Example Syllabi

There are numerous ways to read this book. You can use it as a self-study guide for applied cryptographic engineering, or you can use it in a course. A quarter- or semester-long course on computer security might use this book as the foundation for a 6-week intensive unit on cryptography. This book could also serve as the foundation for a full quarter- or semester-long course on cryptography, augmented with additional advanced material if time allows. To facilitate classroom use, we present several possible syllabi below.

The following syllabus is appropriate for a 6-week intensive unit on cryptography. For this 6-week unit, we assume that the contents of Chapter 1 are discussed separately, in the broader context of computer security in general.

• Week 1: Chapters 2, 3, and 4;
• Week 2: Chapters 5, 6, and 7;
• Week 3: Chapters 8, 9, and 10;
• Week 4: Chapters 11, 12, and 13;
• Week 5: Chapters 14, 15, 16, and 17;
• Week 6: Chapters 18, 19, 20, and 21.

The following syllabus is for a 10-week quarter on cryptography engineering.

• Week 1: Chapters 1 and 2;
• Week 2: Chapters 3 and 4;
• Week 3: Chapters 5 and 6;
• Week 4: Chapters 7 and 8;
• Week 5: Chapters 9 and 10;
• Week 6: Chapters 11 and 12;
• Week 7: Chapters 13 and 14;
• Week 8: Chapters 15, 16, and 17;
• Week 9: Chapters 18, 19, 20;
• Week 10: Chapter 21.

The following syllabus is appropriate for schools with 12-week semesters. It can also be augmented with advanced materials in cryptography or computer security for longer semesters.

• Week 1: Chapters 1 and 2;
• Week 2: Chapters 3 and 4;
• Week 3: Chapters 5 and 6;
• Week 4: Chapter 7;
• Week 5: Chapters 8 and 9;
• Week 6: Chapters 9 (continued) and 10;
• Week 7: Chapters 11 and 12;
• Week 8: Chapters 13 and 14;
• Week 9: Chapters 15 and 16;
• Week 10: Chapters 17 and 18;
• Week 11: Chapters 19 and 20;
• Week 12: Chapter 21.

This book has several types of exercises, and we encourage readers to complete as many of these exercises as possible. There are traditional exercises designed to test your understanding of the technical properties of cryptography. However, since our goal is to help you learn how to think about cryptography in real systems, we have also introduced a set of non-traditional exercises (see Section 1.12). Cryptography doesn't exist in isolation; rather, cryptography is only part of a larger ecosystem consisting of other hardware and software systems, people, economics, ethics, cultural differences, politics, law, and so on. Our non-traditional exercises are explicitly designed to force you to think about cryptography in the context of real systems and the surrounding ecosystem. These exercises will provide you with an opportunity to directly apply the contents of this book as thought exercises to real systems. Moreover, by weaving these exercises together throughout this book, you will be able to see your knowledge grow as you progress from chapter to chapter.