I think this course was too difficult so those 6 weeks became much longer for me - maybe timeconsumption was 12 weeks. So that is my only criticism. This course could in my opinion have been divided into "Cryptography basics" and "Cryptography 1". On the other hand, I know Stanford is a good university, I just wish I had been informed about a course that could more easily have introduced me to the topic. This is/was my first cryptography course, so it was a very hard task for me to go through... But the instructor seems very good in his research field and many people recommend this course, thanks.

I really enjoyed this course!

I was glad to work on prime numbers and RSA, even if it was quite late in the course.

I would not recommend it for everyone, though. It is definitely not for beginners; you need a mathematical mind and a solid maths knowledge. So, overall more difficult than what I expected.

Some things could be improved:

- the description of the course could go into more details (maybe with an entertaining short video?), especially regarding the requirements level mentioned above and the overall difficulty level you can expect

- a *formatted* transcript would be awesome

- sometimes, Dan speaks too fast or his writing is not 'top-notch'

- repeating the major concepts, and repeating them in a different way each time, could be done more frequently

- the audio track has been edited and can be 'bumpy' sometimes + do not hesitate to insert more pauses!!

- the course is a bit theoretical and could use more real-life, very concrete applications

Furthermore, at some stages of the course, it is hard to see the 'big picture'. We get the latter at the very end.

Also, keep in mind that the tests are not way easier than the corresponding lessons... quite the contrary actually.

I must highlight two very useful things during the course: recaps at the beginning of some videos, and 'graphical' explanations.

Finally, I had some good laughs hearing Dan state 'it's not that hard', 'it's not that difficult to see' or 'this is a pretty straightforward proof'... Reminded me of my old advanced maths classes.

It requires knowledge of how cryptography works and the terms used to describe cryptography. I would not recommend it as a beginner course.

Professor is very knowledgable but he is fast... Even before i can understand the first line. he is on the fourth line. i find Hard to keep up with him. I am dropping this course.

There should be examples regarding to assignment questions i.e. there should be examples similar to assignment questions

Cutting edge cryptography topics. Good explanations and slides, but pause button is highly recommended. Can be a bit too mathematical for the general public, and not very formal for mathematicians.

This isn't a beginners course. I dropped out in first week. I took every note I could and reviewed again and again. I really think the instructor is an intelligent man, but I'm not quite sure he understands how to teach well. I'm really disappointed that I didn't get to take anything away from this class.

This course is very well explained and stimulating. I am a third year maths undergraduate in the UK. Although I did find some concepts from computer science very foreign in the very beginning, I soon picked them up. So don't be afraid if you are like me who don't know much about computer science. Staying active and curious is the key. Good luck with the course and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. And here I would like to say thank you to Dan Boneh for making the videos and making this course public. I am looking forward to take Cryptography II in this autumn.

Very theoretical and mathematical and not enough real examples.

Only theory No practicals or solved questions

The course is excellent! Exactly what you would expect from a world-class institution like Stanford.

Prof. Boneh masterfully guides you through the core building blocks of cryptography, beautifully weaving the concepts into a logical framework that helps understanding the big picture and the role that each plays. The course is very rigorous but the math is not overwhelming and also discusses very useful practical topics like common cryptographic protocols (TLS, WEP, etc.) and the attacks that were discovered over the years.

The course is challenging and takes quite a bit of effort, but at the end I feel that I learned a lot. While I probably need some more time and practice exercises to fully absorb the material, I feel that from here I could go on and independently dig deeper in some of the topics or tackle more advanced one.

Looking forward to part II!

Excellent introduction to cryptography for those with little to no prior knowledge of the subject.

Would recommend becoming familiar with number theory as a precursor, as this underpins many of the concepts introduced. While not essential (as the basics are covered and references are provided to support material), the focus is much more on cryptography than mathematics.

Lectures are well structured and build on each other in a logical progression. Exercise questions are well thought out, and effectively test understanding of the modules. I would also recommend undertaking the optional programming exercises, as these tend to throw up practical issues that may not always be apparent from the course notes.

I'm a software developer - I took this course because I wanted to demystify cryptography, and it delivered 100%. It describes fundamental cryptographic primitives, how to use them (and how not to use them) with real-world examples, as well as the theory behind why they are secure, and what "secure" actually means.

There is a fair amount of mathematics involved - everything is covered in the course, but someone with a background in mathematics will definitely have an easier time.

