Math 1111: Cryptography

"Richard, 10, has made this Bombe machine out of Lego, complete with wires on the back."

The NSA's (useless) bulk phone metadata collection program is now over. #fywscrypto https://t.co/H7SL3S1QSQ - Derek Bruff (@derekbruff) December 1, 2015

Hacker targets toymaker VTech, finds kids' photos, videos, and chat logs, all poorly secured. #fywscrypto https://t.co/elG88Z8Eec - Derek Bruff (@derekbruff) December 1, 2015

Blackberry to stop operating in Pakistan because of government requests to monitor customer data. https://t.co/8kBg6QCEAF #fywscrypto - Derek Bruff (@derekbruff) December 1, 2015

Fairly easy to read argument from a crypto expert (Columbia University computer scientist Steven Bellovin) on the dangers of "back doors" in computer systems.

A round up of current conversations about surveillance and privacy in light of the Paris attacks.

Today's New York Times features a debate of sorts over the value of increased surveillance after the Paris attacks. Click through for five different views on this complex issue.

This piece captures some of the complexity of the surveillance / privacy debate as it applies to Snowden and the Paris attacks.

That Reply All podcast episode about Yik Yak I mentioned in class the other day? They've just updated their January story (which focused on events at Colgate University) putting in context of recent events at Missouri and Yale.

WIRED's @KimZetter on encryption, back doors, and the #ParisAttacks. #fywscrypto https://t.co/nRgnRIUN64 - Derek Bruff (@derekbruff) November 17, 2015

No credible evidence that the PlayStation 4 network was used to coordinate the #ParisAttacks. #fywscrypto https://t.co/8g6Gki4QVj - Derek Bruff (@derekbruff) November 17, 2015

Here's some background on the Obama administration's decision to admit Syrian refugees to the US, and Republican governors who want to refuse entry. Alabama governor Robert Bentley: "I will not place Alabamians at even the slightest, possible risk of an attack on our people."

"War is declared. Get prepared"

Gives information on several uses of crypto in life; provides some information on multiple uses

E-text for a book detailing the fundamentals behind modern cryptography and how they are applied in practice. Lots of detailed information about various underlying theorems and mathematical properties and how they work, as well as various encryption techniques and cryptographic processes.

This website provides a few instructions on how to increase your safety downloading apps from the app store. It also provides links to other websites which show the safety score of an app. Since most people (including myself) don't think twice about downloading any app that looks interesting, this is useful information to have.

This article provides information for how to make your personal information more private through Google. While Google does have access to a large amount of your information, this allows you to better control what is shared online.

This website discusses procedure and purpose of encrypting sensitive data over the internet. SSL is a protocol which "determines variables of the encryption" being used to protect information from first names to credit card numbers. This website also tells you how to determine whether or not a website is secure or if your information is vulnerable. In addition, there is another page that delves into the mathematics and actual cryptography procedures behind online encryption like RSA and ECC.