Test Preparation, Due on October 1

• Out of the topics we have studied thus far I think the different cryptosystems are most important. We talked a lot about them and spent considerable time going over how they work and how they are decrypted. I think they are important to know and will offer a nice background for the rest of the course.
• Some questions I expect to see on the exam are short descriptions of concepts. Many of the cryptosystems we covered are hard to test on paper with a simple calculator, but they can be described through words. I am expecting some short answer questions about the DES, AES, Viginere Cipher, Hill Cipher, and the like. I also suspect there to be some questions regarding modular arithmetic and finding inverses.
• One thing I need to work on to better be prepared for the exam is exactly what I wrote about above, understanding the big and little ideas involved with the different cryptosystems. I need to review the modes of operation as well. I feel fairly confident with the math, but my overall knowledge of the systems is lacking.