Welcome to the first week of the course! We will start the week with an exploration of what cryptography is and what it is used for and then move on to look at some cryptographic techniques, via some ancient cryptography. Although these ancient cryptographic techniques are not very useful in modern life, they are good at demonstrating some of the concepts that are still used in modern day cryptography. Week 1 lays the foundation for Week 2, when we will turn our attention to modern cryptography.
Week 2: Modern cryptography
Welcome to Week 2. In this week you will bring your knowledge about cryptography up to date in the modern day. This is where we start to look at more complex methods for more complex contemporary requirements. To start off, you will be introduced to a concept called 'public key cryptography' which is extensively used on the internet. You will then learn about hash functions and how some cryptographic techniques can be used to produce a digital signature.