Course Calendar
We will cover the following topics in applied cryptography: introduction/review, post-quantum-secure encryption & applications (private information retrieval and fully homomorphic encryption), cryptographic proof systems, multi-party computation, cryptanalysis & computationally hard problems and project presentations. See the course overview for details on the course content and prerequisites.
Textbook: This course will not use a textbook. (Most of the topics we will teach are too new to appear in textbooks.) Ron Rivest has compiled a comprehensive list of readings on cryptography and computer security. If you are interested in going deeper into any topic, or if you need ideas for your final project, these references are a great place to start.
Course policies: Please read them carefully. You are responsible for knowing and following all of the policies—especially the collaboration policy and the policy on AI assistants (GPT and friends). Please do not make us sad, and yourself even more sad, by violating the collaboration policy.
Warning: We may change any content on this website, including the calendar, at any time.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| apr 1🎬 Lecture 1, hcg Overview of crypto; Overview of class, Why post-quantum crypto? |
apr 2 Published: Pset 1 |
apr 3🎬 Lecture 2, hcg AES |
apr 4 | apr 5🎬 Recitation 1, kz Review: One-way functions, collision resistance, AES, linear algebra DUE: Review course policies. |
| apr 8🎬 Lecture 3, yk Symmetric Encryption: Construction from PRF |
apr 9 | apr 10🎬 Lecture 4, yk Public-key Encryption: Constructions from LWE (Regev) |
apr 11 | apr 12🎬 Recitation 2, sw x DUE: Pset 1 DUE: Read about final project |
| apr 15🎬 Lecture 5, ah PIR from LHE |
apr 16 Published: Pset 2 |
apr 17🎬 Lecture 6, hcg PIR extensions |
apr 18 | apr 19🎬 Recitation 3, kc Choosing a project topic |
| apr 22🎬 Lecture 7, hcg Public-key encryption and its implementation |
apr 23 | apr 24🎬 Lecture 8, ah FHE - Part I |
apr 25 | apr 26🎬 Recitation 4, kz LWE and PIR DUE: Pset 2 |
| apr 29🎬 Lecture 9, ah FHE - Part II |
apr 30 Published: Pset 3 |
may 1🎬 Lecture 10, yk Proof systems intro |
may 2 | may 3🎬 Recitation 5, kc Complexity and FHE review |
| may 6🎬 Lecture 11, yk Sumcheck |
may 7 | may 8🎬 Lecture 12, yk GKR |
may 9 | may 10 Recitation 6, sw x DUE: Pset 3 |
| may 13🎬 Lecture 13, yk SNARGs for NP |
may 14 | may 15 Lecture 14, hcg Lattice-based signatures |
may 16 | may 17 Recitation 7, kz x |
| may 20 Lecture 15, yk Secret sharing |
may 21 | may 22 Lecture 16, yk MPC: Intro and definition |
may 23 | may 24 Recitation 8, kc Review - commitment schemes, secret sharing |
| may 27 Lecture 17, yk MPC: BGW construction |
may 28 Published: Pset 4 |
may 29 Lecture 18, hcg MPC: Applications |
may 30 | may 31 Recitation 9, sw x |
