| CODE | CPS3232 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Applied Cryptography | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Computer Science | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit is aimed at providing students with the capability of designing secure systems based on cryptographic principles. Cryptography-based mechanisms are fundamental to securing various applications. This extends from the established domains of government, military, and banking to contemporary digital environments, encompassing web and email systems, e-commerce, e-voting, gaming platforms, smartphones, and emerging web3 applications. Knowledge and practical experience acquired from this study-unit prepares students with the ability to design and implement such applications. Based on the most rigorous type of security mechanisms, these applications inherit the security guarantees associated with the employed cryptographic primitives and protocols. Study-unit Aims: The main aims of the study-unit are to: • Provide the students with an understanding of state-of-the-art symmetric and asymmetric cryptographic primitives and their security analysis; • Build the students' skills in designing and and implementing security-critical applications and network protocols using cryptographic primitives. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: • Describe the design and the secure application of symmetric and asymmetric cryptographic primitives; • Analyse the security of cryptographic primitives in terms of distinguishing them from true random functions and/or their output from true random content; • Analyse the security of key establishment protocols in consideration of network threat models. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: • Design security-critical applications by composing cryptographic primitives; • Implement designed applications using cryptographic libraries in a programming language of their choice; • Identify, prove the exploitability, and rectify insecurely implemented applications and network protocols. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Textbook: - Understanding Cryptography: A Textbook for Students and Practitioners: Christof Paar and Jan Pelz. Publisher: Springer, 1st Edition 2010, ISBN-10: 3642041000, ISBN-13: 978-3642041006. [Digital copy on springerlink] References: - Discrete and combinatorial Mathematics: An Applied Introduction. Ralph P Grimaldi. Publisher: Addison Wesley, 5th Edition, 2003, ISBN-10: 0201726343, ISBN-13: 978-0201726343. - Serious Cryptography by Jean-Philippe Aumasson, 2017. Publisher: No Starch Press. ISBN-10: 1593278268, ISBN-13: 978-1593278267. - Real-World Cryptography: A Practical Introduction to Modern Encryption by David Wong, 2021. Publisher: Manning. ISBN-10 : 1617296716, ISBN-13: 978-1617296710. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Students taking this study-unit are assumed to have knowledge of the material covered in the following study-units: - CPS1011; - CPS1005; - CCE2414. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture, Independent Study and Project | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Joseph Bugeja |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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