By Ruslan Bes from Kharkov, Ukraine 7 months ago Completed

I signed for this course in July 2012 out of curiosity but just a few weeks later I got a task on my day-job to implement cryptographical security for our XML-RPC webservices. So this course comes just in time! And I would say that without it I would have spent much more time solving my problem.

So what I really liked in this course:
- It has very logical structure. I mean, it's more theoretical and deeper than Udacity's "Applied Cryptography: Science of Secrets (CS387)". Every chapter flows as Overview → Formal part: Theorems and Lemmas → Proofs → Practice and attacks → Quizzes. This helps to understand why some crypto-schemes works good and some other don't.
- Explanations are very extensive and mostly formal.
- Visual presentation helps very much. Especially flowcharts in the "Block ciphers" chapters
- Quizzes are hard!
- Optional programming assignments are very interesting and "hackish".
- "So the poor attacker..." thing :)

I definitely want to take the Cryptography II.

By lastland from Shanghai, Shanghai Shi 3 months ago Taking Course Now

I'm not familiar with cryptography so I found it a little hard to catch up with all the points in this course and I did spend quite a lot of time on it. However, I think this is a worthful investment for me. I love the way the instructor gives his lectures (by handwriting on screen!)!

By Roger Leyster 4 months ago Completed

A solid and entertaining introduction to cryptography. To get the most out of this course you should probably have a good foundation in discrete probability and pre-calculus; some calculus would help as well.

FEATURES:
1. Six weeks with approximately 11 video lectures per class.
2. Topics covered (non-exhaustive): history of cryptography, one-time pads and perfect secrecy, Shannon's Theorem, PRNGs (pseudo-random number generators), stream ciphers, security definitions, block ciphers (DES, AES), pseudo-random functions and permutations, modes (CBC, CTR), MACs (message authentication codes), collision-resistant hashes, side-channel attacks, Diffie-Hellman protocol, RSA, El Gamal.
3. Quizzes include both math-based and programming questions.

PROS:
1. (Close to) mathematically rigorous.
2. In-lecture quizzes had the right level of difficulty: not too hard, not too difficult.
3. Homework assignments very much helped to reinforce the ideas from class.
4. Lectures were edited well to remove extraneous pauses and irrelevancies.
5. Lecturer knew his material well.
6. Many good examples of where cryptographic protocols mis-applied (e.g., WEP, certain SSL/TLS instances, etc.)
7. PDF notes of lectures were very useful when studying for exams and doing homework.

CONS:
1. Supplementary sources were not as helpful as I would have liked.

By Vpriskas from Ioannina, Epirus 5 months ago Completed (Partially)

Really good lectures and pointers for further studying. Professor Boneh is inspiring and you get to love the subject yourself. The problem sets offer a good understanding of the material. The programming assignments are fun but they could be a little more challenging, (Consider the Cryptography class of Udacity if you want more
challenges). You 'd better have some programming skills before taking the course. You are free to use any language you want.
Good course overall !

By Sebastián Ramírez Montaño from Bogota, Bogota D.C. 5 months ago Completed

This is one of the best!

Professor Dan Boneh explains it all in a very detailed and technical manner.

His proofs and drawings help a lot directing your attention to what is needed to learn easy some rather complex concepts.

Also, the programing assignments are very funny, although very challenging... most of them ask you to hack something... and that's very funny.

By Alexander Alexeychuk from Simferopol, Ukraine 7 months ago Completed

As for me, the main purpose of the course is the bridge between theory and practice. I mean better understanding of all things inside crypto libraries, their functions and patterns.

It's interesting. Not easy from time to time. Explained all things you should know at line of crypto + usage details. There are also some points for further research/study if you need to digg deeper.

Dan, thank you!

By Gary Herreman 7 months ago Completed

Prerequisites: Definitely requires some experience with programming and computer science. You'll probably end up learning some basic programming if you didn't know any. Discrete probability won't hurt you either.

Quizzes: Some of the questions get pretty tough, but they're doable.

Programming assignments: Optional, but fun (if xoring random byte sequences is your sort of thing.)

Overall: I enjoyed this class and look forward to part 2.

By Pascal Hartig from Kiel 7 months ago Completed

Of all the courses I've taken so far (not only online), this has been the one with the best slides, best quizzes, best explanations and also most challenging and fun homework assignments. I will definitely take the second part of the course next year.

By jledoux from nyc 1 day ago Completed

Awesome course. I've tried teaching myself RSA several times, but from this course it finally stuck and not just text-book RSA, but the real things (as well as El Gamal).

It starts being a bit annoying that it seems he's being a stickler for things on the quizzes. E.g., a lot of quizzes rely on whether you remember and can functionally deal with the precise definitions for semantic security, perfect secrecy, trapdoor functions, etc. But it starts making sense later on, as you precisely define under what characteristics you have guaranteed security.

The programming assignments are a lot of fun, though sadly there are only six assignments (e.g., much less than a real crypto course) and its strictly a bonus. E.g., do a padding oracle attack; or break RSA if p and q differ by less than N^(1/4).

The content of the course is hard if you don't have any prior experience or a strong math background. However, the course is quite doable; e.g., you can take any exam multiple times (even the final -- though the questions/answers will vary slightly) and the programming assignments are optional.

I wouldn't recommend the course if you don't have the programming skills to say take the XOR of two byte arrays.

By Ilya from St. Petersburg 8 days ago Completed

Just completed Cryptography I. I love this course! I never had enough time (or passion) to learn cryptography basics, so Cryptography I was the really good chance to improve my education in this area.

Pros:
- very well designed course from one of the best active scientists in cryptography area
- clear explanations of cryptography basics.
- not overloaded with long proofs, but instructor always gives the references to appropriate papers for further reading
- fun homeworks and programming assignements
- a LOT of really useful practical advices

Cons:
- not found

Highly recommended for working programmers and/or people who really cares how cryptography is used in modern world. Looking forward for Cryptography II.

By Joseph Kovba from Hanover, Maryland 13 days ago Completed (Partially)

Prof. Boneh is extremely bright and talks fluently on a broad number of crypto topics in the class. For me, it was important to stop the videos often, process what was being taught, and repeatedly review the material. A basic understanding of upper-level math is assumed. I'd say I spent 5-8 hours each week completing the lectures and assignments without attempting any of the optional programming assignments. Overall, if you're disciplined, there is a lot to learn from this class!

By Sven Erik Matzen from Wetzlar 17 days ago Completed

Really cool course with some really nice theoretical backgound. The quisses were really hard to solve, because there were less multiple choice questions and more answers you have to calculate and write down the resulting numbers.
Dan Boneh is a really nice instructor - you must watch and listen to him to understand why.
Also I really liked the explanations why something does not work the you might want to (e.g. why WEP does not work and how you can break some crypto schemes).
If you are interested in crypto: take this course!

By Don Radick from Atlanta, Georgia 5 months ago Completed

Very smart professor. Very challenging. I wish that he would have moved a bit slower, and given more examples.

By Gavin Conran from Portadown 6 months ago Completed

Fast, mathematical and challenging but ultimately rewarding. If you want to know the mathematical difference between Diffie-Hellman and RSA (among other topics) and also why you should never write your own crypto sign up for this course.