CPSC430A Senior Seminar

For problem 2.3 on page 70,

• Apply the algorithm on each of the following (assuming 4-bit blocks of plaintext and 8-bit key - the modulus for addition should be 2^4):

        Plaintext: 0111   Key: 11011010
        Plaintext: 1011   Key: 10010110
  

• Do part (a). Show that your algorithm works on the examples above.

• Write the SDES algorithm in flowchart form.
• Do problem #6 on the back page. That is carry through the steps in computing f for each round in Example 5.1.1
  CORRECTION: The subkeys and result of the Initial Permutation are incorrect on that example. The first round function result is correct (for the given input) but the second round function result should be f_11111100(00011010) = 00101010. I am mainly interested in you understanding the round function.

• Stream Cipher Program
• Some problems to think about: p. 71, #2.5, 2.6; p. 622, #19.6 (P₂₁ should be P₂), 19.7, 19.8

• Pages 71-72, #2.7, 2.9
• Page 622, #19.6
• Pages 647-648, #20.3, 20.6 (a), 20.6 (d) (for these encrypt the message and find the decryption key d), 20.11, 20.12

• HAND IN: Reading and Reading Response
• Questions from Presentations

• Read the article "Problem Solved?" from the June 2005 issue of ACM's Queue magazine. You can access the article by going to queue.acm.org and click on Security under Browse Topics on the left of the window. Look through the list of articles to find "Problem Solved?".
• Write a brief summary (about one page single spaced with a blank line between paragrahs) of at least two points in the article that you find interesting or enlightening (something you hadn't thought of).

• Read the paper Abstract and first two sections (Introduction and Overview of Vulnerabilities) of the paper "Finding Security Vulnerabilities in Java Applications With Static Analysis" by V. Benjamin Levshits and Monica S. Lam (presented at the 2005 Usenix Security Conference).
• Test Review
• Write a brief summary describing the general problem of Java vulnerabilities and then describe one specific one. Include a brief broad, easy to understand, description of what the researcher's tool will do (in other words don't just lift the first sentence of the abstract!).

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The questions:

• Who should be responsible for software failure? (And under what circumstances?) In particular, to what extent should software designers and programmers be responsible?

• Under what circumstances should a computer professional "blow the whistle" on a company or advertise a problem with software? (A related issue you could focus on is when should a computer professional point out a security flaw or vulnerability in widely used software such as Windows? To what extent is it helpful (the flaw is quickly fixed) or harmful (it is exploited in a harmful way)?

• Should hackers be hired as security experts by companies or the government?

• An issue related to your project (clearly state the issue and your position).