Compulsory Modules

Introduction to Multimedia Security

This module will provide an introductory background to various digital security technologies currently used in different applications for multimedia content and documents. The knowledge gained in this module will also serve as a prerequisite for students to attend the more advanced modules in security technologies and applications.

Network Security

This module aims to equip you with both a theoretical and a practical systematic understanding of the security challenges for the next generation of communication networks, embracing Internet, mobile and satellite communications security. You will be presented with real-life security problems accompanied by practical and applied solutions. 

Computer Security

Security is probably the greatest challenge for computer and information systems in the near future. Many users have lost data due to viruses and most of us have seen a range of email messages attempting different kinds of fraud. Security holes can potentially affect all of us. This module will explain some central security models and frameworks, which will be further illustrated by case studies where we can gain experience from real-life security problems.

Security and Cryptography

The aim of this module is to introduce the theoretical principles of private key and public key cryptography, and modelling and analysis techniques for security protocols that use cryptography.

Technologies and Applications

In this module, a series of guest lecturers from industry give different perspectives on security challenges and solutions in their respective businesses, and of applications of security technologies in an industrial setting. Through a group project, you will explore a topic of your choice, setting material from other modules in an industrial context.

Optional Modules Include:

Digital Watermarking and Authentication

This module will equip you with a critical awareness of conventional and non-conventional orthogonal transform watermarking techniques for different applications, including robust watermarking for copyright protection, fragile and semi-fragile watermarking for authentication, unintentional and intentional or malicious attacks, as well as advanced recovery techniques to restore watermarks. Through laboratory sessions, you will apply your theoretical understanding in developing and evaluating a digital watermarking system prototype for image authentication and restoration.

Web Hacking Countermeasures

During the last 15 years, web technologies have considerably changed the way we view and use computer systems. The open access nature makes web-based systems harder to keep secure than traditional systems. This new module, being delivered for the first time in 2009/10, will build on autumn modules in Computer Security and in Enterprise Systems Development and look at concrete security problems in web-based systems. Other optional modules include:

• Biometrics
• Agile Web Development
• Challenges for Computer Professionals

Dissertation

The dissertation project makes up one third of the degree programme. The project focuses in depth on a subject at the leading edge of computing. Here are some example projects:

• Computerised modelling of natural language
• Developing games for mobile devices
• Diagnosing medical conditions with neural networks
• Dynamic peer-to-peer network architectures
• File and directory synchronisation over the Internet
• Hardware/software co-design techniques
• Integrating multisensory signals in robots
• Secure electronic voting systems

Teaching

Taught Masters programmes in the Department of Computing utilise our research-active staff in conjunction with state-of-the-art facilities. We provide a range of learning experiences – lectures, tutorials, directed study, practical laboratories and project work - that prepare graduates for their professional life.

We are particularly keen to develop, in all our students, a broad range of generic skills to complement the core technical or scientific competencies of their chosen subject area. Our modular programme format, coupled with the increasing use of innovative teaching and learning strategies such as e-learning and industrially focused short courses, provides a flexible study environment whilst maintaining academic rigour and quality.

Our record of graduate employment is outstanding, with Surrey graduates consistently being in high demand across all sectors.

Dissertation Project

The MSc dissertation project makes up one third of the degree programme, starting at the end of the first semester and completing at the end of the summer. During the project, students are supervised by a member of  academic staff to advise and guide them to completion. At the end of the project students must submit their bound dissertation, which forms a complete record of the project, which is then held in the University Library.

The project focuses in depth on a subject at the leading edge of computing. For example, projects can undertake the development of a software system to solve a particular problem, possibly in collaboration with an industrial partner.

Alternatively, projects can be research-based, in which case an aspect of computing is investigated, perhaps to evaluate particular techniques or propose a new algorithm. These projects are usually closely linked to the Department’s research strengths.

Whatever the topic, students are expected to develop a critical understanding of the methods and technologies needed, then implement and evaluate their chosen solution to a professional standard. Project planning and time management is an important part of the experience.

Project Examples

David Lundin – E-voting Project 

Elections across the globe have become high profile events, not least because of their controversy, such as the American presidential election of 2000. One way in which elections can be made more reliable is through the use of electronic voting systems, which can provide security and verifiability.

