Class Times: 2:20pm - 3:35pm TTh
Office Hours: Tue 4 - 5pm, Wed 2-4pm, Thur 10am-11am.
Office: Blocker 614C,
Contacts: rundell@tamu.edu, (979) 845 1450.
Logistics: Grading, policies, etc.
Textbook: Introduction to Cryptography with Coding Theory by Trappe and Washington.
This course will discuss some of the historical ciphers
and the assumptions on which they were based,
but the majority of the class will be taken up with modern
(last 20-30 year) cryptosystems that are computationally based.
To do this we will require some amount of elementary
number theory (part of the class) and there will be some
computational requirements.
Indeed, the class will have a heavy "ideas and algorithms" flavour
and a central goal is to showcase some of the amazingly clever
mathematical
ideas that make up current (and past) cryptography and cryptoanalysis.
These ideas now form the core of internet transactions, banking transfers
and communications (for example, your cell phone).
Project suggestions:
If you have not already done so, you can select from
the following list.
•
You do not need to clear any of these projects with me.
•
Let me emphasize the need to get started on this now.
Useful information:
Links to current and past homework assignments: