About this course: Cryptography is an indispensable tool for protecting information in computer systems. In this course you will learn the inner workings of cryptographic systems and how to correctly use them in real-world applications. The course begins with a detailed discussion of how two parties who have a shared secret key can communicate securely when a powerful adversary eavesdrops and tampers with traffic. We will examine many deployed protocols and analyze mistakes in existing systems. The second half of the course discusses public-key techniques that let two parties generate a shared secret key. Throughout the course participants will be exposed to many exciting open problems in the field and work on fun (optional) programming projects. In a second course (Crypto II) we will cover more advanced cryptographic tasks such as zero-knowledge, privacy mechanisms, and other forms of encryption.

Created by: Stanford University

Taught by: Dan Boneh, Professor
Computer Science

Language	English
How To Pass	Pass all graded assignments to complete the course.
User Ratings	4.8 stars Average User Rating 4.8See what learners said

Syllabus

WEEK 1

Course overview and stream ciphers

Week 1. This week's topic is an overview of what cryptography is about as well as our first example ciphers. You will learn about pseudo-randomness and how to use it for encryption. We will also look at a few basic definitions of secure encryption.

12 videos, 2 readings, 1 practice quiz

Graded: Week 1 - Problem Set

WEEK 2

Block Ciphers

Week 2. We introduce a new primitive called a block cipher that will let us build more powerful forms of encryption. We will look at a few classic block-cipher constructions (AES and 3DES) and see how to use them for encryption. Block ciphers are the work hors...

11 videos, 1 practice quiz

Graded: Week 2 - Problem Set

WEEK 3

Message Integrity

Week 3. This week's topic is data integrity. We will discuss a number of classic constructions for MAC systems that are used to ensure data integrity. For now we only discuss how to prevent modification of non-secret data. Next week we will come back to encry...

11 videos, 1 practice quiz

Graded: Week 3 - Problem Set

WEEK 4

Authenticated Encryption

Week 4. This week's topic is authenticated encryption: encryption methods that ensure both confidentiality and integrity. We will also discuss a few odds and ends such as how to search on encrypted data. This is our last week studying symmetric encryption. Nex...

12 videos, 1 practice quiz

Graded: Week 4 - Problem Set

WEEK 5

Basic Key Exchange

Week 5. This week's topic is basic key exchange: how to setup a secret key between two parties. For now we only consider protocols secure against eavesdropping. This question motivates the main concepts of public key cryptography, but before we build public-k...

9 videos, 1 reading, 1 practice quiz

Graded: Week 5 - Problem Set

WEEK 6

Public-Key Encryption

Week 6. This week's topic is public key encryption: how to encrypt using a public key and decrypt using a secret key. Public key encryption is used for key management in encrypted file systems, in encrypted messaging systems, and for many other tasks. The vide...

11 videos, 1 practice quiz

Graded: Week 6 - Problem Set

WEEK 7

Final exam

Congratulations! We are at the end of the course. This module contains only the final exam which covers the entire course. I hope everyone learned a lot during these 6 weeks. Good luck on the final exam and I look forward to seeing you at a future course! ...

Graded: Final Exam

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Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is an American private research university located in Stanford, California on an 8,180-acre (3,310 ha) campus near Palo Alto, California, United States.

Ratings and Reviews

Rated 4.8 out of 5 of 999 ratings

Honestly, a great course in Cryptography. The professor is very lucid and clear. Notation isn't too heavy and the ideas in this course are explained very clearly. Yes, you might have to pause and rewind some of the videos, but that's just because it's math.

I learned a tremendous amount from this course and it provided the grounding for an array of different areas of infosec studies I am pursuing. I highly recommend it. Many of the ideas were easy and intuitive to grasp, but there is also enough depth that I will likely take the course again at a later date.

The quizzes and projects were thoughtful and challenging, and effectively tested that the student understands the key ideas of material.

I love the videos and notes

nice teacher!

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Cryptography I

Cryptography I

Cryptography I