MATH 108 Cryptology

This course is an examination of conventional cryptographic methods (such as substitution and transposition ciphers), public key methods (such as RSA, a standard method for secure web transactions), and computer-based conventional cryptographic techniques (block ciphers and hash functions). We will develop and use mathematical tools such as modular arithmetic, probability, matrix algebra, and number theory both to implement and cryptanalyze these methods. In addition, we will deal with a few of the technical and public policy issues surrounding uses of encryption.