CS 8803 O23: Modern Internet Research Methods

Overview

Welcome! This is a research oriented course that covers new developments in Internet measurement techniques, with an emphasis on topics related to reliability, freedom and security of modern Internet platforms.

The topics the course discusses span across three areas:

1. Core Internet measurements and security: techniques to study and map the Internet host population along with the services it offers.
2. Freedom: techniques currently used to block access to specific content enforcing censorship, censorship observatories, techniques that are used to overtake the control of the Internet infrastructure, security of voting systems.
3. Social platforms: identify abusive entities on social platforms and map out the current landscape of abuse (misinformation, tracking narratives, etc.). Techniques that leverage social platforms for early warning such as identifying emerging threats as soon as possible.

Finally, the course covers topics related to ethics guidelines when performing large scale Internet measurements. Last, the course discusses elements of sustainable research such as transparency and reproducibility.

This course is not foundational and does not count toward any specializations at present, but it can be counted as a free elective.

Course Goals

The goals of this course are to:

1. Explore new research topics in the modern Internet interdisciplinary research areas.
2. Familiarize and experiment with techniques, tools, platforms and datasets.
3. Develop new research ideas and deliver an academic research paper. Use the course material as a starting point to brainstorm on new research ideas, and select a topic of interest. Perform the entire cycle from selecting a research topic, focusing to a specific research question, following through (e.g. data collection and analysis, system design and evaluation, etc.) and finally delivering the results through an academic paper.

Sample Syllabus

Fall 2024 syllabus (PDF)

Note: Sample syllabi are provided for informational purposes only. For the most up-to-date information, consult the official course documentation.

Before Taking This Class...

Suggested Background Knowledge

The course is geared towards students who have completed the vast majority of the courses in the program, and they are interested in leveraging their knowledge to pursue a research project and write an academic paper.

This course requires a strong background in core topics in computer science such as data structures, algorithms, computer architecture. This is an advanced research oriented course that intersects topics in Internet protocols, computer networks, cybersecurity and data analysis. Having taken courses in topics related to systems, ML/AI, data visualizations is a plus, since the student will be able to leverage their background in these areas to pursue a research project and write an academic paper. Therefore, the course will not go over undergraduate material typically covered in undergraduate networking, cybersecurity or data analysis courses. The students are expected to code in Python (or a language of their choice) at an intermediate level (e.g. comfortably using object-oriented programming, data structures, control structures, etc. as well as testing and debugging tools/strategies).

In lieu of a readiness questionnaire, prospective students are expected to be comfortable with and/or passionate about:

• Reading and understanding the paper “An Open Platform to Teach How the Internet Practically Works“.
• Defining their own research questions/ideas, and therefore working with open ended projects rather than predefined assignments.
• Student-led projects that require more autonomy and taking ownership of the work and the progress/pace.
• Working with projects that require coding skills, as well as technical writing and presentation skills.
• Receiving peer-to-peer feedback.
• Working in a group of students with multidisciplinary backgrounds.

Academic Integrity

All Georgia Tech students are expected to uphold the Georgia Tech Academic Honor Code. This course may impose additional academic integrity stipulations; consult the official course documentation for more information.