Computer Science 431: Cryptology in Computing
Course Description

This is a course description for a course at the University of New Mexico in the fall of 1995. The official course description is rather sketchy:
Techniques of encryption and decryption in current use for the protection of privacy of files. Emphasis on public key encryption. Includes extensive use of modular and multiple precision arithmetic.
The pre-requisite for this course is CS 251L, Introduction to Data Structures, and familiarity with modular arithmetic. This course is allowed for graduate credit to students enrolled in a graduate program.

What is cryptology?

Simply stated, cryptology is the science of protecting information. The course description given above addresses only encryption in support of privacy of files. This is an old-fashioned definition, and in addition to encryption for protecting information against unintentional disclosure, cryptology also addresses protections such as: This course will attempt to cover the various kinds of protections that can be given to information, and the variety of tools that can be used to provide these services. In addition, applications to real systems will be discussed, using examples from electronic commerce systems, the world wide web, and distributed file systems.

A syllabus is available online. Topics that are part of the course include:

Pre-requisistes and overall goals

Cryptology can be a highly mathematical subject, particularly when you want to understand the strength of systems against an adversary. The emphasis in this course will be on understanding cryptographic mechanisms and their applications, and as a result every effort will be made to minimize the mathematical pre-requisistes. Students should have a good familiarity with modular arithmetic and some exposure to probability. The textbook (Cryptography: Theory and Practice, by Doug Stinson) will serve as a reference source for students that feel their mathematical training is lacking. Another useful reference book is the book by Bruce Schneier: Applied Cryptography. It is unfortunately unsuitable as a textbook. A second edition is now available.
The CS431 home page is located at http://www.swcp.com/~mccurley/course/.