Description

Cryptography is the science of securely carrying out tasks (e.g., secret communication) in an adversarial setting. In this course, we intend to broadly study certain foundational tasks in cryptography, with an emphasis on precise modelling of the adversary's capabilities and goal -- the security model -- and formally proving security in this model -- the security proof. But we will also have hands-on sessions aimed at exposing you to real world cryptographic libraries. The course will be a hybrid of Sruthi's CS409m and Manoj's CS406.

Prerequisites

Discrete structures and probability theory are soft prerequisites. This course will involve some amount of theory, and thus we will expect mathematical maturity.

Who can credit?

Since the course is a minor, it is open to all non-CS, non-freshmen UGs.

Grading and Attendance

Attendance is not mandatory (but encouraged). There will be six ungraded assignments to help you with quizzes and exams.

Below you can find the list of resources relevant to this course. The list of per-lecture resources (e.g., further reading) can be found at the end of the respective lecture slide.

• Introduction to Modern Cryptography, by Jonathan Katz and Yehuda Lindell, which we will mostly follow for the first two modules
• Foundations of Cryptography, Volume I by Oded Goldreich

• Fall'24 iteration of this course by Sruthi Sekar, the structure and syllabus of which we will largely follow
• Cryptography (CS406) by Manoj Prabhakaran

• Basic probability theory can be found in §A.3 of Katz-Lindell. The first recitation in MIT6875 is another resource.
• Basic number theory can be found in §B of Katz-Lindell. The third recitation in MIT6875 is another resource.
• Basic computational complexity can be found in the second recitation in MIT6875.