--- begin forwarded text Date: Fri, 9 Aug 1996 19:19:10 -0400 (EDT) From: Christof Paar <christof@ece.wpi.edu> To: dcsb@ai.mit.edu Subject: cryptography course at WPI Mime-Version: 1.0 Sender: bounce-dcsb@ai.mit.edu Precedence: bulk Reply-To: Christof Paar <christof@ece.wpi.edu> Status: U (I hope this mail is appropriate for this mailing list :) This announcment is probably mainly of interest to people in the greater Boston area. I will offer a graduate course in crypto and data security in the fall at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The focus group are on-campus students as well as people in industry. Last year, I taught exactly the same course in industry and it was a big success. I am sure that it serves industry needs very well. I will be gone for one week but promise to answer all questions about the course immediately when I return. Regards, Christof Paar PS: There will be an advanced crypto course in the spring. ________________________________________________ Christof Paar Assistant Professor ECE Department Worcester Polytechnic Institute 100 Institute Road Worcester, MA 01609 email: christof@ece.wpi.edu www: http://ee.wpi.edu/People/faculty/cxp.html tel: (508) 831 5061 fax: (508) 831 5491 ============================================================================ WPI EE 578/CS 578: CRYPTOGRAPHY AND DATA SECURITY Fall '96, Monday, 5:30-8:15 pm INTRODUCTION It is well known that we are in the midst of a shift towards an information society. The upcoming generation of digital information systems will provide services such as: - wireless LAN and WAN computer networks - multi-media services (e.g., high quality video-on-demand) - smart cards (e.g., for network identification of electronic purse) - electronic banking/digital commerce These and other new information-based applications will have far reaching consequences. As this happens, security aspects of communication systems are of growing commercial and public interest. Unfortunately, these aspects have been widely underestimated or ignored in the past. Today, however, there is high demand for expertise and high quality products in the field of information security and cryptography. WPI's graduate course EE 578/CS 578 provides a solid and broad foundation in the area of cryptography and data security. After taking the course students should have an overview of state-of-the-art cryptography. In industry, they should be able to carefully choose and design a security scheme for a given application. The course also serves as an introduction for students who are interested in pursuing research in cryptography. There are several opportunities for Master's and PhD theses in the field of cryptography. COURSE DESCRIPTION This course gives a comprehensive introduction into the field of cryptography and data security. We begin with the introduction of the concepts of data security. Different attacks on cryptographic systems are classified. Some pseudo-random generators are introduced. The concepts of public and private key cryptography is developed. As important representatives for secret key schemes, DES, IDEA, and other private key algorithms are described. The public key schemes RSA, ElGamal, and elliptic curve crypto systems are developed. As important tools for authentication and integrity, digital signatures and hash functions are introduced. Advanced protocols for key distribution in networks are developed. Identification schemes are treated as advanced topics. Some mathematical algorithms for attacking cryptographic schemes are discussed. Application examples will include a protocol for security in a LAN and identification with smart cards. Special consideration will be given to schemes which are relevant for network environments. For all schemes, implementation aspects and up-to-date security estimations will be discussed. PREREQUISITES Working knowledge of ``C''. An interest in discrete mathematics and algorithms is highly desirable. TEXTBOOK D.R. Stinson, Cryptography: Theory and Practice. CRC Press, 1995 SYLLABUS EE 578/CS 578 An important part of the course is an independent project. The project topic can freely be chosen by the student. Possible topics include (but are not limited to) implementation of a real-size cryptographic algorithm or protocol, a literature study on new cryptographic schemes or on legal aspects of cryptography, or implementation of an algorithm for attacking a cryptographic scheme. WEEK 1: Introduction: Principals of cryptography. Classical algorithms. Attacks on cryptographic systems. WEEK 2: Stream ciphers and pseudo-random generators. Some information theoretical results on cryptography. WEEK 3: Private key cryptography: The Data Encryption Standard DES. Brief history, function and performance. WEEK 4: Private key cryptography: Recent results on successful attacks on DES. Operation modes of symmetric ciphers. IDEA and other alternatives to DES. WEEK 5: Public key cryptography: Introduction. Some Number Theory and Algebra. WEEK 6: Public key cryptography: RSA. Function and security. Recent results on successful attacks on RSA. WEEK 7: Midterm exam. WEEK 8: Public key cryptography: The discrete logarithm problem. ElGamal crypto system. Function and security. Security estimations. WEEK 9: Public key cryptography: Elliptic curve systems. Mathematical background, function and security. WEEK 10: Digital Signatures: The ElGamal signature scheme. Message Authentication Codes (MAC). WEEK 11: Hash functions: Principals. Block cipher based hash functions. Protocols: Attacks against protocols, protocols for privacy, authentication, and integrity. WEEK 12: Key distribution in networks: Private key approaches, certificates, and authenticated key agreement. WEEK 13: Identification schemes: Challenge-and-response protocols. The Schnorr identification scheme for smart cards. WEEK 14: Final exam. ****************************************************************************** Christof Paar http://ee.wpi.edu/People/faculty/cxp.html Assistant Professor email: christof@ece.wpi.edu ECE Department phone: (508) 831 5061 Worcester Polytechnic Institute fax: (508) 831 5491 100 Institute Road Worcester, MA 01609, USA ****************************************************************************** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe from this list, send a letter to: Majordomo@ai.mit.edu In the body of the message, write: unsubscribe dcsb Or, to subscribe, write: subscribe dcsb If you have questions, write to me at Owner-DCSB@ai.mit.edu --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah@shipwright.com) e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "'Bart Bucks' are not legal tender." -- Punishment, 100 times on a chalkboard, for Bart Simpson The e$ Home Page: http://www.vmeng.com/rah/