COMPSCI 727: Cryptographic Management

Course syllabus

COMPSCI 727  Cryptographic Management

Focuses on the use and deployment of cryptographic systems used in securing communications and data storage. Provides an overview of encryption algorithms and the technologies and systems that support them including symmetric key cryptography, public key infrastructure, digital signatures and certificate technologies. As a part of this overview, this course will concentrate on the management issues of algorithm selection; encryption key generation, distribution, and revocation; and strategies for overcoming encryption security vulnerabilities and their associated breaches. The course also discusses best-practices and compliance with national and international standards and explores the current research and developments in this area.

Note that this course was previously taught in semester 1, 2017 and before that in semester 1, 2016 under the course code SCIGEN 701.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • Explain the concepts of symmetric cryptography, public key cryptography, hash functions and digital signatures
  • State formal security notions and understand their relation with actual attacks on real-world systems
  • Specify several encryption and signature algorithms, and know when to use them
  • Deploy and manage cryptographic systems used in securing communications and data storage
  • Master management issues of the lifecycle of the crypto material (encryption key generation, distribution, and revocation)
  • Present technical ideas in both verbal and written form

Lecturers

Course contact hours/timetable

Mo 1:00PM - 2:00PM 114-G17 (Commerce A, Room G17); Tu 10:00AM - 11:00AM  253-101 (Rehutai Academic Blk, Room 101); Th 9:00AM - 10:00AM 421W-301 (Architecture - West, Room 301)

Assessment
During the course you will do an independent research project, write a report on it, and give a presentation on it to the whole class. Your classmates will ask questions about your project. There are marks allocated to the written report, the presentation, and the questions you ask of other speakers. A full list of possible research projects will be given to students in week 3 of the course. The presentations will take place in the second half of the course. The topics covered in the presentations become part of the content of the course, and are therefore examinable.

  • 50% Examination
  • 24% Assignments
  • 16% Research report
  • 10% Oral presentations & questions

Suggested books

See the reading list for links and full information, here are some particular books:

  • A Graduate Course in Applied Cryptography, Dan Boneh and Victor Shoup
  • Cryptography, An Introduction : Third Edition, Nigel P. Smart.
  • Everyday Cryptography, Keith M. Martin
  • Cryptography engineering : design principles and practical applications, Niels Ferguson, Bruce Schneier, Tadayoshi Kohno

Piazza

You may use Piazza for class discussion. Rather than emailing questions to the teaching staff, I encourage you to post your questions on Piazza. If you have any problems or feedback for the developers, email team@piazza.com.

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Course summary:

Date Details Due