CMPT 399 Outline 2015/16 Winter Cryptography

COURSE NUMBER:

CMPT 399

COURSE TITLE:

Special Topics in Computing Science - 2015/16 Winter - Cryptography

NAME OF INSTRUCTOR:

Dr Amy Feaver

CREDIT WEIGHT AND WEEKLY TIME DISTRIBUTION:

credits 3(hrs lect 3 - hrs sem 0 - hrs lab 3)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

A course on a topic of figure of special interest to a member of the computing science faculty and offered on a non-recurring basis.

Prerequisites: CMPT 250; some topics may have more specific prerequisites

2015/16 Winter

This course will provide an overview of cryptography. Topics include: history (including ciphers and rotor machines), cryptographic protocols, one-way functions, randomness, public and private key cryptography, key exchange and RSA.

Same as MATH 399B

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Singh, Simon (2000), The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography

MARK DISTRIBUTION IN PERCENT:

Readings	7%
Kryptos	10%
Homework	18%
Lab Assignments	20%
Midterm	20%
Final Examination	25%

	100%

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

This course is intended to teach students the basics of cryptography. At the end of this course students should know and understand:

the history of cryptography before computers
the RSA algorithm
Diffie-Helman key exchange
the El Gamal cryptosystem
protocols used in cryptography
how computers find “random” numbers
how one-way functions work, and the differences in computational complexity between computing the functions and recovering the input from the results
the basics of public key and private key cryptography

COURSE OUTLINE:

The course is divided into 2 components—3 hours of lectures and a 3-hour laboratory period per week. The lectures will cover the necessary background information and theoretical basis for discussion and assessment. The laboratory component will focuson applying to course materials to programming problems

Required texts, assignments, and grade distributions may vary from one offering of this course to the next. Please consult the course instructor for up to date details.