CY-503 (C) RGPV B.Tech
Data Security (DS)
Previous year papers and the official syllabus are free to read, no account needed.
Previous Year Papers
1 paper, latest Dec 2025
Syllabus, notes and important questions for CY-503 (C)
Syllabus units
Topics as the official RGPV syllabus lists them.
Unit 1 Introduction and Symmetric (Private) Key Cryptographic Systems 15 topics
- History of Cryptography
- Probability theory (Mathematical background)
- Information theory
- Complexity theory
- Number theory
- Caesar cipher
- Affine cipher
- Monoalphabetic substitution
- Transposition cipher
- Homophonic substitution
- Vigenère cipher
- Beauford cipher and DES family
- Product ciphers
- Lucifer cipher
- Data Encryption Standard (DES)
Unit 2 Asymmetric (Public) Key Cryptographic Systems 9 topics
- Concept of PKCS
- RSA cryptosystem
- Variants of RSA
- Primality testing
- Security of RSA
- Merkle–Hellman cryptosystem
- Security of Merkle–Hellman
- ElGamal cryptosystem
- Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC)
Unit 3 Stream Ciphers and Block Ciphers 12 topics
- One-time pad
- Synchronous stream ciphers
- Self-synchronizing stream ciphers
- Feedback shift registers
- Linear complexity
- Non-linear feedback shift registers
- Stream ciphers based on LFSRs
- Non-linear combination generators
- Non-linear filter generators
- Clock-controlled generators
- Alternating step generators
- Shrinking generators
Unit 4 Digital Signatures 11 topics
- Properties of digital signatures
- Generic signature schemes
- Rabin signature scheme
- Lamport signature scheme
- Matyas–Meyer signature scheme
- RSA-based digital signatures
- Multiple RSA signatures
- ElGamal signatures
- Digital Signature Standard (DSS)
- Blind signatures
- RSA blind signatures
Unit 5 Secret Sharing Algorithms and Pseudorandom Number Generators 8 topics
- Threshold secret sharing
- Shamir's secret sharing scheme
- Blakley's secret sharing scheme
- Modular secret sharing scheme
- Definition of randomness and pseudorandomness
- Statistical tests of randomness
- Linear congruential generator (LCG)
- Modern pseudorandom number generators (PRNGs)
Exam insights
Counted from 3 past CY-503 (C) papers.
Marks asked per paper, by unit
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Unit 1 Introduction and Symmetric (Private) Key Cryptographic Systems 47 marks
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Unit 2 Asymmetric (Public) Key Cryptographic Systems 16 marks
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Unit 3 Stream Ciphers and Block Ciphers 9 marks
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Unit 4 Digital Signatures 14 marks
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Unit 5 Secret Sharing Algorithms and Pseudorandom Number Generators 19 marks
Average marks of the questions from each unit in one paper. You answer only some of them, so the total is more than the paper’s maximum.
Asked again and again
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Explain the RSA cryptosystem and its use in secure communication (e.g., key exchange, digital signatures).
Asked 4 times: 2022, 2023, 2024
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Outline the SSL/TLS handshake protocol and its steps.
Asked 3 times: 2022, 2023, 2024
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Explain the Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) protocol for email authentication and confidentiality.
Asked 2 times: 2022, 2024