IMDBMI301 Cryptography and Applications Assessment

Assessment Content

The assignment consists of three parts: 

1). Kerberos 5 for Cloud Services: Challenges and Suitability
In this section, you will investigate whether Kerberos 5, an older but still widely used authentication protocol, is suitable for modern cloud services. While Kerberos is traditionally known for securing internal networks, the shift to distributed and dynamic cloud environments pose new challenges. You should consider:

2). OAuth 2.0 and Beyond: Modern Cloud Authentication Protocols
This section involves an in-depth exploration of the OAuth 2.0 protocol, a widely adopted standard for delegated access in cloud services. However, newer enhancements to OAuth (such as OAuth 2.1) and alternative protocols (like OpenID Connect) provide significant improvements for modern cloud applications.

3). Comparing Kerberos 5, OAuth 2.0, and Decentralized Identity Solutions
This section involves a critical comparison of Kerberos 5, OAuth 2.0, and emerging decentralized identity solutions, such as Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) frameworks.

You are expected to demonstrate that you have achieved all the module’s learning outcomes.

1. Critically evaluate relevant techniques used in cryptography, especially in contextual depth for advanced areas of application
2. Evaluate cryptographic principles such as symmetric and public key cryptography, block and stream ciphers, hashes, digital signatures and key exchange, through the synthesis of appropriately selected solutions to case studies.
3. Select and effectively apply current techniques to address applied cryptographic challenges, examine their limitations, and thus propose novel solutions based upon state-of-the art techniques.
4. Enhance and expand practical skills through the critical evaluation of different cryptographic algorithms, through the design and execution of novel experiments using at least two different programming languages.
5. Critically reflect on the use of advanced cryptographic techniques in applied contexts, and thus develop alternative hypotheses through the evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the approaches.