TU Wien:Introduction to Cryptography VU (Fuchsbauer)

Daten

Zuordnungen

Bachelorstudium Informatik	Modul Introduction to Cryptography (Breite Wahl)
Bachelorstudium Wirtschaftsinformatik	Modul SPF/INT - Schwerpunkt Informationstechnologie (Gebundenes Wahlfach)
Bachelorstudium Medieninformatik und Visual Computing	Modul Security
Bachelorstudium Medizinische Informatik	Modul Security (Gebundenes Wahlfach)
Bachelorstudium Software & Information Engineering	Modul Security (Gebundenes Wahlfach)
Bachelorstudium Technische Informatik	Modul Introduction to Cryptography (Gebundenes Wahlfach)

Inhalt

• Historic cyphers (Caeser, Scytale, etc.)
• perfect security/One Time Pad
• Pseudorandom generators and functions
• Security definitions and proofs
• Symmetric encryption schemes (DES/AES)
• Hash functions
• Message authentication codes
• Asymmetric encryption schemes (RSA, Diffie-Hellmann, El Gamal) including mathematical preliminaries (modulo operation, groups, etc.)
• Digital signatures
• TLS

Ablauf

2021W: 11 excercise sheets, circa every week (minus holidays), half of them by Matthias Wolf (in presence), the other half by Hamza Abusalah (via Zoom, due to COVID restrictions). Lectures via Zoom with recordings and slides posted. Two options for a written final exam, alternatively oral exams with individual dates by Georg Fuchsbauer.

Benötigte/Empfehlenswerte Vorkenntnisse

Basic knowledge in algebra is helpful but not required. Knowledge should be present at least regarding basic algebraic structures (mostly groups, a little bit rings), their operations and the modulo operator. The lecture is aiming to be self-sufficient and not require prior knowledge, but knowledge is helpful.

other opinion: even though no knowledge is required. I would not recommend to take this class if you are not a math or cryptography geek. You have to do many formal proofs. This is a class that can be fun, but only if you like formal proofs and theoretical thinking.

Vortrag

The lectures were well made with both the option to ask questions during each lecture and before and afterwards off the recordings. A few times they used video supplements from last year as well as a q/a sessions. The book Introduction to modern cryptography is mainly used in the second edition, even though the third edition is out, but they don't differ by much. Some notations differ between the lecture slides and the book, but this concerns only minor topics.

Übungen

The excercises are considered quite hard. Matthias Wolf and Hamza Abusalah consider grading a little bit different (regarding whether and how many points shall be distributed even if an honest attempt has been made), but grading is generally fair. The only point to note is that if you shut up during the excercises, you have a good chance of getting all your points auto-graded, whereas if you participate and ask questions, you have a higher chance of being graded manually (usually this means (some) point deductions).

other opinion (2021W): Yes the exercises are quite challenging, but the number of assignments graded manually has (at least in my experience) nothing to do with how vocal you are in the exercise sessions. I myself and some of my friends did not speak up in the sessions all that often and many of our assignments were graded manually nevertheless.

Prüfung, Benotung

The grading scheme is a bit odd. Quote on quote

In order to pass the course, the students have to obtain ≥ 50% in the final exam AND ≥ 50% in the exercises. Furthermore, let %E be the percentage obtained in the exam and %U the percentage obtained in the exercises. The final percentage will be $\%G=0.4*\%E+0.6*(\%U*5/4-25\%)$

%G is as percentage mapped to the final grade as in high school.

W23: $\%G=0.5*\%E+0.5*\%U$

Dauer der Zeugnisausstellung

noch offen

Zeitaufwand

moderate/high

Unterlagen

Jonathan Katz and Yehuda Lindell. Introduction to Modern Cryptography, 2nd Edition. https://eclass.uniwa.gr/modules/document/file.php/CSCYB105/Reading%20Material/%5BJonathan_Katz%2C_Yehuda_Lindell%5D_Introduction_to_Mo%282nd%29.pdf

Tipps

WS2022: Although the lecture technically contains all the necessary information, I had large gaps in my understanding and knowledge of even basic concepts and how they relate to each other (how reductions work and why we use them, the way the different indistinguishability experiments and security notions (EAV, CPA, CCA) work, notions of distributions and what it means for something to be probabilistic or uniform, etc.). Reading the book (Introduction to Modern Cryptography), and actively trying to truly understand the material made a huge difference for me in terms of my understanding and enjoyment of the topics covered. I assume it also would have saved me quite some time on the exercises if I would have done this from the start.

Highlights / Lob

noch offen

Verbesserungsvorschläge / Kritik

Matthias's excercise sessions were fair and insightful, often involving shorter or more lengthy discussions afterwards, while Hamza was generally more strict. While both insist on questions being asked, Hamza would often answer "we don't have time for this here, think about it harder and you will understand" (or similar), especially when the presented solution was confusing or lacking in detail. Otherwise, great excercise sessions, as long as you're interested in the topic (math and formal proofs).

Materialien

Neues Material hinzufügen

I

• Introduction-to-modern-cryptography-second-edition.pdf (details)
• Introduction-to-modern-cryptography-third-edition.pdf (details)

P

• Prüfung 2024-01-26 Gedächtnisprotokoll.pdf (details)
• Prüfung 2021-02-02.pdf (details)

S

• Sample Solutions Assignment 1.pdf (details)
• Sample Solutions Assignment 2.pdf (details)