Advanced Cryptography | Hasso-Plattner-Institut

Lecturer

Karla Friedrichs
Prof. Dr. Anja Lehmann

General information

Semester: SO 2026
hrs/wk: 4
ECTS: 6
Registration Time: 01/04/2026 - 30/04/2026
Course type: Lecture/Exercise (L/E)

Study programs, module groups & modules

M. Sc. Software Systems Engineering
- Models and Algorithms (MODA)
  - Concepts and Methods (HPI-MODA-C)
  - Specialization (HPI-MODA-S)
  - Technologies and Tools (HPI-MODA-T)
- Online and Interactive Systems (OISY)
  - Concepts and Methods (HPI-OISY-C)
  - Technologies and Tools (HPI-OISY-T)
  - Specialization (HPI-OISY-S)
M.Sc. Digital Health
- Health Data Security (HDAS)
  - Specialization (HPI-HDAS-S)
  - Concepts and Methods (HPI-HDAS-C)
  - Technologies and Tools (HPI-HDAS-T)
M.Sc. Data Engineering
- Data Applications (DAPP)
  - Specialization (HPI-DAPP-S)
  - techniques and tools (HPI-DAPP-T)
  - Concepts and methods (HPI-DAPP-K)
M.Sc. Computer Science
- Specialised Studies
  - III Track: Systems
    - Specialization
      - HPI-CS-DSS: Dependable Systems - Specialization
    - Deep Dive
      - HPI-CS-DSD: Dependable Systems - Deep Dive
  - V Track: Security Engineering
    - Core
      - HPI-CS-CAC: Cyber Attack and Defense - Core
      - HPI-CS-CPC: Advanced Cryptography and Protocols - Core
    - Specialization
    - Deep Dive
      - HPI-CS-DSD: Dependable Systems - Deep Dive
  - IV Track: Digital Health
    - Core
      - HPI-CS-ASC: Algorithms and Security - Core
  - II Track: Algorithms and Foundations
    - Core
      - HPI-CS-PSC: Provable Security - Core
- Mandatory Modules
  - V Track: Security Engineering
  - III Track: Systems
M.Sc. Cybersecurity
- Identity Management (IDMG)
  - Specialization (HPI-IDMG-S)
  - techniques and tools (HPI-IDMG-T)
  - Concepts and methods (HPI-IDMG-K)
- Cyber Attack and Defense (CYAD)
  - Specialization (HPI-CYAD-S)
  - techniques and tools (HPI-CYAD-T)
  - Concepts and methods (HPI-CYAD-K)
M.Sc. IT-Systems Engineering
- Internet, Security and Algorithm Engineering (ISAE)
  - Techniques and Tools (HPI-ISAE-T)
  - Concepts and Methods (HPI-ISAE-K)
  - Specialization (HPI-ISAE-S)

More information

Description

The lecture deals with advanced methods and protocols of cryptography, such as secret sharing and zero-knowledge proofs. A central topic will be the security goal of privacy and data protection, and the lecture will give an overview of how the presented cryptographic methods can be used to build privacy-preserving solutions. The course begins with homomorphic encryption, illustrating how computations can be performed directly on encrypted data. It then studies secret sharing and threshold cryptography as fundamental tools for distributed trust and robust key management. Advanced signature schemes are presented to show how authenticity can be achieved in multi-party settings, followed by zero-knowledge proofs as a core primitive for privacy-preserving authentication and verifiable computation. Finally, the lecture introduces secure multi-party computation, including garbled circuits and private set intersection, to demonstrate how mutually distrustful parties can jointly compute functions over private inputs without revealing their data.

The goal of the lecture is to give a broad overview of the available cryptographic techniques beyond the basic concepts of encryption and authentication. The course highlights practical design considerations and real-world deployment scenarios for modern privacy-enhancing technologies, and discusses trade-offs between efficiency, security and privacy in advanced cryptographic constructions.

Topics:

(Partially) Homomorphic Encryption
Secret Sharing & Threshold Crypto
Advanced Signatures: Threshold / Multi / Blind Signatures
Zero-knowledge Proofs (Theory & Applications)
Multi-Party Computation (Yao's Garbled Circuits, Private Set Intersection, ...)

Prerequisites

The lecture requires successful participation in the lecture (Introduction to) Cryptography, or a similar course.

Dates

15/04/2026 13:30 - 15:00
Room: H-E.51/52
16/04/2026 11:00 - 12:30
Room: H-2.57/58
29/04/2026 13:30 - 15:00
Room: H-E.51/52
06/05/2026 13:30 - 15:00
Room: H-E.51/52
13/05/2026 13:30 - 15:00
Room: H-E.51/52
20/05/2026 13:30 - 15:00
Room: H-E.51/52
21/05/2026 11:00 - 12:30
Room: H-2.57/58
28/05/2026 11:00 - 12:30
Room: H-2.57/58
03/06/2026 13:30 - 15:00
Room: H-E.51/52
10/06/2026 13:30 - 15:00
Room: H-E.51/52
11/06/2026 11:00 - 12:30
Room: H-2.57/58
17/06/2026 13:30 - 15:00
Room: H-E.51/52
18/06/2026 11:00 - 12:30
Room: H-2.57/58
24/06/2026 13:30 - 15:00
Room: H-E.51/52
08/07/2026 13:30 - 15:00
Room: H-E.51/52
15/07/2026 13:30 - 15:00
Room: H-E.51/52
22/07/2026 13:30 - 15:00
Room: H-E.51/52
23/07/2026 11:00 - 12:30
Room: H-2.57/58