CMSC456

Cryptography

Prerequisite: (CMSC106, CMSC131, or ENEE150; or equivalent programming experience); and (2 courses from (CMSC330, CMSC351, ENEE324, or ENEE380); or any one of these courses and a 400-level MATH course, or two 400-level MATH courses). Or permission of instructor. Also offered as: MATH456, ENEE456. Credit only granted for: MATH456, CMSC456, or ENEE456. The theory, application, and implementation of mathematical techniques used to secure modern communications. Topics include symmetric and public-key encryption, message integrity, hash functions, block-cipher design and analysis, number theory, and digital signatures.

Spring 2026

2 reviews
Average rating: 3.00

4 reviews
Average rating: 3.75

5 reviews
Average rating: 5.00

Fall 2025

1 review
Average rating: 4.00

18 reviews
Average rating: 2.50

Spring 2025

2 reviews
Average rating: 3.00

1 review
Average rating: 5.00

4 reviews
Average rating: 3.75

Past Semesters

4 reviews
Average rating: 4.75

5 reviews
Average rating: 5.00

2 reviews
Average rating: 3.00

4 reviews
Average rating: 4.75

1 review
Average rating: 3.00

18 reviews
Average rating: 2.50

2 reviews
Average rating: 3.00

6 reviews
Average rating: 4.67

2 reviews
Average rating: 5.00

1 review
Average rating: 5.00

18 reviews
Average rating: 2.50

2 reviews
Average rating: 3.00

2 reviews
Average rating: 5.00

2 reviews
Average rating: 4.50

3 reviews
Average rating: 4.33

1 review
Average rating: 5.00

5 reviews
Average rating: 4.40

1 review
Average rating: 4.00

6 reviews
Average rating: 4.67

1 review
Average rating: 5.00

4 reviews
Average rating: 3.75

0 reviews
Average rating: N/A

0 reviews
Average rating: N/A

During the Spring 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters, students could choose to take some of their courses pass-fail mid-semester which skews grade data aggregated across multiple semesters.

Average GPA of 2.37 between 129 students*

CMSC456 Grade Distribution+-051015202530% of studentsABCDFWother
A-: 6.2%
A: 16.28%
A+: 3.88%
B-: 6.2%
B: 18.6%
B+: 3.88%
C-: 6.2%
C: 18.6%
F: 3.88%
W: 16.28%
* "W"s are considered to be 0.0 quality points. "Other" grades are not factored into GPA calculation. Grade data not guaranteed to be correct.