Interactions in our society ever more often occur electronically. That is why there is a growing need for the security of information and communication systems - made very pressing when one thinks of the risks and threats involved in breaches of privacy, hackers, industrial espionage, computer viruses, phishing and fraud in electronic payments. In this course, the basic concepts of cryptography will be explained. Furthermore, it will be indicated how cryptographic technologies can be used for the protection of information against eavesdropping and alteration, and for the identification of entities. Cryptographic algorithms that will be discussed are, among others, DES, AES, RC4, RSA, Diffie-Hellman, SHA-1, CBC-MAC and HMAC. The role of a Public Key Infrastructure will also be explained.
Next, it will be indicated how different communication applications can be secured. This will involve the discussion of, among others, mobile phone and 3GPP security, web security (SSL/TLS) e-mail security (S/MIME and PGP) and of IP (IPsec). The principles of electronic payment systems will also be explained (EMV, Proton, micro payments).
The emphasis will be on the acquisition of insight in basic techniques, and in their strengths and limitations. Important elements are the application of this knowledge and the connection to scientific research in this area.