Merkle-Hellman Knapsack Cryptosystems in Undergraduate Telecommunication Security Course Using Project-Based Learning

The paper presents the use of the project-based learning approach when the topic “Merkle-Hellman Knapsack Cryptosystems” is introduced in the undergraduate course “Telecommunication Security” at the University of Ruse. Students investigate and discuss the theoretical issues in the topic, then develop applications in Microsoft Excel simulating the encryption and decryption phases using the Merkle-Hellman knapsack cryptosystem. The applications might be used in the educational process in different courses in the field of cryptography at the University of Ruse, making easy the process of taking in and fully understanding the information and/or ideas studied by the students.