Course Syllabus

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Future of Cybersecurity Workshop (Fall 2021)
LAW 276.12 sec. 001  CCN 32500 (1 credit---thanks ABA!)

aka

Future of Cybersecurity Reading Group (FCRG)
INFO 290 lec. 003 CCN 17329 (2 credits)

First class is Thursday, August 26th
Th 11:20A--12:45P
South Hall 205
Please note, we start at 11:20, not "Berkeley Time"

Office Hours: W 9-10:30
Berkeley Law 341 & in Zoom Room

Walking office hour: Th 3:35-4:30 (Meet at Holmes quote at west entrance to law school)
Featuring T. rex, Smilodon, & Pseudo Lucy

Instructor: Chris Jay Hoofnagle, Professor of Law In Residence

We will discuss cybersecurity policy among a group of graduate, professional, and undergraduate students. In Fall 2021, we will focus on two-three topics:

  • cybersecurity and the challenge of disinformation (Rid)
  • cybersecurity and predictive surveillance technologies (Brayne)
  • if time permits, cyberconflict (new book by Arquilla)

If there is time, we will focus on Hoofnagle's new book with Simson Garfinkel, Law and Policy for the Quantum Age.

This course is open to law students, graduate students, and undergraduates (with permission). Undergraduates should be prepared to read and engage at a level commensurate with your graduate school peers--there's no "back benching" this seminar.

 

Course Schedule

WK Date (Thursdays) Discussion Leader Reading
1 26-Aug Chris Hoofnagle Rid, 1-57 (Ch 1-3)
2 2-Sep BM, RF Rid, 61-100 (Ch 4-7)
3 9-Sep NK, JY Rid, 101-141 (Ch 8-10). Featuring special guest Professor Andrew Reddie!
4 16-Sep ZA, SL Brayne, 1-36 (Ch 1-2)
5 23-Sep MD, CP Rid, 145-193 (Ch 11-13)
6 30-Sep TK, DY Brayne, 37-73 (Ch 3-4)
7 7-Oct YG, ML Rid, 252-254 (MailGram incident), 255-297 (Ch 18-21) (We are going to skip chapters 14-17)
8 14-Oct KF, PN Brayne, 74-117 (Ch 5-6)
9 21-Oct DG (Rid), IH & JG (Brayne) Rid, 298-326 (Ch 22-23); Brayne 118-148 (Ch 7-end) (last day law students)
10 28-Oct HH, ZL Rid, 329-374 (Ch 24-27)
11 4-Nov SJ Rid, 377-436 (Ch 28-end)
H 11-Nov Holiday No class; Veterans Day
12 18-Nov RL & NS Draft chapter from Pell: ETHICS IN TECH DESIGN AND (CYBER)SECURITY
13 2-Dec Special Guest: Bill Marczak Citizen Lab, Devices of Palestinian Human Rights Defenders Hacked with NSO Group’s Pegasus Spyware, Nov. 2021; Bill Marczak and John Scott-Railton, Keep Calm and (Don’t) Enable Macros
A New Threat Actor Targets UAE Dissidents, May 29, 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assessment

Students are expected to participate in weekly discussions, lead class discussions (50%) twice, and write two response pieces (3-4 pages) to be circulated in advance of class (50%). (Response writers will also serve as discussion leaders.) We will circulate a sign up sheet for discussion leadership/response writing duties; you will circulate your response piece in advance of class on the Piazza discussion board.

We have a pedagogical purpose in using student discussion leaders--the purpose is to give you a challenging speaking assignment. The ability to run a structured discussion is an invaluable skill, but it only develops from practice. FCRG is a friendly atmosphere to learn this skill.

When you are assigned to write a response, get in touch with your other discussion leaders (if 2 or more are assigned that week). You are free to self-organize and write a joint response piece. We also encourage you to participate in office hours the week of your discussion leadership.

Please use this template for your reading responses. Your reading response is due 24 hours before class--Wednesdays around Noon. Please post your response as a discussion in Piazza. Use the week assigned to your topic.

