Modular Curriculum for Embedded Systems Security

佛罗里达海湾海岸大学的这个项目的目标是提高计算机科学和软件工程嵌入式系统的教学质量。嵌入式系统在我们的日常生活中无处不在，例如微波炉、车库门打开器、汽车、手机和销售点信用卡交易等等。然而，嵌入式技术的爆炸性增长并没有伴随着大量的教育活动，特别是在嵌入式系统安全领域。嵌入式系统的安全问题与传统企业系统和桌面计算的安全问题有本质的不同。首先，嵌入式系统是高度分布式的，基本上无人值守，这使得它们很容易受到攻击；其次，嵌入式应用程序涉及到传感器和执行器的使用，这些传感器和执行器本身是计算机化的，因此如果保护不当，就会出现安全漏洞。潜在威胁的多样性使得很难提供一般对策来保护嵌入式设备，从而教授保护技术。佛罗里达海湾海岸大学的嵌入式系统课程包括嵌入式系统编程、数据采集与控制、计算机网络编程和高级软件工程项目的初级和高级课程。在本课程中，学生将在现实生活项目中工作，使用微处理器、微控制器和FPGA电路设计和实现嵌入式系统。该项目正在开发课程材料，目标如下：1)研究和学习嵌入式系统安全方面的专业问题；2)开发该学科的八个学习模块；3)以网络讲座的形式呈现；4)为实际应用创造实验室练习；5)由两名专业评审员对项目成果进行评审；6)由学生评估项目在课堂上的有效性和影响。这个项目更广泛的影响在于让本科生接触嵌入式系统的安全方面，这在本科阶段很少涉及。开发和传播综合学习模块有助于在一个对美国国家安全至关重要的领域培养知识渊博的劳动力。

The objective of this project at Florida Gulf Coast University is to improve the quality of teaching security for embedded systems in computer science and software engineering. Embedded systems are ubiquitous in our everyday lives in microwave ovens, garage door openers, cars, cell phones, and point-of-sale credit card transactions to name a few. However, the explosive growth in embedded technology has not been accompanied by substantial educational activities particularly in the area of the security of embedded systems. The issues in the security of embedded systems are substantially different from those in traditional enterprise systems and desktop computing. First, embedded systems are highly distributed and essentially unattended, which makes them vulnerable; and second, embedded applications involve the use of sensors and actuators, which are themselves computerized and thus subject to security breaches if not protected properly. The diversity of potential threats makes it difficult to provide general countermeasures to protect embedded devices and, consequently, teach protection techniques. The embedded systems curriculum at Florida Gulf Coast University involves junior and senior level courses on Embedded Systems Programming, Data Acquisition and Control, Computer Network Programming and Senior Software Engineering Projects. In this curriculum, students work on real life projects, designing and implementing embedded systems using microprocessors, microcontrollers and FPGA circuits. The project is developing course materials with the following goals: 1) studying and learning professional issues in embedded systems security; 2) developing eight learning modules on the subject; 3) presenting them as web-based lectures; 4) creating lab exercises for practical applications; 5) evaluating the project results by two professional evaluators; and 6) assessing the project's effectiveness and impact in the classroom by the students. The broader impact of this project lies in exposing undergraduate students to the security aspects of embedded systems, which is rarely covered at the undergraduate level. Development and dissemination of comprehensive learning modules is helping to create a knowledgeable workforce in an area that is critical to U.S. national security.