CS 341: Cryptography
Structure of your preliminary reports
For each of the cryptographic systems we study this term (see
course information page), you
will write a 1-2 page preliminary report. This report should have the
following sections:
- The question. A brief statement of the question
under investigation. For example, "How do automatic teller machines work?"
- Background. A couple sentences to orient the reader
to the context of the question. For example, you might explain briefly
what an ATM is, and whether you are talking about a particular type of
ATM (e.g. owned by and located in a bank, or leased by a gas station, or...), etc.
- Components of the system. A short list of the system
components that are relevant to our topic. For example, the components for
an ATM system would include the user's ATM card, the ATM kiosk itself and
its various sub-components (e.g. money holder, touch screen, etc.), some
sort of network connection, a server with access to the bank records, etc.
- Typical operation. A step-by-step description of the
events comprising a typical use of the system. Some steps may be executed by
a person, others by a piece of software on some machine, others by dedicated
hardware like a card reader, etc. This portion
of your report should tell a concise but reasonably detailed story of how
a communication or transaction takes place. For an ATM, walking through
the steps of a simple cash withdrawal would be appropriate here.
- Cryptography used. A list of the
cryptographic algorithms and protocols used by the system in question.
- Vulnerabilities. A list of potential attacks on
the system.
- Recommended study topics. List here the collection of
topics you think our class should study to enable us to thoroughly
understand the system in question. For ATMs, for example, this might
include whatever private key algorithm modern ATMs use, key distribution
mechanisms, etc.