[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. Exams and quizzes are open book, open notes, unless specified otherwise.
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 or electronically as stated in the problem set. 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 19 - 22 | ||
| 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, Jan. 29. |
| Week 2: January 25 - 29 | ||
|
Mathematical background: probability and information theory. Reading: Ch. 3. |
Mathematical background: probability and information theory (cont). |
Mathematical background: computational complexity (a brief overview). Reading: Ch. 4. Problem set 1 due. Problem set 2 posted: probability theory and computational complexity. Due Friday, Feb. 5. |
| Week 3: February 1 - 5 | ||
|
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. 12. |
| Week 4: February 8 - 12 | ||
|
Transposition ciphers, security of classical ciphers. Reading: Ch. 7.4, 7.5. |
DES, Differential cryptanalysis. Reading: Ch. 7.6. |
DES, Differential cryptanalysis (cont.). Problem set 3 due. Problem set 4 posted: DES. Due Friday, Feb. 19. |
| Week 5: February 15 - 19 | ||
|
AES, analysis of AES.
Reading: Ch. 7.7, 5.1 - 5.4. |
AES, analysis of AES (cont.). |
Modes of operation of block ciphers. Reading: Ch. 7.8. Problem set 4 due. Problem set 5 posted: Block ciphers. Due Friday, Feb. 26. |
| Week 6: February 22 - 26 | ||
|
Modes of operation of block ciphers (cont.). |
Key establishment. Reading: Ch. 7.9. |
Introduction to asymmetric encryption. The Diffie-Hellman protocol. Reading: Ch. 8.1 - 8.3. Problem set 5 due. Problem set 6 posted: Diffie-Hellman. Due Friday, March 5. |
| Week 7: March 1 - 5 | ||
|
The Diffie-Hellman problem and the Discrete Logarithm problem. Reading: Ch. 8.4 |
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 Problem set 6 due. Problem set 7 posted: RSA, Rabin's system. Due Friday, March 26. |
| Week 8: March 8 - 12 | ||
|
Review for the exam |
Midterm exam. Covers material up to (including) Monday, March 1. |
ElGamal's encryption and public key system Reading: Ch. 8.12 - 8.13 |
| March 15 - 19. Spring break, no classes | ||
| Week 9: 22 - 26 | ||
|
Summary of asymmetric cryptosystems. Reading: Ch. 8.14 - 8.17. |
Bit security of some common public key systems. Reading: Ch. 9. |
Bit security of some common public key systems (cont.). Problem set 7 due. Problem set 8 posted: ElGamal's system, bit security. Due Friday, April 2. |
| Week 10: March 29 - April 2 | ||
|
Introduction to data integrity; symmetric
techniques, hash functions. Reading: Ch. 10.1 - 10.3. |
Digital signatures. Reading: Ch. 10.4. |
Data integrity without source identification. Reading: Ch. 10.5 - 10.6 Problem set 8 due. Problem set 9 posted: digital signatures. Due Friday, April 9. |
| Week 11: April 5 - 9 | ||
|
Introduction to authentication, basic authentication techniques. Reading: Ch. 11.1 - 11.4. |
Password-based authentication; authentication based on asymmetric
techniques. Reading: Ch. 11.5 - 11.6. |
Attacks on authentication protocols. Reading: Ch. 11.7 - 11.9 Problem set 9 due. Problem set 10 posted: authentication I. Due Friday, April 16. |
| Week 12: April 12 - 16 | ||
|
Real-life authentication protocols: Internet Key Exchange (IKE),
Secure Shell (SSH) Reading: Ch. 12.1 - 12.3 |
The Kerberos protocol; SSL and TLS Reading: Ch. 12.4 - 12.6 |
Authentication for public key cryptography. Reading: selected sections in Ch. 13. Problem set 10 due. Problem set 11 posted: authentication II. Due Friday, April 23. |
| Week 13: April 19 - 23 | ||
|
Authentication for public key cryptography (cont). Reading: selected sections in Ch. 13. |
Overview of zero-knowledge protocols. Reading: selected sections in Ch. 18 and handouts |
Electronic cash. Reading: handouts Problem set 11 due. Problem set 12 posted: zero-knowledge protocols, electronic cash. Due Friday, April 30. Problem set 13 posted: paper on use of cryptography in real-life protocols. Preliminary paper due Monday, May 3rd. Presentations: week of May 3rd. Final paper due Friday, May 7. |
| Week 14: April 26 - 30 | ||
|
Selected protocols. Reading: TBA |
Selected protocols. Reading: TBA |
Selected protocols. Reading: TBA Problem set 12 due. |
| Week 15: May 3 - 7 | ||
|
Student presentations. |
Student presentations. |
Last day of classes Review and wrap up. Paper due. Last day to submit any late work. |
| Final exam: Thursday, May 13, 8:30-10:30am | ||