For your response pieces, it is important to not simply recount the reading. Assume that everyone has read carefully. Your response piece should follow at least one of the following strategies:

  • You could analyze a major theme or problem in the readings and tie it to challenges in cybersecurity generally, or to larger theoretical frameworks used in cybersecurity.
  • You could show the linkages among multiple themes/readings in the course.
  • You could analyze the arguments raised in the reading by assessing strengths, the merits of counterarguments, and of course by identifying the implicit/explicit assumptions that underly the argument. 

The best response pieces integrate themes of the course, raise high-level discussion questions, and/or present original arguments and the limitations of those arguments. It's a good idea to identify specific themes that you would like to develop in conversation. Pay attention to the footnotes--you might find context and color from extrinsic sources.

This term we will be using Piazza for class discussion: https://piazza.com/berkeley/fall2021/law276info290lec003/home  The system is highly catered to getting you help fast and efficiently from classmates and instructors. If you have any problems or feedback for the developers, email team@piazza.com.

APM-015 Part II statement

This course will deal with material concerning current events and exploration of government actions and their possible consequences. Class discussion will feature such material.

BCLT Certificate

Law students: Hoofnagle & Urban's courses count toward's BCLT's certificate program.

Course Materials

Please purchase:

Brayne's book is available free here if you use the UCB VPN. 

If time permits, let's read John Arquilla's new book, Bitskrieg: The New Challenge of Cyberwarfare (Aug. 2021).

Sometimes readings are behind paywalls. In order to get the readings at no cost, you will have to use the Berkeley Library VPN or the Library Proxy. These tools enable you to obtain all UCB-subscribed journals and books from your home computer. If you have problems, see your helpdesk. 

Learning More About Cybersecurity

Be sure to check out cybears

Tech Cred

If you are feeling at sea with cybersecurity or hacking techniques, you might explore the relevant courses on lynda.com. UCB has a site license, so you can watch as many as you'd like :) For instance:

The quality of these videos vary, but some are excellent.

To log in, you need to use this link and your calnet: https://hr.berkeley.edu/development/learning/online-learning 

School-Wide Policies and Resources

  • A “credit hour” at Berkeley Law is an amount of work that reasonably approximates three to four hours of work per week for 15 weeks, including: (a) classroom time; (b) time spent preparing for class; (c) time spent studying for, and taking, final exams; (d) time spent researching, writing, and revising papers and other written work; and (e) time spent preparing for and completing any other final project, presentation, or performance. For the purposes of these calculations, 50 minutes of classroom instruction counts as one hour, and the 15 weeks includes the exam period. You can expect to spend this amount of time per unit per week on in-class and out-of-class, course-related work.
  • Students who need classroom accommodations or want to discuss implementation of their accommodations in these courses are advised to contact Kyle Valenti, Senior Director of Student Services (kvalenti@law.berkeley.edu) or Kyle Kate Dudley, Assistant Director of Student Services, Accessible Education (kylekatedudley@law.berkeley.edu) as soon as possible.
  • The Academic Honor Code governs the conduct of all students during examinations and in all other academic and pre-professional activities at Berkeley Law. We expect students to adhere to this code scrupulously. If you have any question about whether your conduct may violate the code, please contact your professor or the Dean of Students before you act. You may face severe consequences, including a failing grade in this class or removal from the program, and the Bar will receive notification of your conduct.
  • If you are in need of economic, food, or housing support, you can find help at basicneeds.berkeley.edu. You may be eligible for money to buy groceries via calfresh.berkeley.edu or our Food Assistance Program. If you are in need of food immediately, please visit our UC Berkeley Food Pantry at pantry.berkeley.edu.
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Resources: If you have further questions or concerns about reporting behavior related to sexual harassment, sexual violence, and/or protected category discrimination, please contact the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (OPHD) by phone 510-643-7985 or email ask_ophd@berkeley.edu.

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Course Summary:

Date Details Due