Colorado State University

Usable Formal Methods for Security/Privacy

Formal methods offer a mathematically-rigorous way to reason about the security of software and software systems. However, formal methods research often ignores the human element of the systems they aim to protect. This course is designed to expose students to the human factors of formal methods for security. The main objectives of this course are to introduce students to some of the core principles of security and privacy, several topics in formal methods and usable security, and the peer-review process. Students will gain experience reading and discussing research papers and writing reviews. The final project gives students the opportunity to explore additional topics in formal methods and usable security or propose their own research projects in usable formal methods. Topics covered in the course include model checking; language-based security; user studies; qualitative and quantitative data analysis.

2026 Fall Semester Details