Secrets, Codes, and Ciphers

  • Syllabus
  • Online Text: Cryptology Through History and Inquiry
  • Online Text PDF: Cryptology Through History and Inquiry
  • Class Calendar: Your syllabus has a rough calendar of what we will be covering each class. After each class I will post what we were actually were able to cover here:
    1. 8-28-18: We discussed our syllabus and syllabi in general, then introduced the Cipher Chain Challenge before finally discussing the Fall 2018 Semester Opener. Try to finish deciphering the opener for Friday.
    2. 8-31-2018: We covered most of Chapter 1 Section 1 in Cryptology Through History and Inquiry, try to finish that for a quick discussion at the start of class Tuesday.
    3. 9-4-2018: We had the syllabus quiz and finished up chapter 1 section 1.  Read through chapter 1 section 2 in CT&I so that we can move through it smoothly Friday.
    4. 9-7-2018: We had our first reading quiz and then worked through chapter 1 section 2 in CT&I, finish this up for Tuesday.
    5. 9-11-2018: We had our first vocabulary quiz and then practiced for the exam on Friday.
    6. 9-14-2018: We had our first exam today and you all did great, 100%’s all around for those who were there.  (But remind me on Tuesday to talk about shift ciphers)
    7. 9-18-2018: We started unit 2 by looking at the first section of chapter 2 in Cryptology Through History and Inquiry.  In particular we discussed qualitative and quantitative properties of language.
    8. 9/21/2018: We talked about the John Falconer and started reading through his commentary on frequency analysis.  We will continue this, be sure to find a large sample of plain text that we can use throughout this unit to more closely examine the ideas we discuss.
    9. 9-25-2018: We talked about strategies for reading text for details.  Then, we spent the rest of the class talking about Falconer’s second step in analyzing language.  We will look at steps 3 and 4 on Friday and try some examples.
    10. 9-28-2018: We had the reading and vocabulary quiz and finished looking at Falconer’s recommendations for decryption.
    11. 10-2-1018: We spent class practicing cracking ciphers. Here is a copy of the ciphers we looked at in class, you should try finishing them on your own.  Additionally you should look at problems 5, 6, and 7 from the end of chapter 2.  Finally, I added a sample deciphering as an appendix at the end of the online text.
    12. 10-5-2018: Group Exam 2
    13. 10-9-2018: We went over the first part of Chapter 3 Section 1 in Cryptology Through History and Inquiry.  Also, remember that you have a reading quiz this Friday on pages 45-63 in The Code Book
    14. 10-12-2018: We took our reading quiz, reviewed Alberti’s cipher, and then learned about Vigenere’s cipher so we are still in Chapter 3 Section 1 in Cryptology Through History and Inquiry.  I corrected the typos we spotted in class, let me know if you see any others.
    15. 10-16-2018: Autokey Cipher (An Automatic Hit)
    16. 10-19-2018: Transposition Cipher (Stirring Things Up)
    17. 10-23-2018: Vocabulary Quiz, Review, and the Vigenere material from Presidential Secrets
    18. 10-26-2018: Group Exam 3
    19. 10-30-2018: We looked at how we could crack Falconer’s Tabular Transposition Cipher, be sure to look at the practice handout from class prior to Friday’s class.
    20. 11-2-2018: We practiced cracking Falconer’s Tabular Transposition Cipher. (Practice Sheet)
    21. 11-6-2018: We started looking at how we might crack a weak version of Vigenere’s Polyalphabetic Substitution Cipher.
    22. 11-9-2018:Quiz and Kasiski Test, we finished the first section on Kasiski, please read the second section before class on Tuesday.
    23. 11-13-2018: Kasiski Test and Practice. For Friday complete Checkpoint 4.3.3 for a quiz grade, this needs to be an individual effort.
    24. 11-16-2018: Practice (Practice Sheet)
    25. 11-20-2018: Group Exam 4
    26. 11-27-2018: Lester Hill’s description of Modular Arithmetic
    27. 11-30-2018: Reading Quiz pp. 101-127, Affine Ciphers and Hill’s Cipher
    28. 12-4-2018: Hill’s Cipher Continued
    29. 12-7-2018: Group Exam 5 (This will include questions about vocabulary and pp.127-142)
  • Assignments:
  • Quizzes and Exams:
    • 9/4: Syllabus Quiz – DONE
    • 9/7: Reading Quiz, pp. 1-14 – DONE
    • 9/11: Vocabulary Quiz (bring in flash cards and notebooks)
      • Cipher, Monoalphabetic Substitution Cipher, Shift Cipher, Cipher Text, Plain Text, Encipher, Decipher, Crib, Null, Factorial– DONE
    • 9/14: Group Exam 1: Look at exercises 1,2,4,5,7,8,9 in How Shifty Are You? at the end of chapter 1. – DONE
    • 9/21: Reading Quiz pp. 14-25 in The Code Book. – DONE
    • 9/28: Reading and Vocabulary Quiz, pp. 26-44 in The Code Book (bring in flash cards) – DONE
      • Frequency analysis, Character, Bigram, Trigram, N-gram, Cryptoanalysis, Decrypt, Arabic Scholar, Null, Steganography, Cryptography, Code, Cipher, Nomenclator
    • 10/5: Group Exam 2 – NEW DATE!!! – Done

