MSc-IT Study Material
June 2010 Edition

Computer Science Department, University of Cape Town

Discussion Topics

There are two main topics for discussion in this unit.

Discussion Topic 1

Encryption, together with digital signatures, solve many of the security problems on the Web. But you now need to consider these wider questions with your fellow students.

  1. What kind of problems doesn't it solve?

  2. Is encryption (and digital signatures) sufficient to allow for standard e-commerce transactions over the Web? Might the current public key algorithms be broken?

  3. How secure are traditional means of communication? For instance, is the phone secure? What about mobile phones, snail mail, telegrams and personal communications?

Discussion Topic 2

Now that you have had an opportunity to study the different viewpoints on the subject of encryption and the Internet, what are your views on the subject? Discuss these with the other students on the course.