UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

ECE 597/697XX: ST - Introduction to Cryptography
Spring 2015

Description: A course on the theory and practice of cryptography. The main focus is on
how crypto algorithms and protocols work, and how they can be applied in the real world.

• The topics to be covered include:

  • 1. Introduction.
  • 2. Stream ciphers and pseudo-random number generators.
  • 3. Symmetric ciphers: Data Encryption Standard (DES) and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).
  • 4. Public-key cryptography - introduction.
  • 5. Asymmetric algorithms: RSA, ElGamal and Elliptic curves.
  • 6. Digital signatures and Message Authentication codes.
  • 7. Hash functions, security services and key distribution.
  • 8. Side-channel attacks on cryptographic systems.
    
    
• Lecture venue: MoWe 2:30-3:45, Marcus 106.
  
• Schedule highlights:
  • MidTerm review on Mon. Mar. 9.
  • Sample test questions (to be discussed on Monday March 9).
  • Midterm Exam on Tue. Mar. 10, at 4-6pm, in Marcus 106.
• Mid-term Exam: March 10, 2015, 4-6pm, 2 hours.
  Material covered: Chapters 1-6.
  You may use during the exam your own lecture notes, graded homeworks and the course lecture notes only. No other materials including books, internet-connected devices or any software tools are allowed.
• Final Exam: Friday, May 1, 3:30-5:30pm, MRST 211.
  You may use during the exam your own lecture notes, graded homeworks and the course lecture notes only. No other materials including books, internet-connected devices or any software tools are allowed.
• Homework Assignments:
  
• OWL quizzes
  Select "University of Massachusetts at Amherst", "Electrical and Computer Engineering."
  If you registered late, access OWL through the link in Moodle.
  The deadlines below are tentative and subject to change.
  • Quiz 1 - due Jan. 29.
    
  • Quiz 2 - due Feb. 7.
    
  • Quiz 3 - due Feb. 20.
    
  • Quiz 4 - due Mar. 2.
    In addition, solve the following problems and write/print on paper:
    Chapter 5 - 5.8, 5.16, and using the online AES encryption/decryption tool at http://cryptojs.altervista.org/secretkey/aes_cryptojs.html , answer the questions below. The base 64 encoding table can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base64. A Base 64 to HEX (and vice versa) converter can be found at http://tomeko.net/online_tools/base64.php?lang=en.
    • Encrypt your name and your home address using all the five modes ECB, CBC, OFB, CFB and CTR, and the padding options NoPadding, ZeroPadding and PKCS7. Indicate the differences between the resulting ciphertexts and explain the differences between the padding schemes. Notice that you can set the IV and Salt to any value including 0.
    • Explain the purpose of the Salt. What is the use of the Salt, the IV and the Padding?
  • Quiz 5 - due Mar. 7.
    
  • Quiz 6 - due Mar. 15.
    
  • Quiz 7 - due Mar. 26.
    
  • Quiz 8 - due Apr. 9.
    
  • Quiz 9 - due Apr. 16.
    
  • Quiz 10 - due Apr. 21.
    Chapter 11 - 11.7; Chapter 12 - 12.2, 12.4, 12.5 (1).
  • Quiz 11 - due Apr. 28.
    Chapter 13 - 13.1, 13.10, 13.13.