The Cryptography I is a very formal course taught by a very accomplished professor, Dr. Dan Boneh of the Stanford University. He explains the inner workings of cryptosystems through mathematical structures and proofs. This way we are able to appreciate and fully understand crypto algorithms and their limitations. He covers topics in cryptography ranging from the ancient ciphers to modern public key cryptography and everything in between. This is cryptography at its core. Thank you, Dr. Dan Boneh!

It is very nice to have some basic idea. But if supplemented with some practical based screen recording then may be that would be more interesting. If supplemented with reference to further reading materials for deeper understanding then that ware better.

There were too many repititions of tautological proofs. Should have been covered in 1/2 or more of a single session: this is how we reason about cryptography. Too much focus on low-level primitives which doesn't make sense if we are to never implement our own cryptography. Finally, as a general point it would be amazing if there were ungraded "practice sets" that came with answers: you work it work them out and look at the answers and if you don't understand you try to figure out what you can't get. You can ask questions on the forum without revealing anything. The focus should be on working problems. Then, the quiz needn't permit infinite retrials: working through the practice sets is where the learning would occur. As it is now, you listen to the lecture, read over the notes several times, and then try the quiz. I did the programming before taking the quiz: that was a chance to actual work with the crypto algorithms.

A really hard class for anyone not graduated from collage.

The best course I have taken so far! Not only it introduces you to the world of cryptography, but gives a mathematical overview of how everything works and many practical experiences. The second part is coming soon, expectations are over the roof! The book covering materials in these courses, that Boneh is still working on, will be the best resource for all cryptography related topics(for me at least), I guess it's set out to be the ultimate cryptography textbook.

As a person with mathematical background I admired every piece of the course and how well everything was put together. It really shows how Maths as a science is not just a theory, it's very much practical as well. Having said that, one doesn't have to have mathematical background to comprehend course materials.

The exercises at each end of week are very well crafted - they make you reuse most important information from the week and stick that deep into your brain. I finished the course 1.5 years ago and still remember what most exercises were about.

I remember some colleagues complained about week 5 being too much theoretical and therefore dropped the course. For me it was one of the most interesting weeks. Anyway, I would say first 4 weeks are a must for any developer who is responsible for any software/hardware that has something to do with encryption/authentication.

TLDR: If you are considering the course, just take it. The information you will get is universal and timeless.

Edit: I could shorten it out to a summary:

"The most valuable course I ever enrolled in, this website and course is so extremely vital, I recommend anyone interested in cryptography to enroll in this course. " - William M

BRILLIANT! ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! THANKS FOR THIS AMAZING COURSE DAN BONEH! THIS WAS THE MOST VALUABLE KNOWLEDGE I COULD EVER HAVE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!

AGAIN, THANK YOU SO EXTREMELY MUCH!

I would recommend ANYONE TO TAKE THIS COURSE, even if you're just beginning in Cryptography, I was hooked after the first day of "intro" about what ciphers are, how they work, and how you break them.

Again, can't say this enough; this course was, and is VITAL! As it's so extremely well made!

Thanks!

Only two downsides imho: first, the course is fast - he does warn in the very first week that for some reason he goes faster doing a video course than in a real classroom, but it's worth repeating that there's a lot more stuff than one would guess by the video length.

Second, some questions are not perfectly synced, ie the choices appear after the answer is shown - eg

integrity-3-PMAC and the Carter-Wegman MAC at 5:14,

how-to-use-block-ciphers 2 - MANY-time key at 21:02,

how-to-use-block-ciphers 2 - MANY-time key at 12:22,

how-to-use-block-ciphers 1 - ONE time key 6:37. If anyone can fix them, thank you. Great course anyway!

It's been a great learning experience. My background in math / algebra / calculus is rather weak, so it was a real stretch. But it's so rewarding to understand how the fabric of our daily interactions is protected (or how vulnerable it can be) with modern cryptography. Kudoz to the teacher!

The best course for the cryptography. As a beginner it took some time for me to understand, I had to revisit few sections again to get clear understanding. But the content was the highlight of the course and it was delivered in an excellent way. Looking forward to the next course

This is the best course on the cryptography which help me to learn relative basic topics. Thank professor for his presentation. Let me say again, it is very very very helpful for people who are interested in cryptography. It is necessary to review this course again and again.

Provides a comprehensive introduction to cryptographic history, current technology, best practices and known attacker techniques. A great deal of material is covered in a relatively compact program.

El profesor es muy malo explicando, hay cosas las cuales no tenian sentido (creo yo que esto es porque justamente el profesor no sabe y explicar) y ademas las preguntas que hace en medio de los videos son ridiculas. Da preguntas sin haber antes explicado el conocimiento previo.