Malware Comps
Monday, 5 January 2026

https://cs.carleton.edu/faculty/jondich/courses/comps_w26/

+ General notes about comps
- 9.5 weeks goes by very fast
- Malware analysis is huge
- This is comps: plan to put in plenty of time (6cr should be about 13 hours/week,
but you might want to plan for more if you want to get the most out of it)
- Your goal is learning as much as you can
    - start from where you are
        - CS338 or not
        - Fall OCS
    - don't worry about what other people already know
- This takes time. Put in the time, and you'll learn a ton.
- Help each other. Ask for help!

+ Count off 1-5 to make groups
- Introduce yourselves
- Share background. How comfortable with:
    - Unix command line?
    - Networking? (e.g., know what TCP ports are?)
    - Vocab: client, server, TCP port
- 1-2 things you're eager to learn
- 0-2 things you're worried about

+ This week
- Goals: teams + project selection by Jan 12
- Wednesday, Jan 7 assignment: explore a project idea
- Thursday, Jan 8: fill out preference survey
- Friday, Jan 9: meet with your team and start discussing
    topic options
- Monday, Jan 12: first light-weight draft of
    a project plan

+ Wednesday's assignment

+ Randomly assigned groups (see Slack #announcements)
- Introduce yourselves
- Look at the list of potential topics together
- Make a plan for getting together Monday night or Tuesday
    to finish Wednesday's assignment