| jun 3 | jun 4 | jun 5 | jun 6 | jun 7 Recitation 10, kz Secret Sharing and MPC Review DUE: Pset 4 |
| jun 10 Lecture 19, hcg Preprocessing attacks |
jun 11 | jun 12 Lecture 20, hcg Public-key cryptanalysis |
jun 13 | jun 14 Recitation 11, kc x |
| jun 17 Lecture 21, guest Guest lecture: Ron Rivest and Jim Bidzos |
jun 18 | jun 19 Lecture 22, guest Guest lecture: Panel discussion with Ron and Jim |
jun 20 | jun 21 Recitation 12, sw x |
| jun 24 Lecture 23, hcg&yk Open questions |
jun 25 | jun 26 Project presentations |
jun 27 | jun 28 |
| jul 1 Project presentations |
jul 2 | jul 3 | jul 4 | jul 5 |
| jul 8 | jul 9 | jul 10 | jul 11 | jul 12 |
| jul 15 | jul 16 | jul 17 | jul 18 | jul 19 |
| jul 22 | jul 23 | jul 24 | jul 25 | jul 26 |
| jul 29 | jul 30 | jul 31 | aug 1 | aug 2 |
| aug 5 | aug 6 | aug 7 | aug 8 | aug 9 |
| aug 12 | aug 13 | aug 14 | aug 15 | aug 16 |
| aug 19 | aug 20 | aug 21 | aug 22 | aug 23 |
| aug 26 | aug 27 | aug 28 | aug 29 | aug 30 |
| sep 2 | sep 3 | sep 4 | sep 5 | sep 6 |
| sep 9 | sep 10 | sep 11 | sep 12 | sep 13 |
| sep 16 | sep 17 | sep 18 | sep 19 | sep 20 |
| sep 23 | sep 24 | sep 25 | sep 26 | sep 27 |
| sep 30 | oct 1 | oct 2 | oct 3 | oct 4 |
| oct 7 | oct 8 | oct 9 | oct 10 | oct 11 |
| oct 14 | oct 15 | oct 16 | oct 17 | oct 18 |
| oct 21 | oct 22 | oct 23 | oct 24 | oct 25 |
| oct 28 | oct 29 | oct 30 | oct 31 | nov 1 |
| nov 4 | nov 5 | nov 6 | nov 7 | nov 8 |
| nov 11 | nov 12 | nov 13 | nov 14 | nov 15 |
| nov 18 | nov 19 | nov 20 | nov 21 | nov 22 |
| nov 25 | nov 26 | nov 27 | nov 28 | nov 29 |
| dec 2 | dec 3 | dec 4 | dec 5 | dec 6 |
| dec 9 | dec 10 | dec 11 | dec 12 | dec 13 |
| dec 16 | dec 17 | dec 18 | dec 19 | dec 20 |
| dec 23 | dec 24 | dec 25 | dec 26 | dec 27 |
| dec 30 | dec 31 | jan 1 | jan 2 | jan 3 |
| jan 6 | jan 7 | jan 8 | jan 9 | jan 10 |
| jan 13 | jan 14 | jan 15 | jan 16 | jan 17 |
| jan 20 | jan 21 | jan 22 | jan 23 | jan 24 |
| jan 27 | jan 28 | jan 29 | jan 30 | jan 31 |
| feb 3 First day of classes |
feb 4 | feb 5 | feb 6 | feb 7 Registration deadline |
| feb 10 | feb 11 | feb 12 | feb 13 | feb 14 |
| feb 17 Presidents' day |
feb 18 Monday classes held |
feb 19 | feb 20 | feb 21 |
| feb 24 | feb 25 | feb 26 | feb 27 | feb 28 |
| mar 3 | mar 4 | mar 5 | mar 6 | mar 7 ADD DATE |
| mar 10 | mar 11 | mar 12 | mar 13 | mar 14 |
| mar 17 | mar 18 | mar 19 | mar 20 | mar 21 |
| mar 24 | mar 25 | mar 26 | mar 27 | mar 28 |
| mar 31 | apr 1 | apr 2 | apr 3 | apr 4 |
| apr 7 | apr 8 | apr 9 | apr 10 | apr 11 |
| apr 14 | apr 15 | apr 16 | apr 17 Midterm quiz |
apr 18 |
| apr 21 Patriots' day |
apr 22 DROP DATE |
apr 23 | apr 24 | apr 25 |
| apr 28 | apr 29 | apr 30 | may 1 | may 2 |
| may 5 | may 6 | may 7 | may 8 | may 9 |
| may 12 | may 13 DUE: Final project report Last day of classes |
may 14 | may 15 | may 16 |
Course website design courtesy of PDOS and Katrina LaCurts.