Curs 2009-2010

Estudis d'Enginyeria Tècnica de Telecomunicació (especialitzada en Telemàtica)

Transmissió de Dades II (12629)

Number of Credits: 4.5 Number of Credits ECTS: 3.6

Student Effort (Total Hours): 90

Timing:

Year: 2nd

Type: quarter

Number: 2nd

Introduction

This course covers the security aspects of data transmission. It is part of a group of data transmission courses (Transmissió de Dades I, II, and III) and fits in the context of the communication theory related courses taught in the Telecommunications studies as shown in the diagram below. It is essentially an introductory course on Cryptography and Network Security.

In this course, the students will learn the basic concepts related to network security and cryptography. This includes the analysis and design of symmetric and public-key encryption algorithms and hash functions, and their applications to network security.

Prerequisites

 This course is mostly self-contained, however, a basic knowledge of the following subjects will be needed in understanding the encryption/decryption algorithms:

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number theory
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modular arithmetics
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probability theory
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There will be a review of the aforementioned concepts in the beginning of the class.

Also, in order to better understand theoretical concepts learned in class, there will be two class projects which may be in the form of programming. The students can use any programming language they feel comfortable with. Therefore, although the students will not be tested on their programming skills, the knowledge of a programming language (C, Java, etc.) is also required for this course.

This course will be taught in English. For the exams, a translation of the questions in Catalan or Spanish will also be available.

Competences

General Competences

Specific Competences

Instrumental

Creative thinking and analyzing abilities

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Problem solving abilities
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Knowledge of a programming language
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Knowledge of English
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Interpersonals

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Capacity to do teamwork
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Capacity to effectively interact in class with the teacher as well as other students

Systemic

Capacity to apply theoretical concepts in practice

Understanding the basic security concepts: attacks, services, mechanisms and models

Knowledge of basic concepts in modular arithmetics

Understanding the classical symmetric-key encryption techniques. In particular: Caesar, general mono-alphabetic, Playfair, Hill, and poly-alphabetic ciphers

Understanding the modern block and stream ciphers, in particular DES and RC4 respectively

The ability to compare and analyze different encryption techniques

Ability to choose the encryption techniques that suit best a given situation

Understanding different block cipher modes of operation and their purpose

Understanding the public-key cryptography and the RSA algorithm

Understanding the concept and techniques for secret and public key sharing and the pros and cons of each technique

Understanding hash functions and message authentication codes

Understanding the difference between message authentication and signature, and different methods to implement them

Grading

General grading criteria

 The students in this course will be evaluated based on their performance in the following activities:

Continuous Evaluation

homework(15%)

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distributed weekly
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in group
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corrected in class
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Quizzes (15%)
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taken weekly
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in group
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Project (7.5%)

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1 throughout the trimester
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done individually
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Course Wiki (7.5%)

every letcture is to be summarized in a wiki by one or more groups (to be determined)

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in group
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In-class positive and negative bonus points

worth 0.1 points each, added (subtracted) directly to (from) the total final grade

given (taken) based on in-class behavior and performance

does not help passing the course if your final exam is below minimum required

Partial and Final Evaluation

Exams

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1 midterm exam (15%)
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final exam (40%) - minimum 4.0 required for passing the course

September exam - see below for explanation

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all exams are carried out individually
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At the beginning of the trimester, the students are asked to organize themselves into groups of two or three students. These groups will remain together for the duration of the trimester.

Homework:

For every homework assignment, each group is required to turn in one completed assignment which is solved by participation of all members of the group. The homework should be delivered at the beginning of each seminar session. All individuals in the group will get the same grade for every homework.

Occasionally, you may be asked fo help with the grading process of the homeworks in seminar classes.

Quiz:

For each quiz, one individual per group is randomly chosen who will serve as the representative of the group. The chosen individuals will participate in the quiz, and the grade that they get will be assigned to the rest of the members of their group. This way the students are encouraged to work together in the homework and make sure that all individuals in their group equally participate in solving the homework. They will also help each other learn the concepts when solving homework.

