ECE 409Cryptography and System Security
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Engineering
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 2 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
Introduction to cryptology and computer security, theory of secure communications, points of attack, conventional cryptographic systems, public key cryptographic systems, standards, firewalls, wireless system security, applications.
Prerequisites
- Complete all of the following
- Students must be in level 4A or higher
- Complete 1 of the following
- Enrolled in H-Software Engineering
- Enrolled in a BASc program
Antirequisites
Leads to
Reviewed on UW Flow
75% liked it0% easy50% useful
From 4 ratings and 1 comment on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
This course is much different than other security courses such as CS 458. The one assignment is not difficult and the only programming is done on the project, which can be completed relatively quickly. However, the course goes into depth on the operation of many real-world protocols such as TLS, GSM, Kerberos, WEP, and IKE.
Apr 2015 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
8 posts and comments in 8 threads mention ECE 409, December 2014 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.
Winter 2020
What ATEs to take for SE students 1 point, 2 comments
u/sarcasticImouto: “Anyone have any opinions on the following courses? CS486, ECE457B, ECE409, CS458, ECE418, ECE 416, or ECE454”
Fall 2018
Help with choosing some 4th year ECE coursea 5 points, 3 comments
u/als26: “… I'm also looking at ECE409. I took ECE458 last term and found it interesting. …”
Winter 2017
Is CE even worth it? 11 points, 48 comments
“Not asking what the differences between the two are but I know that CS is often less stress since you'd have a lighter schedule, freedom through electives, not really have any labs (which gives you …”
u/porfavoooor: “generally speaking CE is for when you have your mind dead set on sensors or robotics, otherwise, you should do CS, which overlaps from the OS up to most things systems with CE. …”
u/Tree_Boar: “For security, the CS course is the same as the ECE course. ECE also offers a course in crypto, which I do not find in the CS curriculum. For IT, can you clarify what you mean? If you mean IT/systems department at a company (i.e. …”
i AM NOT a robot 11 points, 12 comments
“If i get asked one more time if I am a robot I will flip. Anyone know when this will be resolved?”
u/EternityCode: “Our ECE 409 prof. believes that Google obviously knows we are not robots based on our active authentication tokens/other contextual info. (But I recently filled out a test that said I was a robot? …”
Fall 2016
What are the easiest ATEs for Software Engineering Students? 3 points, 3 comments
u/uobhsarp: “… Introduction to Symbolic Computation CS 488 Introduction to Computer Graphics ECE Courses ECE 409 Cryptography and System Security ECE 416 Higher Level Network Protocols ECE 418 Communications Networks ECE 423 Embedded Computer Systems ECE 429 Computer Architecture ECE 454 …”
Winter 2016
Has anyone taken ECE 409? 4 points, 7 comments
u/LittleEponine: “… I stumbled upon ECE 409. Has anyone taken it? How was it? I'm interested in crypto and have seen the syllabus but don't really know what any of the topics actually are... does the course teach you anything useful/relevant? …”
Fall 2015
Course similar to CO 487? 5 points, 12 comments
“I wanted to get into CO 487, but it is full, and its only open in the Winter (this is my last winter). Are there any other courses that focus on cryptography.”
u/medacomix15: “ECE 409”
Fall 2014
uWaterloo CS minor - Worthwhile? 6 points, 22 comments
“I'm really interested in CS and the carreer benefits that a CS minor could provide me with. I've already completed CS 135 and I'm in the process of planning out what courses I want to take to …”
u/SpaceWarrior1: “… Courses with significant CS technical content include ECE 254, 351, 354, 406, 409, 417, 428, 429, 451, 452, 453, 457A, 457B, 458, 459, SYDE 322, 422, and MTE 241. Engineering students should take Engineering courses where possible. …”
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