Modern cryptographic primitives and protocols have been widely deployed as essential building blocks that support the security and privacy of computer systems and internet communications. Modern Cryptography adopts the Provable Security paradigm according to which the security of a cryptographic primitive or protocol is formally argued under a well-defined model. Through this course, the students will get familiar with a range of traditional and modern cryptographic primitives as well as a selection of state-of-the-art cryptographic models and comprehend the main principles that led to the transition of Cryptography from a collection of heuristic techniques to a self-contained area of Computing Science. In addition, the students will become acquainted with the concept of Provable Security, i.e., the methodology that allows one to formally argue about the security of some primitive, protocol, or system (instead of merely relying on intuitive arguments).  In the end of the course, the students will learn how cryptographic schemes can be utilised in real-world applications. This way, they will become able to carry out a rigorous design and security analysis of some cryptographic construction which is an indispensable skill in numerous career paths in academia or industry related to Cybersecurity. The course comprises a series of lectures and tutorials that include learning practice with Cryptography-based exercises so that the students will gain a deep understanding of the taught material.

Same as the current course (i.e., three (03) hours per weeks, 10 weeks). Namely,

■ 2-hour weekly lectures over 10 weeks (including formative and summative assessment briefing)

■ 1-hour weekly tutorial sessions over 10 weeks (following the corresponding weekly lecture)

None

None

Summative Assessment 1 (ILO1, ILO2, ILO4) - Written Exam (80%): the exam paper will assess the students' capacity to critically evaluate the description and the effectiveness of the taught cryptographic primitives and schemes, as well as their ability to formally argue about the security of cryptographic primitives. The exam questions are grouped into 4 themes as follows:

1. Traditional encryption (ILO1 and ILO2)

2. Symmetric-key Cryptography (ILO1 and ILO2)

3. Public-key Cryptography (ILO1 and ILO2)

4. Provable Security (ILO4)

Summative Assessment 2 (ILO1, ILO2, ILO3) - Set Exercise (20%):

One piece of assessed coursework including a set of exercises that will assess ILO1, ILO2, and ILO3. In particular, the course work will assess the ability of understanding of a given encryption scheme, distinguishing the related attack vectors under a well-defined threat model, as well as evaluating the pros and cons of the encryption scheme (ILO 1, ILO2). Moreover, the coursework requires the students to demonstrate advanced understanding of the given cryptographic algorithm by critically evaluating its applicability in the context of real-world applications (ILO 3).

This course will familiarise the students with the basic concepts of Cryptography as aligned with the Provable Security practice. In particular, the course aims are: 

1. To develop students' knowledge of a variety of cryptographic algorithms.

2. To understand different attack vectors and evaluate security guarantees of these cryptographic algorithms.

3. To understand and apply formal cryptographic models to the formulation of provable security arguments for cryptographic primitives.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Analyse different cryptographic algorithms and schemes in accordance with related attack vectors.

2. Assess the strengths and weaknesses as well as the usefulness of these cryptographic algorithms and schemes.

3. Recommend appropriate solutions from a range of modern cryptographic algorithms in the context of real-world applications.

4. Formulate rigorous argumentation about the security of a number of cryptographic primitives under well-defined cryptographic models.