---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE 1) Hi, This is your first reading assignment designed to give you enough exposure into the history and working of ciphers/codes . The codes are lying around us , in books , in movies , in paintings....its just that we have absolutely no idea about their existence there !!! ( Thats why its cryptography :) ) nyway..we will meet again after APOGEE....you have plenty of time...Read as much as you can...the more you read , the better your understanding of the subject will be... 2) Some of the reading assignments might seem weird and open-ended....but nonetheless ..you will gain a lot at the end of the exercise... 3) Make sure you document your findings in pdf format so that we can upload that on the website. (i.e. just make a soft copy of whatever you read !! ) 4) Those of you who want to assist in crypto workshop (by NSF , for CSA ,in APOGEE ) can mail me at f2002041@bits-pilani.ac.in 5) Any Group who wishes to work on Group 3 / Group 4 assignment can do so !!!..In that case that Group need not work on the readings that have been assigned to them ( Group 3/4 has to do the assignment anyway irrespective of the fact whether some other group has also taken the assignment up or not ) 6) if some of you dont like your assignments you can always switch with this "(Pre-requisite) Mathematical Background " just make sure you mail me in case Note 5 or 6 holds "true" for your group ... All the Best.. END OF NOTE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- READING ASSIGNMENT Group 1. Try to code ( C OR C++ OR Java )some of the ciphers( encryption / decryption ) ( discussed in the sessions )or any other cipher you manage to get your hands on. [ You may get in touch with Group 2 for the information on various ciphers..and then start coding the encryption and decryption algorithms ) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Group 2. Study Different Ciphers ( other than the ones discussed in The sessions ) (names , historical significance(if any) , algorithm etc )..Try to get as many as you can....i can list down atleast 50 of the known ciphers ;) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Group 3. Ok this is the "Dan Brown" Group !!! ;) So you will get something on him !!! a) Read Digital Fortress , Da Vinci Code , Deception Point and Angels and Demons... make a note of the cryptographic stuff used in the novels , figure out what type/ Category of ciphers they fall in ( substitution etc ) b) Figure out what "Rotating Clear text" ( as given in Digital Fortress ) is..and its properties , usage...possibility of usage in future ????? c) Go to his site and try to break as many crypto challenges as you can. Figure out the answers to his codes. ( Do "Googling" if you can't )You people will present these answers ( give a demo Online !!!) when we meet after APOGEE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Group 4. Fine.... Get the list of novels ( except Dan Brown ) , Science fiction / Other Books , Movies , paintings , etc etc etc that have certain cryptographic elements in them.... get the screen-shots , video-clippings etc e.g. There is Cryptography in One of the Sherlock Holmes Adventures ( I wont tell you which one..figure it out !!! .....) National Treasure movie has a certain scene where they deal with Steganography + Cryptography..( invisible inks and some cipher) A Beautiful Mind , Code Breakers etc movies have certain frames dedicated to crypto... Make the list as exhaustive as you can...read the books , watch the movies...get screen shots etc etc..... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Group 5. Figure out what MD5 / RSA is and what are the types of attacks etc it has been subjected to all these years ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------