[Home] [Syllabus] [Assignments] [Resources and Handouts]
While I try to follow the timeline as closely as possible, keep in mind that topics, dates, and deadlines are subject to change. Changes to deadlines will be announced in class or by e-mail. It is your responsibility to keep up with the changes. If in doubt, please do not hesitate to ask me.
The date for the midterm is set. If you have any conflicts with this date, please let me know as soon as possible. No makeup exams will be given unless circumstances beyond your control prevented you from taking the test at the scheduled time AND you have notified me (in person, by e-mail, or by phone) in advance or, if this was not possible, as soon as it became possible.
In addition to the midterm and final there will be occasional short (about 15 minutes) quizzes on the current material. All exams and quizzes are open book, open notes.
Missed quizzes are counted as 0. The lowest quiz grade in the semester will be dropped (i.e. it will not contribute to overall grade).
Late problem sets policy:
Problem sets are due in the beginning of the class on the due
date. If a problem set is submitted at (or before) the next class meeting
after the due date, it is graded out of 3/4 credit. If it is submitted any
time after the next meeting (until the last class meeting), then it is graded
out of 1/2 credit.
Problem sets submitted more than 5 minutes after beginning of the class
may be considered late.
| Monday | Wednesday | Friday |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1: January 22 - 25 | ||
| Martin Luther King Day, no classes |
The role of cryptography in modern computer security. The goals and approaches - the coin flipping example. Reading: Ch. 1 |
Communication environment and security of communication protocols: the
authentication algorithm example. Summary of assumptions and terminology. Reading: Ch. 2 Problem set 1 posted: basic notions in cryptography. Due Friday, Feb. 1. |
| Week 2: January 28 - February 1 | ||
|
Mathematical background: probability and information theory. Reading: Ch. 3. |
Mathematical background: probability and information theory (cont). |
Mathematical background: computational complexity. Reading: Ch. 4. Problem set 1 due. Problem set 2 posted: probability theory and computational complexity. Due Friday, Feb. 8. |
| Week 3: February 4 - 8 | ||
|
Mathematical background: number theory. Reading: Ch. 6.1, 6.2. |
Introduction to symmetric encryption. Reading: Ch. 7.1, 7.2. |
Substitution ciphers. Reading: Ch. 7.3. Problem set 2 due. Problem set 3 posted: substitution ciphers. Due Friday, Feb. 15. |
| Week 4: February 11 - 15 | ||
|
Transposition ciphers, security of classical ciphers. Reading: Ch. 7.4, 7.5. |
DES, Differential cryptanalysis. Reading: Ch. 7.6. |
AES, analysis of AES. Reading: Ch. 7.7, 5.1 - 5.4. Problem set 3 due. Problem set 4 posted: DES, AES. Due Friday, Feb. 22. |
| Week 5: February 18 - 22 | ||
|
AES, analysis of AES (cont.). |
Modes of operation of block ciphers. Reading: Ch. 7.8. |
Modes of operation of block ciphers (cont.). Problem set 4 due. Problem set 5 posted: Block ciphers. Due Friday, Feb. 22. |
| Week 6: February 25 - 29 | ||
|
Key establishment. Reading: Ch. 7.9. |
Introduction to asymmetric encryption. The Diffie-Hellman protocol. Reading: Ch. 8.1 - 8.3. |
The Diffie-Hellman problem and the Discrete Logarithm problem. Reading: Ch. 8.4 Problem set 5 due. Problem set 6 posted: Diffie-Hellman. Due Friday, March 7. |
| Week 7: March 3 - 7 | ||
|
RSA encryption and public key system Reading: Ch. 8.5 - 8.9 |
Rabin's encryption and public key system Reading: Ch. 8.10 - 8.11 |
ElGamal's encryption and public key system Reading: Ch. 8.12 - 8.13 Problem set 6 due. Problem set 7 posted: RSA, Rabin's system, ElGamal's system. Due Friday, March 28. |
| Week 8: March 10 - 14 | ||
|
Review for the exam |
Midterm exam. Covers material up to (including) Monday, March 3. |
Summary of asymmetric cryptosystems. Reading: Ch. 8.14 - 8.17. |
| March 17 - 21. Spring break, no classes | ||
| Week 9: 24 - 28 | ||
|
Bit security of some common public key systems. Reading: Ch. 9. |
Bit security of some common public key systems (cont.). |
Introduction to data integrity; symmetric
techniques. Reading: Ch. 10.1 - 10.3. Problem set 7 due. Problem set 8 posted: bit security. Due Friday, April 4. |
| Week 10: March 31 - April 4 | ||
|
Digital signatures. Reading: Ch. 10.4. |
Rob's presentation on directed studies material. Topic: TBA. |
Data integrity without source identification. Reading: Ch. 10.5 - 10.6 Problem set 8 due. Problem set 9 posted: digital signatures. Due Friday, April 11. |
| Week 11: April 7 - 11 | ||
|
Introduction to authentication, basic authentication techniques. Reading: Ch. 11.1 - 11.4. |
Rob's presentation on directed studies material. Topic: TBA. |
Password-based authentication; authentication based on asymmetric
techniques. Reading: Ch. 11.5 - 11.6. Problem set 9 due. Problem set 10 posted: authentication I. Due Friday, April 18. |
| Week 12: April 14 - 18 | ||
|
Attacks on authentication protocols. Reading: Ch. 11.7 - 11.9 |
Rob's presentation on directed studies material. Topic: TBA. |
Real-life authentication protocols: Internet Key Exchange (IKE),
Secure Shell (SSH) Reading: Ch. 12.1 - 12.3 Problem set 10 due. Problem set 11 posted: authentication II. Due Friday, April 25. |
| Week 13: April 21 - 25 | ||
|
The Kerberos protocol; SSL and TLS Reading: Ch. 12.4 - 12.6 |
Authentication for public key cryptography. Reading: selected sections in Ch. 13. |
Authentication for public key cryptography (cont). Reading: selected sections in Ch. 13. Problem set 11 due. Problem set 12 posted: authentication protocols. Due Friday, May 2. |
| Week 14: April 28 - May 2 | ||
|
Formal approaches to security. Reading: selected sections in Ch. 14. |
Formal approaches to security (cont.). Reading: selected sections in Ch. 14. |
Random Oracle model Reading: 15.1 - 15.2 Problem set 12 due. Problem set 13 posted: formal approaches to security. Due Friday, May 9. |
| Week 15: May 5 - 9 | ||
|
Overview of zero-knowledge protocols. Reading: selected sections in Ch. 18. |
Catch up and discussion. |
Last day of classes Review and wrap up. Problem set 13 due. Last day to submit any late work. |
| Final exam: Tuesday, May 13, 1:30-3:30pm. | ||