Assignment handed out on Friday, March 9, 2001

Your assignment before the Quiz

Use Chapter 7 of the text to ensure you understand Public/Private Keys and SSL. Do the sample Quiz 1 problems (found on the aduni web site). Ask lots of questions. Use the text to reinforce the concepts you learned about in lecture.

Due in Recitation, Monday 3/12

• Read Reflections on Trust. Suppose you download a free, open-source implementation of PGP (a program that can be used to encrypt/decrypt data). You examine every line of code and come to the conclusion that the code "does the right thing". You compile and run the program. Later on, you find that your compiled code was actually sending your private keys out to the Internet. Be able to explain how this could be.
• Skim Why Cryptosystems Fail. Identify several hints for building more secure systems.