CORE 139 Methods and Issues in Cryptology Fall, 2007

Writing Assignment, Part II

due Wednesday, October 24 in class

Note: Do not get help from the author of your paper and do not share information about your paper with those trying to decrypt your message. You will not be penalized for not decrypting a message if you explain why you could not follow the directions for (B).

Instructions for copy B:
Read the paper and decipher the enciphered message using the key provided.
Hand in: the original paper, the deciphered message, and a short write-up discussing how easy or hard it was to follow the instructions in the paper (about two pages). Your writeup should also comment on your evaluation of the security of the cipher -- would someone who knows the method but not the key be able to break this cipher?
Grading for this part will be based on whether or not you successfully decrypt the message, on your critique of the instructions that you had to work with, and on the quality of your discussion (e.g. saying it was hard to follow the directions without explaining why it was hard will not earn you very much).