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Inside
the Blue Book
Cryptography and Computer Security
December
1999
by Bruce Fellman
Computer
Science 467a
Faculty: Michael J. Fischer, Professor of Computer Science
When
Julius Caesar needed to send a private message, he wrote it in a
way that only members of his inner circle knew how to decipher.
Since then, coming up with secure codes has been "almost entirely
a military endeavor," says Michael J. Fischer, professor of computer
science.
But the
recent advent of the World Wide Web has brought cryptography -- the art of creating disguised information -- out of the annals of
espionage and onto the desktop. "My goal is to help students become
security literate and understand both the kinds of threats that
are out there and the kinds of tools we have at our disposal," says
Fischer, who started teaching the cryptography course ten years
ago.
At that
time, there were few takers. "Computer security was not uppermost
on anyone's mind back then," he explains. To be sure, banks were
concerned about the secure transfer of electronic funds, but the
desktop PC, while already ubiquitous, was envisioned as a stand-alone
machine. "Locking your office door was all the security you needed,"
says Fischer.
With
the development of vast computer networks and the electronic commerce
they made possible, cryptography has become a hot topic. This fall,
some 30 students, most of them upper-level computer science majors,
have been learning the mathematics required to devise codes which
help ensure that cyber-thieves can neither eavesdrop on e-transactions
nor invade supposedly secure databases. In addition, they have wrestled -- through discussions, exams, and a term project -- with how to
reconcile "theoretical models with real world concerns," the professor
explains.
"Cryptography
is very much like the locks on your house: You can design the fanciest
locks from the toughest materials, but then someone breaks down
the door, enters through the window, or forgets to lock up," says
Fischer. "Students are encouraged to anticipate security problems
by looking at computer systems from the perspective of someone who's
trying to break in and then coming up with solutions."
They
are not, however, turned loose in cyberspace to determine whether
their skills can be used to breech network walls. "Our students
have better things to do with their time than hack," says Fischer. 
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