FIT5163 Assignment Specification FIT5163 Information & Computer Security Group Assignment 1 Description 1.1 Objectives This assignment explores the state-of-the-art of cryptographic techniques which will make you aware of the current research directions of this field and its applications, in particular, to protect the security services in computer and network security. To complete the assignment report you must read and research the related journal articles, conference papers, or any other academic resources. The recommended databases are IEEE, Springer, and ACM; however, the articles used in the report must have been published after 2009 or have 100 or more citations. 1.2 Report Outlines The assignment is comprised of two main components: (i) research review (ii) practical exercise. 1.2.1 Research Review The selected topic for this component is Homomorphic Encryption (HE) and is divided into three tasks. You can use the following academic paper as starting point: (Fontaine & Galand, 2007). 1. Write a critical survey of the literature covering the following (20% of the report marks): (a) A definition of HE. (b) A discussion about the research motivations of using HE and the reasons of its relevance in the cryptographic field. (c) The di↵erences between HE and conventional symmetric and asymmetric encryption techniques such as AES and RSA. 2. Perform the following steps (20% of the report marks): • Choose three of the following HE approaches. Describe each of them, and discuss its advantages and disadvantages, considering both security and efficiency: – Textbook RSA, – Goldwasser Micali, – Paillier scheme, – Somewhat Homomorphic Encryption (SHE), – Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE). • State the di↵erences between FHE and the other HE approaches. 3. Describe a feasible application of HE and discuss the pros and cons of such application considering the security and efficiency of the method (10% of the report marks). Note: The remaining 15% of the report marks will be awarded to the formatting, language and the structure of the report. 1 FIT5163 Assignment Specification 1.2.2 Practical Exercise This component of the assignment is explained in details as a separate document available on Moodle as FIT5163-Practical-Exercise-Specification. The practical exercise carries 35% of the report marks. 2 Submission 2.1 Report The students must submit a report with the following specifications: • The report must contain a group assignment cover sheet with the name and student id of each member of the group (included as the first page of the submitted report). • The report must be maximum 14 pages (including the diagrams and tables, excluding references and appendices) with no smaller than 10pt font size, 2cm margins (on all sides) and single line spacing. • Unnecessary verbosity will be penalised as the exceeding pages will not be marked. • The report must have proper formatting, and APA or IEEE citation method (one style throughout the report) with quality references (refer to the Monash University Student Academic Integrity Policy for more information). • The report must be submitted by 10 PM Sun 28th of May (end of week 12) as a single PDF file via moodle (one submission per group and no compressed file of any kind). • A completed peer review form and an individual reflective diary by each member of the group must be submitted via moodle. • A copy of the presentation slides as a PDF file must be emailed to your tutor the day before your scheduled presentation (on week 12). • Late submissions will not be accepted. 2.2 Marking Guide This assignment is worth 20 marks of the unit total. You will be working in groups of 3/4 students. The assignment consists of: • Assignment Report per group. (70% of the assignment marks). 2 FIT5163 Assignment Specification • A 15-minute Presentation per group, where each member presents a part of the assignment during week 12 tutorials. (30% of the assignment marks). References Fontaine, C., & Galand, F. (2007). A survey of homomorphic encryption for nonspecialists. EURASIP Journal on Information Security, 2007 (1), 1–10. 3