Cryptography Assignment 2

Finish the previous assignment on cryptography and submit it.

Then choose one of the following topics and prepare a Powerpoint presentation on:

• Encryption in commercial transactions as a way to prevent hackers from stealing credit card and banking account information.
• Identity theft and the need to encrypt personal data.
• Available online hard disk encryption servioces and the needs of individuals to protect their data.

In all cases, presentations should cover the technical aspects involved and the impact on individuals.

Remember to use the design criteria for Powerpoint presentations that we have discussed before, in terms of images, abundance of text, clarity of reading.

The assignment shoudl be finished by the end of the lesson on Friday.

Cryptography assignment

Solve completely the mysteries at the DECRYPT game.
Then answer the following questions:
1) Explain the steps you took to arrive to the final solution.
2) Which method would you think is most effective for cryptography and why?
3) What common mistakes are usually made and that lead to the decryption of protected information?
4) What conclusions could you draw from playing this game with regards to cryptography? Answers must be submitted to itgs.sass@gmail.com by the end of the lesson today without fail.

Data Security and Encryption

After learning about hacking and how it compromises data security, we will learn about the next step in protecting data, by means of encryption. The very ancient and often used in technique of cryptography involves scrambling messages in such a way that only the parties within the communication or, in our case, a computer algorithm and users know how to decode them effectively.
We will first learn the basics on cryptography from the Encryption Tutorial. Another simple source is What is Cryptography? at WiseGeek.
Subsequently, we will try our skills at decrypting through the CRYPTOCOM Game.

Learning about Hacking

In order to learn more about hacking, we will play SlaveHack, a custom made web-based game that teaches hacking techniques through a virtual platform.
During this first lesson, you need to do the following:
- Working in pairs, you must create an account. The user name must be made up of the surnames of both members of the groups exclusively. Send me an email (itgs.sass@gmail.com) with confirmation of the names in the group and the name of the accpount in Slavehack.
- Complete the tutorial. You can access the tutorial after logging in from Forum / Manuals / Beginner's Guide to Slavehack. Please follow the step by step guide to complete the tutorial.
- Start the development of your hacking log. In it, you will answer certain questions and keep a detailed record of your operations.
- As an initial entry to your log, you will answer the following questions referred to what you have carried out during the tutorial:
o What software tools have been used to achieve the break-ins and what was their purpose?
o Which essential operation needed to be performed every time you enter an unauthorized site and why?
- After completing the tutorial, you will be “free” to start hacking other computers in the ITGS group. The objective of the game is to create slaves and gain access to other computers, but do not interfere with virtual computers from other users not belonging to our class. You need to keep a detailed log of all the operations you perform as you progress in the game.