An Interactive Visualization Tool for the Interpretation of Mathematical Concepts behind Public Key Cryptography

Most of the engineering programs especially computer science have two or more security related subjects, but lack of active learning and practical experience in the classroom. Cryptographic algorithms which solve Security problems relay on specific mathematical areas such as modular arithmetic, probability and number theory. Unfortunately students feel difficulty to follow the concepts due to the underlying sophisticated mathematics; it is necessitating a fundamental change in our curriculum. Interactive pedagogical tools need to be introduced incrementally along with standard content in a way that makes the standard content easier to learn and vice versa. This work describes an interactive visualization tool which helps the student community to understand the mathematical concepts behind public cryptography algorithms using Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet. It is shown how the sophisticated maths can be visualized and implemented and also discussed some of the famous public key algorithms that the students at various level can do with the help of Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet