There are three major groups of assignments for 6.888 this semester: paper reviews, the lab, and the final project. More information about each will be posted here as they become available.
The lab this semester asks you to exploit a hardware side channel to create a covert communication channel between two processes and to steal a secret from a running process.
All students who are taking the class for credit should find the repository with their starter code at
https://github.mit.edu/6-888-fa20/lab-<kerberos>
Please note that this repository is located in your MIT Github account and not your github.com account. The README in the repository contains more information on how to set up your development environment and get access to the lab machine.
If you are currently not registered for credit but are still interested in attempting the lab, please send an email to 6888-fa20-staff@csail.mit.edu, and we can create a repository for you.
Project proposal meetings are happening Friday, October 2, 2020. This will be a 20-minute meeting in which we will talk about your project idea or help you brainstorm.
During the meeting, if you have a project idea, please be ready to tell us what you plan to do. If you do not yet have a concrete idea, please tell us what research area(s) interest you, and we can help you brainstorm. If this is the case, we also ask that you at least start on the lab before the meeting to get an idea of the scope and feel of these kinds of research projects.
After your project proposal meeting, you will need to submit a 2-page project proposal due on Friday, October 9, 2020. Your project proposal should be 2 pages, single-spaced, and single column. Your proposal should include the following:
Along with your project proposal document, please submit two slides summarizing your project. During class the following Monday (October 13), you will give a short (< 5 min) introduction to the class about what you plan to do.
After your project proposal is due, you will need to complete a short weekly progress report. Please write a short paragraph (3-5 sentences) describing what you accomplished in the past week and the current state of your project. Please also note if you have run into any difficulties or need help.
Submit 3-5 slides by the end of Sunday, November 15 summarizing what you have done and some preliminary results. The first slide should contain the project title and your name. You will give a 5-minute presentation with these slides in class on November 18.
On November 20, you will need to submit a midterm report (no page limit) on your project progress with the following information:
The final project is due on Wednesday, December 9. Submissions will be accepted on Canvas up to December 14 without penalty. Please follow the format below for the report.
You will present your work on December 9 during our usual class time. Please keep your presentation to under 15 minutes. For the presentation, please follow the format below.
During class, you will share your screen to present your slides and demo your project. If you would like feedback on the slides, please send them to Professor Yan before 5 pm on Tuesday, December 8. Additionally, if you are doing a demo, remember that Zoom may generate a lot of system noise, so be sure to test it out beforehand.