Cryptography plays a vital role in securing the systems we use everyday. This graduate level seminar course will provide an overview of cryptography and its applications. Building on the foundations in the undergraduate course, this course will aim to understand the cryptographic tools that may be used in practice to secure systems as well as their mis-use and how this can lead to attacks. Students will read, discuss, and review foundational and recent papers in this area and learn how to present conference-style talks on the papers. Students will also complete a course research project on a security-related topic of their choosing.
The papers have been selected to expose students to a wide range of applied cryptography topics, including but not limited to: authentication systems, private information retrieval, multi-party computation, oblivious RAM, voting systems, anonymizing networks, zero-knowledge proofs, and anonymous payments systems. The precise set of topics rotates based on instructor preference, recent research developments, and current events.
There are no prerequisites for this course, though it is strongly recommended for students to take COMP 537 (or equivalent).
The following resources may be helpful as reference throughout the course.