Software Security

Hello and welcome to 18-732, Secure Software Systems. Although the first lecture isn't until next Wednesday, September 9th, we have your first assignment. This assignment is done by the entire class as a collective. The assignment is described below.

Assignment Purpose: Set up groups for the course and give everyone in the class a little extra (and by extra, I really do mean not given by default) if they can work together. This assignment may challenge your organizational and leadership skills. It's also intended to start people within the class communicating.

1. Task 1: In this class you will be working on a semester-long project in groups of 2-3 members. Your first task is to split up into groups before start of lecture on September 9th. Each student taking the class for a grade or pass/fail should belong to a group. Every group should have a name (Team Awesome, Team Assignment 1 Sucks, etc.).
2. Task 2: choose how I should grade this. There are two options. Option Alpha is everyone will receive an extra 15 extra credit points (approx 2% of total expected points). Option Beta is everyone will get an extra 24 hours of late time for turning in assignments (by default everyone gets 48 hours of late days spendable in 24-hour increments).

Challenge: You may *not* ask TA's or the instructor for help finding groups. (The assignment is to come up with a way to do it yourself.) You can not ask the TA or instructor to help resolve any conflicts when deciding which option to take as a class. In addition, everyone is in the same boat: everyone must follow the rules and be on the final list for anyone to get the elected extra credit or extra late time. As a class, you can elect to ask up to 3 clarification questions if something is non-obvious (we will get back to you within 24 hours). The questions can be asked by emailing the instructor directly by an appointed representative. Note if random people email the instructor, the entire class may go over the 3 question limit and miss out on the extra.

We have set up a discussion board on blackboard to help you with the discussions. You can use other mediums of communication if you choose (e.g., facebook, the inter-tubes, carrier pigeons, etc.).

Grading and Due Date: On the first lecture, a representative should hand to the instructor a list of group names with the corresponding group members, and whether the class elected Alpha or Beta above. Note there is likely to be at least some disagreement....that is part of working with other people.

Everyone who is taking the class for a grade or pass/fail must be accounted for in the group list for anyone to receive credit. In addition, no more than 3 clarification questions may have been asked by members of the class. Finally, the class must list which option they elect to take as a class (there will be no per-individual or per-group options...it is a global decision). If these criteria are met, the class will be given as a reward with the option Alpha or Beta they chose.

Note: Have Fun. Get to know everyone else. This is just a little extra to get things rolling.