Peer Review

An Overview of Cryptography

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Feb 21, 2006 by Information Technology

Bookmark

Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: According to the author, the material presented as a reference paper is intended
define the terms and the concepts that make up basic cryptographic schemes and
to provide guidance comparing current schemes and providing real examples. The
scope of this material does not include computerized crypto schemes, any
discussion about substitution and transposition ciphers, cryptoanalysis, history
or discussion about attacks or broken schemes. A bibliography is provided at
the end of the material followed by an appendix of mathematical notes.

The material discusses:
-the purpose of cryptography
- types of algorithms
-trust models
and applications of the algorithms.
Type of Material:: The material is reference material, with text and diagrams.
Recommended Uses:: This could be used as additional reading material in a course.
Technical Requirements:: A compuiter with a browser and connection to the Internet. A printer would be
useful but not necessary.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: After reading this material the student should be able to identify and explain
the basic cryptographic schemes and be able to make an intelligent choice of
which scheme might best suit a particular purpose. Compares major encryption
techniques.
Target Student Population:: University student at the under grad or graduate level at the entry level of
knowledge of cryptology. Program areas may include Computer/network security,
mathematics, number theory and computer engineering among others. Includes
Mathematics students, Engineering students at the graduate level.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Useful would be knowlege of the operation of protocols, and a higher
mathematical background.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: The material is clearly presented and liberally linked to more in depth
information about concepts presented and associated RFCs. Graphical
illustrations and tables help to present the information in a manner compatible
to visual learning. At the time of review, the material had been updated to
September 2005 and covered the authentication scheme common to Microsoft
Server 2003 shops.

Well written and structured.

Comprehensive coverage of topic. The extensive use of hyperlinks really extends
the reach of the material in a very positive way. (Most of these links appear to
be active.)
Concerns:: This site needs an audit of the links. A number of them are broken. Its
applications would be rather limited.

Somewhat out of date (e.g., "TABLE 1. Minimum Key Lengths for Symmetric
Ciphers"--this information is 10 years old and much has changed.) However, it
is
clear that the author has updated some of the material recently.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: This is a well presented introduction, that a student could confidently handle.

It is reference material and therefore does not test students' knowledge or
provide exercises to support learning. The author's website has other articles
that could complement this material and stimulate further discussion.

Excellent resource.

Could be used as a significant resource or reference for computer security
course.
Concerns:: It is reference material and therefore does not test students' knowledge nor
provide exercises to support learning.

A bit of interactivity would be nice. Better graphic design could make the
material more appealing. (Design is somewhat bland--ala www of 1998).

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: This material is very straight forward with a table of contents should the
viewer wish to access information out of sequence. Well written. The material
is well organized and reasonably complete. Contents and list of figures and
tables at the beginning provides for easy navigation to relevant sections.
Concerns:: An improvement would be to offer formats of this paper more conducive to saving
and printing. If a student on dial up and has graphics suppressed, there is no
exploitation of ALT tags to alert the viewer to the subject matter of the
graphics. Highly technical. Again, a more current design could add to appeal
and ease of use.

Other Issues and Comments:: Although this material was a fast download at LAN speed, it may take up to a
minute and a half on 56K dial up.
Creative Commons: