Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Objectives At the completion of this subjects students should understand the factors influencing the security of data in distributed systems, especially transaction processing.
Synopsis The security requirements of parties to a transaction: privacy, proof of identity, ownership, licence, signature, notarisation, date of action, certification of origination and/or receipt. Cryptography: types of cryptoanalytic attacks on a cryptosystem, cryptographic systems, protocols. Secret key systems: information theory, one-time pads, DES, pseudorandom number generators and other current developments. Public key systems: one-way functions, public-key distribution, RSA cryptosystems and other current developments. Applications: open-channel key exchange, digital signature, user identification, electronic funds transfer, the electronic wallet, traceable versus untraceable EFT, contract negotiation and signature, smartcard applications.
Assessment Written (3000 words): 50% + Practical work: 50%