Outline

Soon after the development of written communication came the need for secret writing, i.e., cryptography. This course examines the many ways in which people have tried to hide information and secure communication. While historical examples will be discussed, the emphasis will be on the technical means of achieving secrecy. Some topics to be considered:

• Monoalphabetic substitution ciphers (e.g., Caesar shift)
• Transposition ciphers (e.g., Hill)
• Polyalphabetic substitution ciphers (e.g., Vigenere)
• Machine ciphers (e.g., Enigma)
• Information theory and one-time pads
• Cryptographic standards (e.g., AES)
• Public-key cryptography (e.g., RSA)
• Cryptographic protocols (e.g., key exchange, digital signatures)
• Quantum cryptography
• Steganography and visual cryptography

Materials