CPSC 4440/5440: Real-World Cryptography '26 Spring

Cryptography provides strong security and privacy guarantees in well-defined mathematical models, but applying it to real-world systems is an art that must account for performance, cost, evolving adversarial threats, and even user behavior. This course examines how cryptographic tools underpin today’s digital infrastructure and protect users against powerful and evolving threats, including rogue governments, privacy-prying corporations, and malicious AI content. Topics include TLS, anonymity (e.g., Tor, DC Nets), secure messaging (e.g., Signal, WhatsApp), anonymity credentials (e.g., Cloudflare's Privacy Pass, Google and Apple’s Private Tokens), Digital Identity, and Trusted Execution Environments (e.g., Intel SGX).

CPSC 3640: Decentralized Payments, Contracts, and Finance for Humans and AI '26 Fall

Blockchains provide a platform for humans to coordinate economic activity without relying on centralized intermediaries. Emerging standards such as EIP-8004 aim to extend these capabilities to autonomous agents, enabling AI systems to transact and coordinate through shared protocols. This introductory course explores such decentralized applications, including tokens, exchanges, lending protocols, stablecoins, oracles, decentralized governance, and emerging standards for AI coordination and interoperability. Students will learn system architecture, security intuition, and how to build and debug decentralized applications.

2024 Fall: CPSC 466/566: Blockchain and Cryptocurrency, Yale University

2024 Spring: CPSC 466/566: Blockchain and Cryptocurrency, Yale University

2023 Fall: CPSC 364: Intro to Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, and Smart Contracts, Yale University

2023 Spring: CPSC 666 01: Secure Decentralized Systems, Yale University

2021 Fall: CS 590.02: Crypto and Crypto, Duke University