Instructor: Dr. Paul Regier Time: Online
Email: Place: Online
Office hours: paulregier.com/office-hours

1 Course Description

Topics covered include steam and block ciphers, data encryption and advanced encryption standards, public-key cryptography, RSA cryptosystems, and hash functions.

Prerequisite: Prerequisite: MATH 3263 (Calculus and Analytic Geometry IV).

1.1 Required Materials

  1. Access to Coursera - You should have received an email from Coursera with subject, “You’re invited to learn on Coursear!” If not, please email me or Cynthia Fuston to request access.
  2. Regular access to a computer for submitting homework assignments. While a calculator may be useful at times, you may use your computer as a calculator if you choose.

1.2 Learning Outcomes

In this course, you will:

  1. Learn how cryptographic primitives work
  2. Learn how to use them correctly and reason about data security

2 Course Format

This course will be completed in Coursera – Cryptography I, by Dan Boneh -
https://www.coursera.org/learn/crypto

For each week of the course, the students will

  • Watch videos for each week, take notes & answer video questions, then post these notes on Canvas
  • Do each week’s problem set on Coursera
  • Do each week’s programming assignment (you may choose whatever language you want), and submit on Canvas
  • Complete and pass the course Final Exam

3 Assessement

Course grades are made up of the following components:

Completion of video notes 10%
Completion of problem sets 20%
Completion of programming assignments 30%
Final Exam 40%
Total 100%

After rounding final grade to the nearest percent:
\(A = 90-100\%, B = 80-89\%, C = 70-79\%, D = 60-69\%, F = \text{below } 60\%\)

Note: You will not have the option to convert your grade to P/NP this semester.

4 Course Communication

Be aware and anticipate the following response times for the following types of correspondence:

  • Student –> Instructor: For emails to the instructor sent after 8 am on Monday but before noon on Friday, please allow 24 hrs response time. Messages left after midday Friday may take up to 72 hrs. Holidays excluded. Messages sent via email generally will receive quicker responses than messages sent in Canvas.
  • Instructor –> Student: Students are expected to check and be aware of information sent via email and Canvas announcement posts regularly and respond if needed following the same guidelines described in the above item.
  • Student –> Student: When working with other students (e.g. homework or group projects) students are advised to exchange contact information of some sort, as well as check and read email/group messages regularly.

In all course communication with your instructor and classmates, please follow these net etiquette (netiquette) guidelines: 1

  1. Remember the Human: When communicating electronically, whether through email, instant message, discussion post, text, or some other method, practice the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Remember, your written words are read by real people, all deserving of respectful communication. Consider the tone of your emails and discussion posts and before you press “send” or “submit” ask yourself, “Would I be okay with this if someone else had written it?”
  2. Make yourself look good: In all course communication with your instructor and classmates, be professional and polite. One of the great things about the virtual world is the lack of judgment associated with your physical appearance, the sound of your voice, or the clothes you wear. You will, however, be judged by the quality of your writing, so keep the following tips in mind:
    • Always check for capitalization, spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.
    • Think about what you want to communicate and state it clearly.
    • Avoid slang and acronyms like ROTFL for “rolling on the floor laughing.”
    • Don’t use ALL CAPS for entire sentences or posts, which denote yelling at someone. Any form of attack or inappropriate response within any form of communication with other students or faculty is unacceptable and if done in a discussion post will be removed immediately accompanied with a warning.
    • Be pleasant and polite.
  3. Respect other people’s time and bandwidth: Electronic communication takes time: time to read and time in which to respond. Most people today lead busy lives, just like you do, and don’t have time to read or respond to frivolous emails or discussion posts. As a virtual world communicator, it is your responsibility to make sure that the time spent reading your words isn’t wasted. Make your written communication meaningful and to the point, without extraneous text or large attachments that may take forever to download.

5 Other Information

5.1 Student Success Center (SSC)

The Student Success Center (SSC) offers FREE individual tutoring, hosted in the top floor of Nash Library! See the (SSC website for hours and link for scheduling an appointment)[https://usao.edu/academics/ssc.html]. It is very helpful to come to tutoring appointments with specific questions or topics you want help with.

5.2 Illness and COVID-19 Policies

Regular class attendance is necessary in achieving the course objectives. Thus, taking care of your health and avoiding unnecessary exposure to illness is an important part of your success.

However, if you do fall ill for any reason, I want you to be able to rest. Please do not come to class if you are sick (due to COVID or otherwise). If you are ill, simply email me to let me know. Then, when you are well, contact me ASAP to make plans for making up missed work.

For absences related to COVID-19, please adhere to the following:

  • If you test positive or are evaluated by a healthcare provider for symptoms of COVID-19, please alert the University at who will follow up with you as necessary, and your instructors will be notified.
  • If you have been exposed to COVID-19 positive individuals and/or have been notified to self-quarantine due to exposure, please notify the University at who will follow up with you as necessary, and your instructors will be notified.
  • To return to class after being absent due to a COVID-19 diagnosis or due to a period of self-quarantine, students should email who will follow up with you as necessary, and your instructors will be notified.
  • Supporting documentation can be attached directly to the request form and should be from a student’s health care provider or Student Affairs, clearly indicating the dates of absences and the date the student can return to class.
  • If you are absent from class as a result of a COVID-19 diagnosis or quarantine, you are still responsible to complete all course requirements. As the instructor, I will work with you to make up work. However, it is your responsibility to contact me to make plans for making up missed work as soon as you are well. Do not wait until the end of the semester to make up missed work.

5.3 Disability Services

The University has a continuing commitment to providing accommodations for students with documented disabilities. Like so many things this Fall, the need for accommodations and the process for arranging them may be altered by safety protocols related to COVID-19. To fully participate in this class, those with disabilities who may need accommodation should contact the Disability Services, as soon as possible. For this semester, please do this by emailing the Disability Services Office at .

5.4 Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty in any form is a violation of the Academic Code of Conduct and will not be tolerated. There is a zero-tolerance policy in this course for any form of plagiarism, fabrication, cheating, forgery, or any other type of academic dishonesty. For more on the Academic Code of Conduct please see the USAO student handbook.

5.5 Important Dates

Please also mark your calendar with all exam dates, as posted in the course schedule (see home Canvas page).

It is your responsibility to be aware of all dates listed in the USAO academic calendar.

5.6 Course Changes

The instructor reserves the right to make changes to this course as deemed mutually beneficial or necessary to all involved, with appropriate notification.

I encourage any feedback you have at any point during the semester. If you find any structural or content errors in any current course materials, let me know politely and respectfully via the syllabus discussion in Canvas, via email, or in person.

  1. Partially adapted from The Core Rules of Netiquette. Shea, V. (1994). Netiquette (Online ed., pp. 32-45). San Francisco: Albion Books.↩︎