CSG 252   Fall 2006
Cryptography and Communication Security 


 

Overview

Studies the design and use of cryptographic systems for communications and other applications such as e-commerce. Discusses the history of cryptographic systems, the mathematical theory behind the design, their vulnerability and the different cryptanalytic attacks. Topics include: stream ciphers such as shift register sequences; block ciphers such as DES and AES; public-key systems such as RSA, Discrete Logarithms; signature schemes; hash functions such as MD5 and SHA1; protocol schemes such as Identification schemes, Zero-Knowledge proofs, Authentication schemes and Secret Sharing schemes. Key management problems including Needham-Schroeder protocols and certificates will be discussed.

 

Announcements

Dec 1: The final exam is out. Due Friday Dec 8, by 17h00. The final projects, if you decided to do one, will also be due at the same time. Good luck to all.

Nov 24: Homework 6 is out. Due Nov 30th at the beginning of class. I also added a link below to some notes on secret sharing schemes.

Nov 9: Posted slides for lecture 7. Also, handed out the midterm. Due next week, at the beginning of class.

Oct 27: Homework 5 is out. Due next week at the beginning of class. I have also added notes I prepared for lectures 4 and 5 (they are rough, be warned), as well as the slides for lecture 6.

Oct 17: No homework this week. Homework 4 will be handed out in lecture on Thursday. Enjoy the break.

Oct 12: Here is a sample output of a DES encryption, for homework 3. (The values are taken from here; thanks, Graham.) Note that my code produces more output than I am asking you to produce. In particular, I decided to output binary so I could debug my code.

Oct 5: Third lecture posted, and homework 3 is out; due next week at the beginning of class.

Oct 5: A couple of online resources added, on cryptanalysis for block ciphers

Sep 28: Second lecture posted, and homework 2 is out; due next week at the beginning of class.

Sep 21: Homework for next week is Stinson, Chapter 1, Exercises 1.6, 1.10, 1.21 (a),(b), 1.28. I will add a PDF with the actual statement of these problems to the web site tomorrow morning when I make it to the office.

Sep 14: Due to unforeseen circumstances, lecture tonight is cancelled. I apologize for the short notification. See you next week.

Sep 8: Homework for next week, please start reading chapter 1 of Stinson, to make sure you can follow the math; if you cannot, please send me an email. Also, send me an email with the following info: (1) your name, (2) your preferred email address, (3) your status (undergrad, fulltime/parttime Master's or Phd, etc), and (4) a description of any previous exposure to crypto.

 

Course Information

Time and Location: Thursdays 18h00-21h00, in 106 West Village G (#23G)

Instructor: Riccardo Pucella, 328 West Village H (#23H)

Office hours (tentative): Mondays 14h00-16h00

Course Web Site: http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/riccardo/csg252

Prerequisites: CSG 113 or CSG 713 (can be taken concurrently)

Grading: Grading will be based on homeworks (about one a week), a midterm, and either a final exam or a final project:

  • Homeworks: 40%
  • Midterm: 30%
  • Final exam or project: 30%

Textbooks: The textbook for the course is:

The following book is also recommended (but not necessary):

 

Schedule Outline and Lecture Notes

This schedule is subject to change.

 

Homeworks

 

Online Resources

 

Last Update: Sun May 28 15:00:32 2006