EdX

Introduction to Encryption and Cryptography (edX)

Offered by Raspberry Pi Foundation,

Learn about how encryption helps to keep your information safe, and how it is used in the world today. This online course from the Raspberry Pi Foundation explores encryption and cryptography. You'll learn about what encryption is and how it was used in the past, and use the Caesar and Vigenère ciphers.

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You'll also look at modern encryption, and investigate both symmetric and asymmetric encryption schemes. The course also takes a look at the future of encryption, and includes several practical encryption activities that are also appropriate to use in the classroom.

What you'll learn
Over the following two weeks, you will:

Describe the general process of encryption and decryption
Apply a Caesar cipher and a Vigenère cipher
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different encryption algorithms
Compare symmetric and asymmetric encryption
Demonstrate methods of breaking simple encryption schemes
Describe how encryption is used in the modern world, and some of the possible ethical implications of this

Syllabus

The course will cover:

A brief look at the history of encryption
The encryption and decryption process, and the importance of keys
The Caesar and Vigenère ciphers
Symmetric and asymmetric encryption schemes
Public-key encryption in the real world
An introduction to quantum cryptography
Practical encryption activities

Go to Class

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