Course Information
- Lectures: MWF 3:00 pm - 3:50 pm
- Location: ECEB 2013
- Instructor: Prof. Yupeng Zhang zhangyp@illinois.edu
- Office Hour: Wednesdays 12-1pm, CSL 468
- TA: Sourav Das souravd2@illinois.edu
- TA Office Hour: Thursdays 4-5pm, Siebel Center 2124
Course Description and Prerequisites
Cryptography uses mathematical algorithms and protocols to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of information. Today, cryptographic principles and systems form an integral part of almost all online activity. This course is an introduction to the fundamentals of modern cryptography. You will learn about cryptograhy’s formal approach to security. You will learn about cryptographic primitives, and you will learn how those primitives can be used.
This webpage serves as the course syllabus, and it will be edited throughout the semester to release resources.
Textbooks (optional)
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Mike Rosulek’s The Joy of Cryptography is an excellent, albeit unfinished, free resource.
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Jonathan Katz’s and and Yehuda Lindell’s “Introduction to Modern Cryptography” is a more complete reference.
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Dan Boneh’s and Victor Shoup’s A Graduate Course in Applied Cryptography is an additional resource.
Links
Slides and files: https://canvas.illinois.edu/
Assignments and Gradebook:: https://www.gradescope.com/
Piazza: https://piazza.com/
Grading
Class Participation: 10%. Please show up to class, and participate in discussions in class and on Piazza. We will sometimes take formal attendance in class. You can miss up to three lectures without excuse; after that, each unexcused absence will deduct of your participation grade.
Homework: 50%. The course will include four homework assignments. Each homework will include careful instructions. Homework problems will include (1) long-form problem write-ups and proofs as well as (2) C++ programming assignments. For programming assignments, follow instructions carefully to receive full credit.
Homeworks are to be submitted via Gradescope. Late homework will not be accepted without valid excuses and approval of the instructor
- Collaboration. Homeworks are to be submitted individually. However, you may collaborate with up to one other student on homework assignments. On each homework submission, declare your collaborator (if any). In your collaboration you are expected to discuss the homework, not merely copy answers. Plagiarism will not be tolerated (see Academic Integrity).
Final Exam: 40%. The final exam will be a cumulative test on all course topics. It will be a combination of multiple choice and free response problems. 8:00-11:00 a.m., Monday, May 6
(4 credit hours only) Final project: 20%. In teams of 2, you will read papers in the cryptography literature, then write a long-form review. Come talk to me about potential topics. (If you are registered for four credit hours, your final grade will be out of 120, and it will be normalized to out of 100.)
Grading: [93-100] A, [90-92] A-, [87-89] B+, [83-86] B, [80-82] B-, [77-79] C+, [73-76] C, [70-72] C-, [67-69] D+, [63-66] D, [60-62] D-, [0-59] F.
Schedule (tentative)
| Week | Date | Topic | Readings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 1/17 | Introduction and background on Cryptography | |
| 1/19 | Ancient ciphers | Chapter 1.1-1.3, Introduction to Morden Cryptography | |
| Week 2 | 1/22 | Perfect secrecy, one-time pad | Chapter 1.4, 2 |
| 1/24 | Computational Security | Chapter 3.1,3.2 | |
| 1/26 | Pseudorandomness | Chapter 3.3 | |
| Week 3 | 1/29 | Chosen plaintext attack, stream cipher | Chapter 3.4, 3.6, 7.1 |
| 1/31 | Pseudorandom Function and Block cipher | Chapter 3.5 | |
| 2/2 | DES and AES | Chapter 7.2 | |
| Week 4 | 2/5 | Modes of Operation | Chapter 3.6 |
| 2/7 | Modes of Operation | Chapter 3.6 | |
| 2/9 | Padding oracle attacks | Chapter 5.1 | |
| Week 5 | 2/12 | Message Authentication Codes | Chapter 4 |
| 2/14 | CCA security | Chapter 5.1.2 | |
| 2/16 | Authenticated Encryption | Chapter 5.2-5.3 | |
| Week 6 | 2/19 | Hash functions | Chapter 6.1, 6.4 |
| 2/21 | Merkle hash tree | Chapter 6.6 | |
| 2/23 | HMAC | Chapter 6.2-6.3 | |
| Week 7 | 2/26 | Number Theory | Chapter 9.1, 9.3 |
| 2/28 | Diffie-Hellman key exchange | Chapter 11.3, 12.4 | |
| 3/1 | ElGamal encryption | Chapter 9.4, 12.3 | |
| Week 8 | 3/4 | Factoring assumptions | Chapter 9.2 |
| 3/6 | RSA encryptions | Chapter 12.5 | |
| 3/8 | Class canceled due to travelling | ||
| Week 9 3/11 | Spring Break No Class | ||
| Week 10 | 3/18 | RSA with CCA security | Chapter 12.5 |
| 3/20 | Random Oracle and Digital Signature | Chapter 6.5, 13.1-13.2 | |
| 3/22 | RSA Signature | Chapter 13.3, 13.4 | |
| Week 11 | 3/25 | Schnorr Signature | Chapter 13.5 |
| 3/27 | DSA Signature and PKI | Chapter 13.5, 13.6 | |
| 3/29 | Elliptic curve | Chapter 9.3.4 | |
| Week 12 | 4/1 | Bilinear pairing and BLS signature | Chapter 15.4 and 15.5 in A Graduate Course in Applied Cryptography |
| 4/3 | Commitment scheme | Chapter 6.6.5, Introduction to Morden Cryptography | |
| 4/5 | Sigma protocols | Chapter 19.4 and 19.5 in A Graduate Course in Applied Cryptography | |
| Week 13 | 4/8 | Blockchain and cryptocurrencies | |
| 4/10 | Smart contract | ||
| 4/12 | Zero-knowledge proof and its applications in blockchain | ||
| Week 14 | 4/15 | Privacy-preserving cryptocurrencies and zkRollup | Zcash |
| 4/17 | Polynomial commitments | KZG polynomial commitment | |
| 4/19 | Sumcheck protocol | sumcheck | |
| Week 15 | 4/22 | GKR protocol | GKR |
| 4/24 | Secure Multiparty Computation: Oblivious Transfer | Chapter 11.6.1 in A Graduate Course in Applied Cryptography | |
| 4/26 | Garbled circuits | Chapter 23.3 in A Graduate Course in Applied Cryptography | |
| Week 16 | 4/29 | GMW protocol | Chapter 23.2 in A Graduate Course in Applied Cryptography |
| 5/1 | Review session |
Academic Integrity
Academic dishonesty is a serious offense. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Student Code https://studentcode.illinois.edu is considered a part of this syllabus. If you are ever in doubt of what constitutes plagiarism or cheating, do not hesitate to ask me.
Disability Accommodations
To obtain disability-related academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids, students with disabilities must contact the course instructor and the Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) as soon as possible. To contact DRES you may visit 1207 S. Oak St., Champaign, call 333-4603 (V/TTY), or e-mail a message to disability@illinois.edu.