COMP 7120/8120 Cryptography and Data Security - sp2019

Course Description

This course is an introduction to the basic concepts and mechanisms of applied cryptography and data security. It will cover both cryptographic primitives (secret key encryption, public key encryption, digital signatures) and security protocols (user authentication). It also emphasizes on discussing the challenges when applying cryptographic building blocks to solve practical security problems, including cloud computing, mobile crowdsourcing networks, and distributed systems. (The content and syllabus are subject to adjustment during the semester.)

Prerequisites: The course is self-contained, however a basic understanding of probability theory and modular arithmetic will be helpful.

Lecture

Monday/Wednesday, 2:20 pm - 3:45 pm, Dunn Hall 109

Office Hours

By appointment only (Please arrange by email 2-3 days in advance)

Evaluation

Grading: Your final grade will come from the following sources: class attendance (CA), homework assignments (HA), in-class presentations (IP), and one in-class exam (IE). Here is the grading formula:

Grade = 0.1*CA + 0.2*HA + 0.3*IP + 0.4*IE

Grading Scale: A: 85 – 100, B: 70 – 84, C: 60 – 69, D: 50 – 59, F: 49 and below. (Plus/minus grading will be used).

Course Policy

Late Policy: Without prior request, no late work will be accepted. All late submission maybe accepted at a penalty of 15% per day for no more than THREE days.
Testing Policy: The exam given is closed book/note/laptop/neighbor. But students are allowed to bring one cheat sheet (letter-sized 8.5-by-11) for quick reference. There will NOT be any makeup exams unless there is a documented emergency.
Homework Assignment and Project Report Policy: It is recommended that students use a word processing software (e.g., Word or LaTeX) to type their homework solutions or project report, then submit well-formatted PDF files.

Homework

Homework 1 (PDF, WORD, Due on Mar 18th 11:59pm)
Homework 2 (PDF, WORD, Due on Apr 22nd 11:59pm)

Presentation Schedule

Presentation Schedule (anonymous)
Presentation Evaluation Form

Course Schedule

Week 01:
- Jan 14 - Lecture 1: Introduction to Cryptography and Data Security (Slide 1)
- Jan 16 - Lecture 2: One Time Pad and Perfect Secrecy (Slide 2)
Week 02:
- Jan 21 - Martin Luther King Day (No Class)
- Jan 23 - Lecture 3: One Time Pad and Stream Cipher (Slide 3)
Week 03:
- Jan 28 - Lecture 4: Semantic Security (Slide 4)
- Jan 30 - Lecture 5: Block Cipher – The Data Encryption Standard (DES) (Slide 5)
Week 04:
- Feb 04 - Lecture 6: Block Cipher – The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) (Slide 6)
- Feb 06 - Lecture 7: How to use Block Cipher (one-time key) (Slide 7)
Week 05:
- Feb 11 - Lecture 8: How to use Block Cipher (many-time key) (Slide 8)
- Feb 13 - Lecture 9: Basic Key Exchange (Slide 9)
Week 06:
- Feb 18 - Lecture 10: Some Number Theory (Slide 10, Basic Number Theory)
- Feb 20 - Lecture 11: Hard problems and Public Key Encryption (Slide 11)
Week 07:
- Feb 25 - Lecture 12: Public Key Encryption - RSA (Slide 12)
- Feb 27 - Lecture 13: Public Key Encryption - ElGamal (Slide 13)
Week 08:
- Spring Break
Week 09:
- Mar 11 - Lecture 14: Message Integrity - Message Authentication Codes (Slide 14)
- Mar 13 - Lecture 15: Collision Resistance and HMAC (Slide 15)
Week 10:
- Mar 18 - Lecture 16: Digital Signature (Slide 16)
- Mar 20 - Lecture 17: Authenticated Encryption I (Slide 17)
Week 11:
- Mar 25 - Lecture 18: Authenticated Encryption II (Slide 18)
- Mar 27 - Lecture 19: Cloud Security and Attribute-based Encryption
Week 13:
- Apr 01 - Presentation 1
- Apr 03 - Presentation 2
Week 14:
- Apr 08 - Presentation 3
- Apr 10 - Presentation 4
Week 15:
- Apr 15 - Presentation 5
- Apr 17 - Presentation 6
Week 16:
- Apr 21 - Review (Slide 20)
- Apr 24 - In-class Exam