London Winter Program 2004/2005
December 26, 2004 – January 8, 2005
Cryptology: The Evolution of Secrecy
1843 The first line of the secret message in Edgar Allan Poe's tale The Gold Bug. It describes the location of Captain Kidd's treasure.
53‡‡†305))6*;4826)4‡.)4‡);806*:48†8¶60))85:]8*
1881 The first line of "the document" in Jules Verne's The Cryptogram.
Phyjslyddqfdzxgasgzzqqehxgkfn
1885 The first line of the first Beale Cipher. It describes the location of a treasure buried in Bedford County, Virginia. The treasure has never been found.
71, 194, 38, 1701, 89, 76, 11, 83, 1629, 48, 94, 63, 132, 16, 111, 95, 84, 341, 975
1917 The first line of the telegram between German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmerman and the German Ambassador in Mexico City. This was one bit of evidence that led the United States to declare war on Germany.
130 13042 13401 8501 115 3528 416 17214 6491 11310
1941 The first line of a message from the German battleship Bismarck to the German Admiralty. The message was enciphered using an Enigma machine.
KRKR FLOTT ENCHE FANAN OKMMM XXTOR PEDOT REFFE RACHT
During World War II The beginning of a message from a Russian spy in the United States to Moscow.
UETWZ UREEO ZTTTU ETPEP TRART
2001 The beginning of a message in the advertisement Are You Up To The NSA Math Challenge? (an advertisement for the undergraduate summer program at the National Security Agency).
YTLTM OTFCH STADE YEONS AAMAT VTEST TONHO YMEST UIBAE
2004 Cryptoquip from the Cincinnati Enquirer.
AVMKS RVIQVEQ AJV NVCQR LZVMF AJTKQ OQSSKTEU FLEUKQS NVOQR ZQ L NLCQKTEU RLKQRILE?
London Winter Program 2004/2005
December 26, 2004 – January 8, 2005
Cryptology: The Evolution of Secrecy
For over 2000 years, people have tried to keep their communications secret from others. Side by side with those efforts have been the efforts of the "codebreakers" who have tried to find patterns in seemingly meaningless messages. This is cryptology. It is the stuff of spies, diplomats, military commanders, and now terrorists. Beginning with classical cryptology, we will make and break ciphers and look a bit at the history of their use. Then we will focus on World War II and study the British efforts to break the German Enigma machine. We will close with an introduction to public key cryptology and consider the issues of privacy that are being (re)considered by our government.
Prerequisite: The mathematical prerequisites are minimal; anyone who is prepared to take a college-level mathematics course has enough mathematics background. Prerequisites should be students with curiosity and patience; students who like to solve mathematical problems or play word games; and students who have a sense of history.
Credit: 3 hours of undergraduate credit.
The course consists of three parts: classical cryptology, BletchleyPark and the Enigma machine, and modern cryptology/cryptological issues. The course may be taken at one of two levels: as a 200-level introduction to cryptology or as a 300-level course. The first two parts would be the same for both courses. For the third part, the 200-level course would focus on issues of the internet and privacy, and the 300-level course would focus on several public-key cryptosystems. Decision about course level must be made at the time of application.
Cost: $2895 plus appropriate tuition.
Application deadline: October 1, 2004.
Instructor:CooperativeCenter for Study Abroad (CCSA)
Chris ChristensenDr. Michael A. Klembara, Executive Director
Department of Mathematics and Computer ScienceNorthern Kentucky University
Northern KentuckyUniversityHighland Heights, KY41099
Highland Heights, KY41099
e-mail: -mail:
Website:
Office: ST 353Office: BEP 301
Office phone number: 859-572-6672Office phone number: 800-319-6015