it: layered communication, encapsulation and packet forwarding based on address. It also introduces students to network partitioning and topology. The security part introduces various aspects of encryption to secure communication between parties. It familiarises students with the fundamentals of classic cryptography, and how confidentiality and integrity are realised in shared-key and public-key cryptosystems.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

1. Identify and describe the layers and their purpose in a standard communication system.
2. Work with IP version 4 addresses and netmasks in a context of subnetting and IP datagram forwarding.
3. Analyse and construct TCP/IP networks with switches and routers.
4. Describe and explain the concept of encapsulation in layered communication.
5. Describe and explain the operation of ARP and DHCP.
6. Identify and analyse classic encrypted communication.
7. Critically evaluate shared-key cryptosystems
8. Critically evaluate public-key cryptosystems
9. Explain how various concepts in digital security come together to form the transport layer security protocol.
10. Critically evaluate the trade-off between performance and security