An introduction to cryptology, the science of making and breaking codes and ciphers. Topics include: conventional and public-key cryptosystems, including DES, RSA, shift register systems and selected classical systems; examples of cryptanalytic techniques; digital signatures; pseudo-random number generation; cryptographic protocols and their applications; and an introduction to the theories of cryptographic strength based on information theory and complexity theory.
Prerequisites: CMSC 341, MATH 221 and STAT 355