Course information
Lectures
- Link to schedule
- First lecture: Wednesday 09:15-12:00, August 19, in Smalltalk, Ole Johan Dahls hus.
- All other lectures: Wednesdays 10:15-12:00. (Note: only the first lecture is 3 hours).
Recitation hours: Wednesdays 09:15-10:00 (i.e., before the normal lectures). During recitation I can go through this week's problem set, the solutions to the previous week's problem set, or any other question you might have.
Recordings: I will not be recording the lectures this year, but I may make the recordings from 2024 available in Canvas. These mostly cover the same material as this year, but in case of any disagreement between the two, this year's material takes precedence.
Grading
Final exam counts for 100% of the grade. However, in order to be eligible to take the exam, you have to pass the midterm assignment (mandatory).
Midterm exam: Available in Canvas from September 30, due October 14, 23:59. Submission is done in Canvas.
Exam date: December 14.
Curriculum
Everything covered in the lectures, weekly problem sets, midterm exam, and all explicitly linked material is considered part of the curriculum.
There is no mandatory text for the course, but we'll use one primary source, freely available as an electronic version:
The Joy of Cryptograpy, by Mike Rosulek [Ros]. The approach taken in this book is pretty close to what you can expect in this course too. It focuses on rigorous mathematical definitions, theorems, and proofs for all cryptographic concepts and constructions. Be aware, however, that the notation I use in class may not always agree with the notation used in Rosulek's book, but the essence of the definitions and concepts will be the same.
There are also many other excellent resources for learning cryptography, and I encourage you to use whatever source you are happy with. Here are some suggestions.
Introduction to Modern Cryptography, by Mihir Bellare and Phil Rogaway [BR]. This is an excellent set of lecture notes, that I used in previous years of the course. However, the lecture notes are starting to get a bit old (2005), so they lack some of the topics we cover in class.
Introduction to Modern Cryptography (3rd edition), by Jon Katz and Yehuda Lindell [KY]. This book is quite similar to [BR], but is more up-to-date and complete. This is an excellent book and highly recommended if you want to invest in a physical book.
Understanding Cryptography, by Christof Parr and Jan Pelz [PP]. Covers much of the same material as [BR], but having less of an emphasis on formal definitions and instead taking a more nuts-and-bolts approach.
Serious Cryptography, by Jean-Phillipe Aumasson [Aum]. This book is more application-oriented and covers more implementation aspects of cryptography.
A Graduate Course in Applied Cryptography, by Dan Boneh and Victor Shoup [BS]. This still-unfinished book is already massive and covers a lot of material. Don't let the "Applied" in the title fool you into believing that this book is light on mathematical details or rigor! It takes the same definitional approach as we do in the course, but since it's a graduate textbook it is also more advanced. Freely available online.
Throughout the semester I will also link to various other sources, such as research papers, blog posts, and web articles. I also recommend to check out the QA site crypto.stackexchange.com which has a lot of interesting and useful information.
What do I expect from you?
Read! You should read the course material and other notes I link to; they are more complete than my lecture slides. Also, look up alternative sources if you don't understand an explanation given in a linked text.
Be curious and ask questions! To me, your fellow students, online.
Do the weekly problem sets! Ideally you should attempt these before the recitation hours. If you want specific feedback on your work you can either submit it on Canvas, or come ask me during the recitation hours.