    • 10/12: Reading Quiz, pp. 45-63 in The Code Book -DONE
    • 10/23: Vocabulary Quiz (bring in flash cards) – DONE

      • Polyalphabetic Substitution Cipher, Homophonic Cipher, Polyphonic Cipher, Transposition Cipher, Automatic Cipher, Stream Cipher
    • 10/26: Group Exam 3 – DONE
    • 11/9: Reading Quiz, pp. 63-82 in The Code Book – DONE
    • 11/13: Vocabulary Quiz (bring in flash cards and notebooks) – Cancelled
    • 11/20: Group Exam 4 – DONE
    • 11/30: Reading Quiz, pp. 101-127 in The Code Book
    • 12/7: Reading and Vocabulary Quiz, pp. 127-142 in The Code Book (bring in flash cards and notebooks):
      • modular equivalence, multiplicative identity, multiplicative inverse, additive identity, additive inverse, relatively prime, matrix, polygraphic cipher
  • Extra Credit: Maximum of +5%
    • Attend a Workshop – Earn 0.5% extra toward your final grade for each workshop you attend
      • Time Management and Organization, September 10 12:30 – 1:30, SC 226
      • Student Affairs – Resources and Activities on Campus: Tuesday 9/11 or Wednesday 9/12 @4pm in SB 125
      • Study Skills for Math & Science Courses, September 17th 12:30 – 1:30, SC 226
      • Resources and Information: Wednesday 9/19 or Tuesday 11/27 @ 4pm in SB 125
      • Campus Resource Panel hosted by the Psych Alliance, Thursday 9/20, 2:30-4:30 in the Student Center Theater
      • A Crash Course in Textbook Reading, September 24 12: 30 – 1:30, SC 226
      • Study Skills (get ready for midterms), October 1 12:30 – 1:30, SC 226
      • Writing a Thesis, October 10 12:30 – 1:30, SC 226
      • Nuts and Bolts of Registration: Tuesday 10/16 or Wednesday 10/17 @ 4pm in SB 125
      • Getting of on the Right Foot For Your Future with Career Services: Tuesday 11/6 or Wednesday 11/14 @ 4pm in SB 125
      • Stress Management, November 14 12:30 – 1:30, SC 226
      • Final Exam Prep, November 26th  12:30 – 1:30, SC 226
    • Small Sample of Campus Involvement Activities: (There is something to do every day!) – Earn 0.5% extra toward your final grade for each activity you attend.  More events can be found at http://www.wcsu.edu/wow/ and  http://www.westconnathletics.com/landing/index
      • 9/25/19 from 8 to 10 p.m. Roller Rave with PAC and REC, this is a student only event held in the Feldman Arena of the O’Neill Center, skates will be provided
      • 9/26/18 at 6 p.m. WCSU Women’s Soccer will be Playing against ECSU at the Westside Athletic Complex
      • 9/27/18 at 8 p.m. the Coffeehouse in the Colonial Corner in the Midtown Student Center will have an open mic night followed by the WCSU Student Jazz Ensemble
      • 9/28/18 at 8 p.m. in the Westside Student Center Ballroom there will be a screening of “Incredibles 2”
      • 9/29/18 at 6:30 p.m. there is a planetarium show followed by a telescope viewing from 7:30 to 9:30.  All this is at the Westside Observatory and Planetarium
      • 9/30/18 at 1 p.m. WCSU Women’s Tennis vs. UMASS-Dartmouth at the Westside Courts
  • Links and Handouts: