PV204 Security Technologies

Faculty of Informatics
Spring 2026
Extent and Intensity
2/2/2. 5 credit(s) (plus extra credits for completion). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: k (colloquium).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
doc. RNDr. Petr Švenda, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Lukasz Michal Chmielewski, PhD (lecturer)
RNDr. Adam Janovský, Ph.D. (lecturer)
RNDr. Václav Lorenc (lecturer)
RNDr. Jiří Gavenda (assistant)
Mgr. Veronika Hanulíková (assistant)
Guaranteed by
doc. RNDr. Petr Švenda, Ph.D.
Department of Computer Systems and Communications – Faculty of Informatics
Contact Person: doc. RNDr. Petr Švenda, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Computer Systems and Communications – Faculty of Informatics
Timetable
Mon 16. 2. to Mon 11. 5. Mon 12:00–13:50 A319
  • Timetable of Seminar Groups:
PV204/01: Thu 19. 2. to Thu 14. 5. Thu 10:00–11:50 C118, L. Chmielewski, P. Švenda
PV204/02: Thu 19. 2. to Thu 14. 5. Thu 14:00–15:50 C118, L. Chmielewski, P. Švenda
PV204/03: Thu 19. 2. to Thu 14. 5. Thu 16:00–17:50 C118, L. Chmielewski, P. Švenda
Prerequisites
Registration to PV204 requires: 1) long-term interest in IT security; 2) programming skills (ideally C and Java) under Unix/Linux or Windows; 3) fluent English.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 36 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 25/36, only registered: 0/36, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/36
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 37 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Abstract
The aim of this subject is to understand the deeper aspects of selected security and applied cryptographic topics. The topics cover cryptographic hardware security, including side-channel attacks, secure authentication, and authorization protocols, trusted boot, techniques used in Bitcoin cryptocurrency and Android mobile platform security. Students should be able to apply the gained knowledge in practice based on experience gained from the laboratory, homework assignments, and extensive project work requiring programming skills.
Learning outcomes
After course completion, the student will be able to:
- explain the security advantages of hardware security element to a typical desktop operating system;
- analyze the implementation of a cryptographic algorithm for a presence of the timing side-channel;
- describe and use good practices for password handling, including password alternatives and their advantages;
- explain principles of key establishment protocols and building blocks of modern secure messaging systems;
- explain principles and used technologies of trusted computing;
- perform basic analysis of infected computer image;
- implement security-related application utilizing cryptographic smartcard with JavaCard platform and transfer data via a secure channel;
- explain security building blocks of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin
Key topics
  • Side-channel attacks (timing, power and fault analysis)
  • Basics of smart cards (PC/SC, APDU, basic applet – JavaCard & .net card & MULTOS), secure programs on JavaCard platform
  • Secure authentication and authorization (common protocols like FIDO U2F and Signal, secure implementation, attacks)
  • Hardware Security Modules (HSM), PKCS#11 API, cryptographic hardware in cloud deployment
  • Trusted boot (TPM, trusted boot process, remote attestation)
  • Grey-box analysis of malware (analysis of memory dumps, tools)
  • Security building blocks of Bitcoin (P2P Bitcoin network, transactions, mining, second-layer networks like Lighting Network, use of hardware wallets, attacks, privacy enhancing technologies)
Approaches, practices, and methods used in teaching
lectures, hands-on seminars, homework assignments, team programming project, AI-assisted self-assessments
Method of verifying learning outcomes and course completion requirements
During the semester, the AI-assisted self-assessments will be available for students to practice with the requirements for submission of results. The exam will consist of an open-book, open-question written exam followed by an AI-assisted oral examination.
Language of instruction
English
Follow-Up Courses
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
Teacher's information
The PV204 is an advanced security course, requiring moderate programming skills, existing knowledge of applied cryptography basics, and non-trivial individual and team work. If you would like to get a basic introduction to security and applied cryptography, consider the course PV080 Information security and cryptography instead.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fi/spring2026/PV204