CS 678 - Cryptography
Credits: 3
Course Description
The study of security in communications and electronic computing. The encryption of data using public key systems, block ciphers, and stream ciphers. The basic tools for the design and analysis of such systems. Topics may include information theory, authentication, digital signatures, secret sharing schemes, complexity theoretic issues, probabilistic encryption, electronic commerce and others.
Prereqs: CS 515 or consent of instructor.
Needed Skills
Students must have a solid background in discrete mathematics and algorithm design and analysis.
Learning Outcomes
Successful students will learn:
1. Basic issues of security in communication and computing.
2. Basic approaches to solving security problems.
3. Mathematical tools for analyzing cryptographic protocols, including the theory of finite fields.
4. A variety of protocols for providing security in different settings.
5. The background needed to read the current literature in cryptography.
Week by Week Course Outline
This is a sample outline. Exact outline for this course will be determined by the instructor offering the course.
| Weeks | Topics |
|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction to cryptography: classical approaches |
| 2-3 | Block ciphers |
| 4-6 | Stream ciphers |
| 7-9 | Public key systems |
| 10-11 | Authentication and signature schemes |
| 12 | Probabilistic encryption |
| 13 | Electronic commerce |
| 14-15 | Student talks |
Graded Work
Exact details about graded work in this course will be determined by the instructor offering the course and will be made available in the syllabus during the first class meeting. Typically there will be a presentation of a paper in the recent literature by each student, bi-weekly homework, and a two-hour final examination.
Grading
A student's grade will be determined by a weighted average of homework assignments, presentation, and the final examination. The faculty offering the course will make the details available at the start of the course. A typical weighting is:
Homeworks: 40%
Paper Presentation: 25%
Final Examination: 35%
Possible Textbooks
D. Stinson,
Cryptography: Theory and Practice,
CRC Press, 1995.