Bonus points:

The in-class positive bonus points are given to individuals for participation and exceptionally good performance in the class activities. The negative points are given to individuals who show exceptionally disruptive behavior in class, or refuse to participate in certain class activities.

Exams:

The midterm exam will be taken around the middle of the trimester. It will include some multiple choice and some analytical questions.

The final exam will also include both multiple choice and analytical questions. The students will be individually evaluated in the exam. A minimum grade of 4.0 (out of 10) on the final exam is required for passing the course.

The evaluation method is summarized in the following table:

Component	Grading impact		Grading agent				Grouping		%
Component	Mandatory	Optional	Faculty	Self	Mutual		Indiv	S. Group	%
Homework (H)	x		x		x			x	15
Quizzes (Q)	x		x					x	15
Project (P)	x		x			x			7.5
Wiki (W)	x		x		x			x	7.5
Midterm Exam (M)	x		x			x			15
Final Exam (F)	x		x			x			40

Students will pass the course if they meet the minimum of 4.0 required for their final exam grade and their Total grade (as calculated above) is at least 5.0. In other words if:

Students who have a Total grade greater than 5.0, but don't pass the course because they don't meet the minimum requirement for the final exam grade will receive a final grade of 4.9. Otherwise, the final grade will be equal to the Total grade.

September exam: Students who do not pass the course in the end of the trimester have the opportunity to pass the course in September. The final grade in this case is calculated as follows:

For passing the course in September it is required that your grade in September exam is at least 4 (S ≥ 4). If Final grade ≥ 5 but S < 4, the Final grade will be reduced to 4.9.

Review of number theory and modular arithmetics
Introduction to cryptography and network security
Symmetric cryptography
- Classical techniques
- Modern techniques
- Confidentiality using symmetric encryption
- Symmetric key management
Public-key cryptography and hash functions
- Public-key cryptography and RSA
- Public key management
Message authentication codes
Hash functions
Digital signatures

Methodology

Methodological Focus

This course is worth a total of 4.5 credit units (3.6 ECTS), which require 90 hours of effort per student. Out of these, 33 hours correspond to class attendance and the rest to either individual or group work. The 33 hours of attendance break down into:

20 hours of lectures.
13 hours of seminars.

The lecture sessions, which will be attended by all the students registered to the course, are dedicated to introducing the theoretical concepts for each topic covered in the course. The lecture sessions will be held once a week and each last two hours.

The seminars, for which the students are divided into 3 groups of less than 15 students each, will consist of 80-minutes long sessions held once a week (for each group). The main focus of the seminar sessions will be on practicing the theoretical concepts taught in the lecture sessions. This will be done by various means, including correcting homework, doing quizzes and solving them in class, and occasionally holding contests related to the topics discussed in class.

The remaining 57 hours are left to students to spend at home on homework, studying, and doing the projects.

Note: This year there are only 9 Wednesdays in the trimester. As the seminars are held on Wednesdays, only 12 hours of the aforementioned 13 hours will be feasible. The extra hour will be spent on other activities.

Learning Resources and Bibliography

Basic bibliography

William Stallings. Cryptography and Network Security: Principles and Practices, 4^th Edition. Prentice Hall.

This book has a Student Resources website which contains useful links related to the material covered in the course. Make sure to check it out at

http://williamstallings.com/Crypto/Crypto4e.html

Complementary bibliography

Alfred J. Menezes, Paul C. van Oorschot and Scott A. Vanstone Handbook of Applied Cryptography CRC Press.

This book is available for free at

http://www.cacr.math.uwaterloo.ca/hac/
C. Kaufman, R. Perlman and M. Speciner. Network Security: Private Communications in a Public World. Prentice Hall

Estudis d'Enginyeria Tècnica de Telecomunicació (especialitzada en Telemàtica)

Transmissió de Dades II (12629)

number theory modular arithmetics probability theory

number theory

modular arithmetics

probability theory