Topics in Cryptography

CIS 4930/6930: Topics in Cryptography

TENTATIVE Course Information

Instructor: Thomas Shrimpton
Email: teshrim at cise dot ufl dot edu
Office hours: TBD
Lectures: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 8:30 - 9:20 am
Location: TBD

Summary:

This course, which can be taken multiple times for credit, will focus on advanced topics in modern cryptography.

I have not yet decided what topics will be covered (in fact, we will leave some space for spontaneity) but some potential topics might be: determinisitic, searchable, or hedged public-key encryption; encryption that supports deduplication; honey encryption; authenticated encryption with online properties; crypto for stream-based data; cryptographically protected data structures; post-quantum crypto; wide-permutation-based crypto; crypto for low-power, embedded, or IoT applications.

The hope is that students will be able to persue research projects in one or more of the focus areas after completing the course.

Pre-requisites:

CIS 4362/5371 (taught by me!) or an equivalent course in modern cryptography that stresses formal syntax, security notions and proofs. (If you aren't sure if you've had such a course, try watching these videos and see if they make sense to you: video 1 video 2.) If you have any questions ask me.

Requirements:

Students will be responsible for reading papers. We'll aim for an average of 2 papers a week, so there will be a reasonable amount of reading. Students will be expected to come to class prepared to discuss the day's paper.

Pairs of students will be assigned to each paper. The assigned pair will be responsible for leading the group discussion and producing a written summary of the paper and (potentially) the class discussion. Evaluation will be by (1) classroom participation, (2) quality of discussion leading and written summaries, and (3) a final project (potentially).

Comments:

This is an elective, advanced topics course, so I expect all of the students to be motivated and to put in the effort required to make the class fun and informative for everyone. Please don't sign up if you're not really excited by modern cryptography and prepared to work! I don't say this to be harsh, but to protect the class: unmotivated students will just drag down the energy and pace. On the other hand, if you are excited by modern crypto and want to really dig into the latest research, then sign up right away!