Network Security

Module

Network Security (IN2101)

Lecturers

WS

4 (3+1)

ECTS Credits

5.0

Contact

netsec@net.in.tum.de (Use this e-mail address for all inquiries regarding the lecture!)

Language

English

Curriculum

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to network security, covering fundamental security concepts, common network attacks, and key defense mechanisms. The course includes a brief refresher on essential cryptographic concepts, which are subsequently applied to the construction of secure communication, authentication, and key management protocols. The course also examines real-world security systems and protocols, privacy considerations, and emerging topics such as threshold cryptography and post-quantum security.

  • Introduction to Network Security (relevant security goals, attacker models, etc.)
  • Attacks on TCP
  • Firewalls (static and dynamic) and other middleboxes (e.g., Intrusion Detection Systems)
  • Refresher on cryptographic primitives (symmetric/asymmetric cryptography, randomness, hash functions, etc.)
  • Construction of Message Authentication Codes (MACs)
  • Construction of Secure Channels
  • Construction of Authentication and Key Exchange Protocols
  • Public Key Infrastructures (PKIs) and related mechanisms (e.g., Certificate Transparency)
  • Real-world protocols such as IPsec, Kerberos
  • Privacy
  • Outlook on advanced topics such as Threshold Signature Systems and Post-Quantum Cryptography

Lectures, Hacking Challenges, and Exercises

Lecture

Lectures take place on Mondays from 12:15 - 13:45 and on Tuesdays from 14:15 - 15:45 in Hörsaal 2 of the Interimsgebäudes 1 (5620.01.102). The introductory lecture is on Monday, 19.10.2026.

Hacking Challenges and Exercises

Our lecture is accompanied by theoretical exercises and practical hacking challenges.

Exercise sheets are intended to deepen and supplement your understanding of the material discussed in the lectures. Exercise sheets will be handed out every one or two weeks and should be worked on as homework — preferably in teams. The exercise solutions will be discussed two weeks after their release in a central group exercise, which is part of a regular lecture slot. We strongly recommend that you actively work on the exercises and discuss your solutions with us. In addition to deepening the lecture material, the exercises also serve as good examples of exam questions.

Additional practical skills and a grade bonus can be acquired through the hacking challenges. You are supposed to attack and outsmart network services or security components specially prepared by us. For this purpose, Python or Bash scripts must be written. If your hack is successful, you will receive a personalised token as a prize, which you can upload to a designated website together with the script you have written. After checking your script, you will receive points and be ranked on a leaderboard. The highest-ranked student(s) will receive a "Best Hacker of the Year Award". In addition to fame and glory, your points also serve as a grade bonus for the end-term or retake exam.

For the hacking challenges, we recommend that students already be familiar with Python 3 (recommended reading: Python 3 Tutorial).

We will explain our exercise mode in greater detail in the introductory lecture on 19.10.2026.

Hybrid Teaching

RBG Live: We hold lectures and the central exercises on-site and provide a live stream and recordings ("video on demand") using RBG Live. We recommend that students who want to actively ask questions, discuss with us, etc. follow the lectures/central exercises on-site. You will find the streaming/recording URL in the lecture's Moodle course (see below).

Course discussion forum: Explaining material yourself is one of the best ways to check whether you have understood a topic, so we want to encourage students to ask and answer questions about lectures/exercises in the dedicated "Course Discussion" forum on Moodle. We will moderate the threads to ensure that the given answers are correct and provide answers if there are none.

Moodle Course

We publish lecture slides, exercise sheets, hacking challenges, links to RBG Live, news, and announcements in our Moodle course. The URL is https://www.moodle.tum.de/course/view.php?id=121492.

Registration

Registration for the lecture is open from 12.08.26 - 08.01.27 in TUM Campus. You must be registered to the lecture to access the course materials on Moodle.

End-term and Retake Examination

There will be an end-term examination at the end of the lecture period (February) and a retake examination at the end of the lecture-free period (April). It is possible to take the retake examination as your first exam.

For both exams, the following conditions apply:

  • Written exam, on-site
  • 75 minutes
  • Allowed tools: an analog English <-> Other Language dictionary without annotations

We will announce the examination date/time and location on Moodle as soon as they are available.

Further Information