6.857 is an upper-level undergraduate, first-year graduate course on network and computer security. It fits within the department's Computer Systems and Architecture Engineering concentration. Topics covered include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Techniques for achieving security in multi-user computer systems and distributed computer systems;
• Cryptography: secret-key, public-key, digital signatures;
• Authentication and identification schemes;
• Intrusion detection: viruses;
• Formal models of computer security;
• Secure operating systems;
• Software protection;
• Security of electronic mail and the World Wide Web;
• Electronic commerce: payment protocols, electronic cash;
• Firewalls; and
• Risk assessment.