Undergraduate Course: Introduction to Modern Cryptography (INFR11131)

Course Outline
School	School of Informatics	College	College of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 11 (Year 4 Undergraduate)	Availability	Available to all students
SCQF Credits	10	ECTS Credits	5
Summary	Cryptography is the formal study of the notion of security in information systems. The course will offer a thorough introduction to modern cryptography focusing on models and proofs of security for various basic cryptographic primitives and protocols including key exchange protocols, commitment schemes, digital signature algorithms, oblivious transfer protocols and public-key encryption schemes. Applications to various problems in secure computer and information systems will be briefly discussed including secure multiparty computation, digital content distribution, e-voting systems, digital payment systems, cryptocurrencies.
Course description	The area of cryptography focuses on various problems pertaining to secure communication and computation. It entails the study of models that express security properties as well as the algorithms and protocols that are the implementation candidates for satisfying these properties. An important dimension of modern cryptography is the design of security proofs that establish security properties. Such proofs are conditional on assumptions that fall in two categories: "system assumptions" such as the faithful execution of code, or the availability of private randomness and "computational assumptions" that are related to the computational complexity of various problems (including factoring large numbers and others). Students will learn to model security problems, design protocols and prove them secure under precisely formulated system and computational assumptions.

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites	It is RECOMMENDED that students have passed Computer Security (INFR10058) OR Computer Security (INFR10067) AND Algorithms and Data Structures (INFR10052)	Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	This course is open to all Informatics students including those on joint degrees. For external students where this course is not listed in your DPT, please seek special permission from the course organiser.

Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites	None
High Demand Course?	Yes

Course Delivery Information

Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Semester 1
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 18, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 76 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 90 %, Coursework 10 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	10% coursework (based on Learning outcomes 1 and 2).Ťbr /ť 90% exam (based on Learning outcomes 3 to 5).
Feedback	Not entered
Exam Information
Exam Diet	Paper Name		Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)			2:00

Academic year 2017/18, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Semester 1
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 18, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 78 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 90 %, Coursework 10 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	10% coursework (based on Learning outcomes 1 and 2).Ťbr /ť 90% exam (based on Learning outcomes 3 to 5).
Feedback	Not entered
Exam Information
Exam Diet	Paper Name		Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)			2:00

Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to: Understand basic group theory, number theory, discrete probability. Being able to analyze probabilistic algorithms. Develop the ability to model security problems and to write security proofs. Understand fundamental cryptographic primitives including Key Exchange, Digital Signatures, Oblivious Transfer, Public-Key Encryption, Commitment. Understand basic computational problems that are important for cryptography such as the factoring problem, the RSA problem, the discrete-logarithm problem.