CS161 Spring 2026 | Computer Security at UC Berkeley

CS161 Spring 2026 | Computer Security at UC Berkeley
CS161 Spring 2026
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CS161 Spring 2026
Instructors
: Henry Corrigan-Gibbs, Raluca Ada Popa /
Lecture
: MWF, 3:00–4:00 PM,
Wheeler 150
Zoom
Playlist
Course Calendar
Skip to current week
Wk.
Date
Lecture
Discussion
HW
Project
Wed
Jan 21
1. Introduction and Security Principles
Slides
Recording
Ch. 1
0. 61C Review
Discussion:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
HW1
(due Fri Jan 30)
Project 1 Checkpoint
(due Fri Feb 06)
Fri
Jan 23
2. x86 Assembly and Call Stack
Slides
Recording
Ch. 2
x86/GDB Cheat Sheet
Mon
Jan 26
3. Memory Safety Vulnerabilities
Slides
Recording
Ch. 3
1. Security Principles and x86
Discussion:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Exam Prep:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Bridge:
Slides
Wed
Jan 28
4. Memory Safety Vulnerabilities II
Slides
Video
Recording
Fri
Jan 30
5. Mitigating Memory Safety Vulnerabilities
Slides
Recording
Ch. 4
Mon
Feb 02
6. Intro to Cryptography
Slides
Recording
Ch. 5
2. Memory Safety
Discussion:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Exam Prep:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Bridge:
Slides
HW2
(due Fri Feb 13)
Wed
Feb 04
7. Pseudorandom Functions and Block Ciphers
Slides
Recording
Ch. 6
Ch. 9
Fri
Feb 06
8. Block Cipher Modes of Operation
Slides
Recording
Ch. 6
Mon
Feb 09
9. Collision-resistant Hash Functions
Slides
Recording
Ch. 7
3. Memory Safety Mitigations
Discussion:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Exam Prep:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Bridge:
Slides
Project 1
(due Fri Feb 13)
Wed
Feb 11
10. Message Authentication Codes
Slides
Recording
Ch. 8
Fri
Feb 13
11. Authenticated Encryption
Slides
Recording
Mon
Feb 16
No Lecture (Presidents’ Day)
4. Symmetric Cryptography
Discussion:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Exam Prep:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Bridge:
Slides
HW3
(due Fri Feb 27)
Project 2 Spec Quiz
(due Fri Feb 20)
Wed
Feb 18
12. Key Exchange and Diffie-Hellman
Slides
Recording
Ch. 10
Fri
Feb 20
13. Public-key Encryption
Slides
Recording
Ch. 11
Mon
Feb 23
14. Digital Signatures
Slides
Recording
Ch. 12
5. Integrity and Authenticity
Discussion:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Exam Prep:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Bridge:
Slides
Project 2 Design Checkpoint
(due Fri Feb 27)
Wed
Feb 25
15. Randomness and Crypto Implementation Bugs
Slides
Fri
Feb 27
16. Introduction to Web
Slides
Ch. 18
Ch. 19
Ch. 20
Mon
Mar 02
17. Cookies and CSRF
Slides
Ch. 20
Ch. 21
6. Asymmetric Cryptography
Discussion:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Exam Prep:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Bridge:
Slides
HW4
(due Fri Mar 06)
Project 2 Testing Checkpoint
(due Fri Mar 20)
Wed
Mar 04
18. Certificates, Passwords, and Case Studies
Slides
Ch. 13
Ch. 14
Fri
Mar 06
19. XSS
Slides
Ch. 22
Mon
Mar 09
20. UI Attacks
Slides
23
7. Cookies and CSRF
Discussion:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Exam Prep:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Bridge:
Slides
HW5
(due Fri Mar 20)
Wed
Mar 11
Thu
Mar 12
Midterm (7-9PM)
Fri
Mar 13
21. SQL Injection and CAPTCHAs
Slides
Ch. 17
Ch. 24
Mon
Mar 16
22. iPhone Security
Slides
8. SQL Injection and XSS
Discussion:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Exam Prep:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Bridge:
Slides
Wed
Mar 18
23. Intro to Networking I
Slides
Ch. 25
Fri
Mar 20
24. Intro to Networking II
Slides
10
Mon
Mar 23
No Lecture (Spring Recess)
No Discussion (Spring Recess)
HW6
(due Fri Apr 10)
Project 2
(due Wed Apr 01)
Wed
Mar 25
Fri
Mar 27
11
Mon
Mar 30
25. Local-Area Networking and Attacks
Slides
Ch. 26
Ch. 27
Ch. 28
Ch. 29
9. ARP, DHCP, WPA
Discussion:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Exam Prep:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Bridge:
Slides
Wed
Apr 01
26. Internet Protocols
Slides
Ch. 30
Project 3
(due Fri Apr 10)
Fri
Apr 03
27. DNS
Slides
Ch. 32
12
Mon
Apr 06
28. Case study: Mirai Botnet
Slides
10. TCP and TLS
Discussion:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Exam Prep:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Bridge:
Slides
Wed
Apr 08
29. TLS I
Slides
Ch. 31
Fri
Apr 10
30. TLS II
Slides
13
Mon
Apr 13
31. Encrypted Messaging: Signal, WhatsApp, etc.
Slides
11. DNS
Discussion:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Exam Prep:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Bridge:
Slides
HW7
(due Fri Apr 24)
Wed
Apr 15
32. Metadata-hiding communication systems (mix nets, Tor, etc.)
Slides
Fri
Apr 17
33. Intrusion Detection
Slides
Ch. 36
14
Mon
Apr 20
34. AI Security
Slides
12. Intrusion Detection
Discussion:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Exam Prep:
Worksheet
Solutions
Video
Slides
Bridge:
Slides
Wed
Apr 22
Fri
Apr 24
15
Mon
Apr 27
35. AI Security
13. AI Security
Discussion:
Slides
Exam Prep:
Slides
Bridge:
Slides
Wed
Apr 29
Fri
May 01
36. iPhone Security
16
Mon
May 04
No Lecture (RRR Week)
Topical Review Sessions (RRR Week)
Wed
May 06
Fri
May 08
17
Wed
May 13
Final Exam (7–10PM)