(501513-3) Cryptography

Homepage and Syllabus

Disclaimer

This is the best information available as of today, Tuesday December 1, 2020 at 2:40 p.m. KSA time. Changes will appear in this web page as the course progresses.

Meeting time and place

  • Section 1646: Monday 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. and Wednesday 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
  • Due to COVID 19 pandemic, these classes will be conducted remotely and online via blackboard until further notice.

Instructor: Dr. Emad Alsuwat

Course Homepage: https://emadalsuwat.github.io/cryptography-Fall2020.html
Office: W101 CIT
Office hours: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, there will be no in-person office hours. Please email me if you have any question. If necessary, I will arrange a phone call or a virtual meeting
Phone: NA
Email: Alsuwat@tu.edu.sa

Course Overview

This course provides the students with an understanding of the fundamental concepts of cryptography and cryptanalysis. Starting with classical algorithms (and their cryptanalysis), the focus moves onto the modern cryptographic algorithms, primitives, and infrastructure. This course also provides a brief introduction to mathematical and probabilistic concepts used in cryptographic systems.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will be able to:
  • Describe the classic encryption schemes and their cryptanalysis
  • Apply the related knowledge of mathematics and probability theory to the design and analysis of modern cryptographic algorithms
  • Describe different cryptographic approaches such as symmetric key encryption and asymmetric (public) key encryption and related infrastructure
  • Describe cryptographic primitives such as key exchange, primality testing, zero-knowledge proofs, and so on.

Textbooks

  • Required: William Stallings, Cryptography and Network Security: Principles and Practice (5th Edition), Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2010
  • Required: Jonathan Katz and Yehuda Lindell, Introduction to Modern Cryptography (2nd Edition), CHAPMAN & HALL/CRC, 2007

Examinations

  • Midterm Exam: Saturday October 31, 2020 - 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
  • Final Exam: TBD

Grading

  • Midterm Exam: 25%
  • Homework Assignments: 15%
  • Participation and Quizzes: 10%
  • Final Exam: 50%

Topics to be covered

Below are roughly the sections of the CLRS book that I will cover. I may de-emphasize some topics and add others, but this is basically the list.

Topic Text Reference
Cryptography Fundamentals
Caesar Cipher
Vigenere Cipher
Detecting Language
Frequency Analysis
Kasiski's Algorithm
Data Encryption Standard (DES)
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
Public Key Cryptosystems
Public Key Cryptosystems
Modular Arithmetic
Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange
Rivest–Shamir–Adleman (RSA) cryptosystem

Lecture Notes and Homework Assignments

Note that changes to the table below will appear week by week as the course progresses

Week Topic Slides Assignment Due Date
Week 1 Syllabus Week - - -
Week 2 Cryptography Fundamentals + Caesar Cipher Lecture 1 - -
Week 3 Cracking Caesar Cipher + Vigenere
Cipher + Cracking Vigenere Cipher		 Lecture 2
Week 4 One Time Pad (OTP) Lecture 3
Week 5 Introduction to Cryptography
Stream Ciphers 		Lecture 4
Lecture 5 		Homework 1 October 8, 2020
Week 6 The Data Encryption Standard (DES) Lecture 6 Homework 2 October 30, 2020
Week 7 An example on DES
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)		 DES Example
Lecture 7 		- -
Week 8 More About Block Ciphers
Modes of Operation		 Lecture 8
Week 9 Midterm Exam
The exam will cover lectures
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. 		- - -
Week 10 Introduction to Public-Key Cryptography Lecture 9 - -
Week 11 Number Theory for Public-Key Algorithms Take Notes Homework 3 November 21, 2020
Week 12 The RSA Cryptosystem Lecture 10 - -
Week 13 Quiz - - -
Week 14 Public-Key Cryptosystems Based on the
Discrete Logarithm Problem		 Lecture 11 - -