BXNAESHQBHOHDFJTFJQE Fall, 2011 NLHEWHEBVHEFCHXFCHZF VHEWBAREWNETNZGJZEKE Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 12:00-12:50 FAEWHZDQQNSJZMFUAFRF Science Center, Room 308 FCUHNZFABMDFJNUHEWHM Dr. Alan Koch BUZEKHUZFAEFHVNBQEWB ZVHZZNRHEFVHDFJTBQQH Office: Buttrick 329 XHBOHHYEUNPJBIKFBAEZX (404) 471-6223 FARUNEJQNEBFAZ [email protected]

Office Hours. Mondays, 2-3, Tuesdays, 11-12, and Wednesdays, 11-12 or by appointment.

Text. None. Didn’t you spend enough on books as it is?

Calculator. Any scientific calculator will be just dandy. It certainly doesn’t have to be high-fallutin’ – medium fallutin’ will be just fine.

Computer. It will probably not surprise you to learn that modern day cryptology is performed almost exclusively with computers. We will focus on classical (read: old) ; however we will use a computer from time to time to facilitate computations.

Course Content. Most, if not all, of the book, along with other selected topics in cryptology. Topics include cryptography, , and protocols. Course Goals. By the end of the semester, you should:

 develop an appreciation for the theory of cryptology.  be able to encode and decode using a variety of techniques  be able to break codes which appear at first to be unbreakable.  improve your skills in effectively communicating mathematics via both speaking and writing.

So what, exactly, are we going to be doing? Cryptology is the study of secret codes. It includes cryptography , the writing of secret codes, as well as cryptanalysis , analyzing of secret codes. In other words, cryptography constructs the codes, cryptanalysis breaks them. Both are extremely important in today’s world.

As mentioned above, modern day cryptography is all done on computers. Most of the we will see in class can be done by hand. These are all well-known and most provide only a small-to-medium amount of security. (If I tried to teach anything more secure, the government would come for me in the middle of the night.) The idea in this class is to give you the theory behind making and breaking, not to give you the tools to hack into NORAD.

What kind of seminar am I? The class time will be spent in many different ways. In order to make sure you have the mathematical background you need to understand the various cryptographic algorithms (as well as their vulnerabilities), there will be lecture days. There will also be discussion days, particularly when we are trying to break codes. There will be project days, where you will work with three other students trying to solve a problem. Finally, there will be time set aside for student presentations.

Course Evaluations. The completion of course evaluations is an expectation of students in this class. Near the end of the semester you will be notified by e- mail and provided with a link to follow to complete the evaluations on line outside of class. Your feedback on the course is extremely valuable. You are responsible for completing an evaluation of the course at the end of the semester.

Honor Code. All students are expected to follow the honor code throughout the semester. Any graded work must be pledged (and signed) in order for it to be graded. Please consult the student handbook for more details.

Your grade will be based on the following. Each item to be turned in will be due at the start of class on the due date. Please note: I do not accept late work . Always plan ahead! All work will be done using Microsoft Word or OpenOffice1 and will be submitted on Moodle – no hard copies will be accepted. 2

Participation. This includes attending and contributing in class. Seminars work best when everyone participates. After all, this is not a “First-Year Stare at the Board”.

Writing. Like all First-Year Seminars, this is a writing intensive course. However, this course differs from most FYS in two distinct ways. One, there is very little reading. (Frankly, you should probably be a little ashamed that you got through this much of the syllabus. ☺ ), Also, the “writing” is less traditional. The emphasis is on communicating mathematics effectively in a variety of different formats.

You can look forward to three “big” writing assignments. The subject of each assignment will be given out one week in advance on Moodle. I will try to mention in class when a new writing assignment is out, but then I try to do a lot of things. Be sure to check Moodle every class day.

Journals. In addition to these assignments, there will be small journal exercises almost daily. They will be due before the start of the next class.

Presentation. You will also have the opportunity to give an oral presentation where you discuss a cryptographic technique.3 You will have 15 minutes to give your presentation. There are 16 topics and 16 students. The topics and dates are:

November 7 November 9 November 11 November 14 November 16 November 18 1. 1. ASFGX 1. 2-Square 1. Alberti 1. Solitaire 1. Credit Card 2. Pigpen 2. Bifid 2. 4-Square 2. Jefferson 2. Straddling Check Digit 3. Vernam 3. Playfair 3. Wheel Checker- 2. UPC Code 3. Permutation board Check Digit

Signing up for the topics will be done on Moodle and are first-come, first-serve!

1 An open-source software program that mimics Microsoft Office. It’s free. 2 This will allow us to look at the beautiful trees on campus with a certain degree of smugness. 3 With two exceptions – the last two topics are technically not cryptography, but they are useful codes. Projects. Did you know that more mathematicians work at the National Security Agency than anywhere else in the world? 4 This suggests that cryptology is a team effort. Because of this, four days will be set aside for projects. The class will be divided up into four teams of four people, each with a head writer. You will work in class on the project, but you will probably not finish in that time. Within one week, the head writer should submit a write-up. The write-up will depend on the project, of course, and specific instructions will be given on project days. To answer your questions:

How are the groups of four determined? The same way as how the head writer is determined: by me. The groups will change each time. Also, assuming that no one drops the course you will be head writer exactly once.

How is the head writer determined? Didn’t you read the response to the previous question? You asked it, after all.

So if I’m not the head writer for a project, I don’t really have to do anything, right? Au contraire. Always remember this: everyone in the group receives the same grade, based on the final write-up submitted. This is regardless of who did what. If you feel that a student is not working up to her abilities, well, the good news is that you won’t have to work with her no the next project.

So it would behoove me to play an active role in every project, right? Oh you would be behooven, all right. When the group is ready for to write-up the project, a rough draft should be written and shared with the rest of the group. Each group member should offer input, making sure the write-up is both cryptologically and grammatically correct (for example it shouldn’t contain made-up words like “behooven”), and then a final draft should be prepared.

Are there any exceptions to “everyone in the group receives the same grade, based on the final write-up submitted”? No.

None? Okay, there is one, and it’s important. While daily attendance is mandatory, it is even more mandatory on project days. If you are not in class to work with your group, you will personally receive a zero for the project. You can tell it’s important because I put it in bold and centered it. The rest of the group will get a grade based on the write-up.

What are the project dates? Wednesday, September 14 Friday, September 30 Monday, October 17 Monday, November 28

4 Yes, if you looked at the whole Moodle site. Grade Breakdown. The Writing assignments are 30%, the Projects 30%, the Presentation 20%, the Journal 10%, Participation is the other 10%.

Point Scale A: 92 - ∞ A-: 90 - 91 B+: 88 – 89 B: 82 - 87 B-: 80 - 81 C+: 78 - 79 C: 72 - 77 C-: 70 - 71 D+: 68 - 69 D: 62 - 67 D-: 60 - 61 F: (-∞)- 59

You should not expect there to be a curve applied to this point scale, unless you enjoy being disappointed.

Important Dates Unimportant Dates

September 5: Labor Day September 13: National Peanut Day September 14: start Project #1 September 16: National Play-Doh Day September 30: start Project #2 October 9: Leif Erikson Day October 14: Fall Break October 21: Count Your Buttons Day October 17: start Project #3 October 25: World Pasta Day November 7-18: Presentations November 14: Operating Room Nurse Day November 23-25: Thanksgiving Break November 28: Make Your Own Head Day November 28: start Project #4 December 6: Put On Your Own Shoes Day December 7: Reading Day December 8: Take It In The Ear Day (stop coming to class – people are staring)

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