SIT281 - Cryptography
Unit details
| Year | 2025 unit information |
|---|---|
| Enrolment modes: | Trimester 2: Burwood (Melbourne), Waurn Ponds (Geelong), Online |
| Credit point(s): | 1 |
| EFTSL value: | 0.125 |
| Unit Chair: | Trimester 2: Guillermo Pineda-Villavicencio |
| Prerequisite: | SIT192 |
| Corequisite: | Nil |
| Incompatible with: | Nil |
| Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - on-campus unit enrolment: | 1 x 3 hour seminar per week, weekly meetings |
| Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - online unit enrolment: | Online independent and collaborative learning including 1 x 2 hour online seminar per week, weekly meetings. |
| Typical study commitment: | Students will on average spend 150 hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit. This will include educator guided online learning activities within the unit site. |
Content
In SIT281 students will learn the fundamental mechanisms of classic and modern cryptographic systems, which span from Caesar cipher of Roman times to Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) cipher invented in the early 21st century. Students will encrypt and decrypt messages by using modern symmetric encryption schemes including DES and AES, stream ciphers used in mobile phone networks and pay TVs, as well as the most well-known public key cipher RSA. The unit will also provide students the opportunity to explore the cryptographic applications.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this unit students will understand the different types of cryptographic procedures introduced both in the past and present and be able to analyse these procedures as to their effectiveness.
| ULO | These are the Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOs) for this unit. At the completion of this unit, successful students can: | Alignment to Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes (GLOs) |
|---|---|---|
| ULO1 | Evaluate the internal mechanisms of cryptosystems and report their strengths and weaknesses with relation to security and government requirements, and industry standards. | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities |
| ULO2 | Design and implement a range of cryptosystems to meet security requirements for data encryption and decryption using appropriate software tools. | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities |
| ULO3 | Enhance data security against cyber-attacks using cryptosystems within software solutions, and be able to justify cryptographic algorithms and optimized parameters used. | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities |
Assessment
| Assessment Description | Student output | Grading and weighting (% total mark for unit) | Indicative due week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learning Portfolio | Learning portfolio consisting of evidence of completion of unit modules, reports, workings for associated theoretical and practical problems, and a learning summary report. | 100% | Weekly task submissions with final submission in Week 12 |
The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.
Hurdle requirement
To be eligible to obtain a pass in this unit, students must meet certain milestones as part of the portfolio.
Learning resource
Prescribed text(s): Trappe & Washington, 2020, Introduction to Cryptography with Coding Theory, 3rd edition, Pearson Education (eBook available).
The texts and reading list for SIT281 can be found via the University Library.
Note: Select the relevant trimester reading list. Please note that a future teaching period's reading list may not be available until a month prior to the start of that teaching period so you may wish to use the relevant trimester's prior year reading list as a guide only.
Unit Fee Information
Fees and charges vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study and their study discipline, and your study load.
Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.
For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current Students website.