Some electronic voting systems, such as Prêt à Voter and Punchscan, use a pre-printed paper ballot form, part of which is destroyed to create an encrypted receipt of the vote. The voter can use this receipt to check online that his or her vote has been included in the tally, but as the receipt is encrypted it cannot be used to prove which candidate the vote is for. The problem with these ballot forms is that anyone who can see them before they are used has sufficient knowledge to check the contents of an encrypted receipt without it having to be properly decrypted.

In David’s MSc project he developed a method based on visual encryption of the candidate list that hides the content of the ballot form until the moment when it is used by the voter in the voting booth. When the top layer, printed on the ballot form, is properly aligned over the bottom layer, displayed on a computer screen, the candidate list appears in plain text. When the form is removed from the screen the content of the form is once again hidden.

Ian Golledge – Identifying and Classifying Electronic Spam

The project presents a prototype model for implementing a Self-Organising Map as a spam filter. A method is shown where emails are converted into feature vectors, where features represent keywords. Keywords are selected from an analysis of an email corpus with the results ranked based on word frequency measurements. The project describes phases of design which attempt to improve on feature selection and conclude on a prototype model for spam filtering using the Self- Organising Maps.

This prototype model is evaluated over six datasets of fluctuating ratios of ham and spam, with testing designed to emulate the incremental re-training of a personalised spam filter. The results are compared to common techniques in spam filtering. Initial results show the model can outperform popular Naive Bayesian techniques. The feature vector representation is then further developed and the model shows results that compare strongly against other classifiers identified in research demonstrating effective application of Self- Organising Maps for spam filtering.

The work was published at an international IEEEsponsored conference in Italy:

Vrusias, B. and Golledge, I. (2008) “Adaptable Text Filters and Unsupervised Neural Classifiers for Spam Detection”, Advances in Soft Computing, Vol. 53, pp. 195-202.

Aaron Randall – Authentication and Self-Restoration of Watermarked Images

In an age where digital media use is prolific, accessible and cost-effective, the requirement for digital images to be used in such situations as evidence in court, medical imaging, traffic enforcement and forensics is increasingly important.

However, along with digital media use, many different techniques to alter media files digitally have been developed – some with very realistic results. The ramifications of using potentially tampered digital media as evidence in court, for example, could cause the difference between an innocent or guilty verdict. This is an issue that digital watermark authentication and restoration attempts to answer.

Aaron’s MSc project was to develop an image authentication and restoration system capable of localising manipulated regions of an image. Through iterative restoration techniques and the extraction of hidden data from the image itself, he would then attempt to restore damaged regions. The first step of authentication highlighted any regions of the image that the application believed to have been tampered with in some way (such as cropping, blurring or other image manipulation techniques). The restoration stage then looked at fixing the regions highlighted as tampered. This step extracted hidden data from the image and inserted it back into the relevant damaged regions.

Prizes

A prize of £150, donated by ID Business Solutions Ltd, is awarded for the best dissertation by a student on the MSc Information Systems or Internet Computing programmes.

A prize of £200, donated by Thales Research & Technology (UK) Ltd, is awarded for the best project dissertation by a student on the MSc Security Technologies and Applications programme. Thales is one of the world’s leading consultancies on security solutions, and a partner of the Department in several projects.

A prize of £200, donated by Detica, is awarded for the best overall student performance on the MSc Security Technologies and Applications programme. The prizes are subject to continued sponsorship by our industrial partners.

Scholarships

The Department pays a scholarship of £500 to every student with a First class honours degree or equivalent and who does not receive any other scholarship or bursary.

Our Degree Programmes 

The Department offers three MSc programmes. All of the programmes benefit from the strong research community and the industrial partnerships of the Department. In particular, the dissertation project allows students to work on a topic in one of the key research areas. Even though the programmes share many modules, each has its own focus and direction. 

Internet Computing is about distributed information and computing resources. This includes, but is not limited to, web technologies. This programme also has a strong element of more general, technical computer science skills. 

Security Technologies and Applications is our newest degree, and it is the most specialised one, building directly on the Department’s multiple activities in information security. 

Information Systems is computing with business and management. It takes a more high-level, overall view on information technologies, and prepares students for managerial roles rather than technical roles in their future careers. Still, computing is the central element and some technical skills are included. This programme admits students with a wider range of backgrounds than the two more technical degrees. 

Regardless of which programme you choose, we are committed to making your year at Surrey a valuable and enjoyable experience.