Code

COMPGA04

Year

MSc

Prerequisites

COMPGA03 Introduction to Cyptography

Term

2

Taught By

Yvo Desmedt (100%)

Aims

The 1980's and early 1990's have been primarily dominated by the use of heuristics to design cryptographic schemes. However, often such an approach allowed cryptanalysts to break such schemes. Today, security proofs (based on reduction and on the random oracle model), play a primordial role. Such an approach has, for example, been used to design the standards for modes for encryption and authentication. The goal is to make the student familiar with security proofs used in modern cryptography. Students will learn the difference between theoretical and practical results. They will learn how to make security proofs.

Learning Outcomes

To guarantee communication security, today's and future cryptographic standards are based on proven security. Students will learn how to prove schemes and protocols to be secure.

Content

Security definitions
Proven security
Random oracle
Standard reduction
Models
Chosen text attack
Non-malleability
Diffie-Hellman assumptions
Universal hash-functions
Universal on-way hash functions
Cramer-Shoup encryption
Block-Ciphers (Luby-Rackoff)
Pseudo-random generators
Pseudo-random functions (Naor-Reingold)
Proven secure digital signatures
Oblivious transfer
Secure multiparty computation
Proven secure modes of encryption/ authentication
Post-quantum cryptography

Tutor-led class sessions, problem-solving sessions and private study

The course has the following assessment components:

• Written Examination (2.5 hours hours, 80%)
• Project_Presentation (1 hours hours, 20%)

To pass this course, students must:

• Obtain an overall pass mark of 50% for all sections combined

The examination rubric is:
To be notified

Golreich, 'The Fundations of Cryptography', Springer.