Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2023 - CMPT 404 D100

Cryptography and Cryptographic Protocols (3)

Class Number: 6712

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 4 – Apr 11, 2023: Mon, Wed, Fri, 1:30–2:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Exam Times + Location:

    Apr 24, 2023
    Mon, 8:30–11:30 a.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    (MACM 201 or CMPT 210) with a minimum grade of C-. CMPT 307 and 308 are recommended.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

The main cryptographic tools and primitives, their use in cryptographic applications; security and weaknesses of the current protocols. The notion of security, standard encryption schemes, digital signatures, zero-knowledge, selected other topics.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course focuses on cryptographic primitives and cryptosystems underlying secure communication and information protection. We will study private-key and public-key encryption, authentication, digital signatures, and commitment schemes, and see how they are used in practice, analyse what it means for them to be secure, and look at why widely-used schemes such as SSL may be insecure. We will cover a range of cryptographic applications from wifi protocols to electronic voting and blockchains.

Topics

  • Basic cryptographic primitives and respective computational assumptions
  • Private-key encryption, block ciphers
  • Public-key encryption, certificates and certificate authorities
  • Message authentication, digital signatures and hashing
  • Secure communication protocols
  • Commitment schemes, blockchains
  • Time permitting: post-quantum cryptography

Grading

NOTES:

Will be discussed in the first week of classes.

Students must attain an overall passing grade on the weighted average of exams in the course in order to obtain a clear pass (C- or better).

Materials

RECOMMENDED READING:

Cryptography and Network Security: Principles and Practice
William Stallings, Prentice Hall, 2016, 7th Edition
ISBN: 9780134444284

Handbook of Applied Cryptography
lfred J. Menezes, Paul C. van Oorschot, and Scott A. Vanston, CRC-Press, 1996
ISBN: 9780849385230

Foundations of Cryptography 
Volume I, Basic Tools, Oded Goldreich, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007
ISBN: 9780521035361

Introduction to Modern Cryptography
Jonathan Katz, Yehuda Lindell, Chapman and Hall/CRC, 2014
ISBN: 9781466570269

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html