Introduction to
Cryptography
Instructor: Neil Sigmon Phone: 831-5340
Office:
Homepage: http://www.radford.edu/~npsigmon
Course Homepage: http://www.radford.edu/~npsigmon/courses/cryptography/crypthome132.html
Office Hrs: 10:00 a.m. – 11:00
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
1:30 – 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday
(Other times by appointment)
Textbook: Invitation to Cryptology (with Maple), Thomas
Barr.
Supplemental Resource: The Code Book,
Simon Singh (can be purchased off Amazon.com)
Class Meeting Times: Section 01: Tuesday, Thursday 9:30-10:45 p.m. in Perry B001.
Section
02: Tuesday, Thursday 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. in Perry B001.
Test Dates: To be announced (There will be two major tests and a
final exam).
Final Exam
Date:
In Class Part: Section 01: Thursday, December 13th at 2:00
p.m. in Perry B001.
Section 02: Monday, December 10th
at 2:00 p.m. in Perry B001.
Take Home Part: Due by 2:00 p.m., Friday, December 14th .
Grading
Policy: 44 % 2 Major Tests
22 %
Final Exam
20 % Hand written Homework, Computer
Assignments
7
% Term Paper*
7 %
WebCT Cryptography Discussion Participation**
* The term paper will be a short paper (4 pages)
describing a person or cryptographic method pertaining to
cryptology. I will give you a handout later this semester showing possible
topics. I must approve the topic
you choose. The paper should be typewritten (using Microsoft Word, for example)
using 1.5 line spacing
and should have good grammatical structure with references clearly stated. Do
not plagiarize! The term
paper will be due on Friday November 16th.
** For this part of the grade, you will be required to
participate in WebCT discussion groups. This discussion
will include you communicating with your classmates in groups (preferably using
the wireless capabilities of
your laptop) in a secret manner using some of the cryptographic techniques we
study in class. You will have
the opportunity to encrypt and decrypt your own messages and to break messages
sent by others.
Grade Scale: 90-100 A
80-89 B
70-79 C
60-69 D
<
60 F
Prerequisite: High School Algebra
“Makeup”
Test Policy: Approval for making up a
missed test should be given prior to the scheduled test. The
makeup test must be taken within one week following the scheduled
test. Documentation is required for all
make-ups. Except for extraordinary circumstances, approval for a makeup test
will not be granted if the scheduled
test has already been given.
Late Homework Policy: Late hand written homework will be accepted but only
limited credit will be given. I consider
late homework to be homework turned in later than 5:00 p.m. of the day the
assignment is due. The maximum number
of points a student can receive for a late homework is ten points lower than
the minimum grade of all students who have
turned in the assignment on time. For example, if an assigned homework is worth
80 points and the lowest score of the
on-time assignments is 60/80, the maximum grade a student can receive for the
assignment is 50/80. No exceptions to
this policy will be granted except for extreme circumstances that require
official university documentation or a predetermined
arrangement between the student and myself that is done prior to the
assignment due date. Late assignments must be
turned in within one class day of the assignment due date
to obtain any credit.
Attendance
Policy: Attendance is a requirement in this class. If you miss a
class, you are responsible for making up
any missed work. Attendance will be taken each class period. Attendance means RESPONSIBILITY – I look much more
favorably on students who have good attendance habits.
Textbook
Coverage: References to chapter 1,
Sections 2.1-2.9, 3.1, 3.4, 4.1, 4.3, 4.4, 4.6, 5.4