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CS5553 (Wireless Networks and Security)
July – November 2025 · Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Hyderabad
Wi-Fi from the 802.11 MAC upwards, the security machinery that protects it, and then 5G: architecture and 5G security. Hands-on work throughout with Wireshark traces and WPA2 audit tooling, followed by a term project. Lectures in this offering were not recorded.
Course details
- Course code: CS5553
- Semester: July 2025 (Monsoon)
- Level: postgraduate elective
- Credits: 3
Texts and reference material
- IEEE 802.11-2020 standard
- 802.11 tutorials (UC Berkeley and others)
- Nokia, comparison of 4G and 5G authentication methods
Evaluation
- Four assignments and one home assignment, all hands-on
- Weekly in-class quizzes
- Term project with mid-term and final reviews
Lecture plan
Eight lecture blocks, each spanning several class hours. Decks are listed in the order they were built up during the semester.
| # | Topic | Slides | Reading material | Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L0 | Course structure | L0 course structure | — | not recorded |
| L1 | Introduction to wireless networks | L1-A · L1 | — | not recorded |
| L2 | Wi-Fi: 802.11 architecture and MAC | L2-A · L2-B · L2-CD · L2 full | IEEE 802.11-2020 standard · 802.11 tutorial (UC Berkeley) · 802.11 clause 9.2.4.1 with Wireshark filters | not recorded |
| L3 | Network security concepts | L3 concepts | — | not recorded |
| L4 | Cryptography principles | L4 cryptography | — | not recorded |
| L5 | Public key infrastructure | L5 PKI | — | not recorded |
| L6 | Transport Layer Security | L6 TLS | — | not recorded |
| L7 | Wi-Fi security: WEP to WPA3, EAP and enterprise Wi-Fi | L7-A · L7-B · L7 full | Traces: WPA EAP-TLS · WPA PEAP on campus | not recorded |
| L8 | 5G: introduction, architecture and security | L8-A 5G intro · L8-B 5G arch · L8-D 5G security | Nokia, comparison of 4G and 5G authentication methods · A formal analysis of 5G authentication | not recorded |
Slide links open in Google Drive. Reading material without a link is third-party work — the title is given so you can find it at its publisher.
Assignments, tutorials and project
Handouts and submissions were managed in Google Classroom; titles are listed here for reference.
- Assignment 1: Packet capture and analysis using Wireshark
- Assignment 2: Wi-Fi trace analysis using Wireshark
- Home assignment 1: Website impersonation attacks
- Assignment 3: TLS trace analysis using Wireshark
- Tutorial 4: Cracking WPA
- Assignment 4: WPA2 security analysis and audit tooling
- Term project: problem statement, mid-term status, final report and presentation. Templates: report, presentation, mid-term presentation, final presentation