Product Description

With its conversational tone and practical focus, this text mixes applied and theoretical aspects for a solid introduction to cryptography and security, including the latest significant advancements in the field.Assumes a minimal background. The level of math sophistication is equivalent to a course in linear algebra. Presents applications and protocols where cryptographic primitives are used in practice, such as SET and SSL. Provides a detailed explanation of AES, which has replaced Feistel-based ciphers (DES) as the standard block cipher algorithm. Includes expanded discussions of block ciphers, hash functions, and multicollisions, plus additional attacks on RSA to make readers aware of the strengths and shortcomings of this popular scheme.For engineers interested in learning more about cryptography.

Customer Reviews (14)

Book Review
Its a book.... can't say much more.Had to buy it for a class I am enrolled in at a local college.Delivery was quick and the cost was better than the school's book store.I paid less for the book than a used edition at the college.I don't think its a particularly great text book.

Not as decribed, but still in acceptable condition
Not completely as descibed (new book), but it is still useful. There was some deformations and scatches on the book, but as I mentioned, it is still useful and in acceptable condition.

Introduction To Cryptography Reviw
Hi. This is a very good book for university studies or also for personal use too. Easy to read and understand. There are few mathematical details (this is a negative feature) but it explains very well all arguments. The only really negative thing is the cost, a little much ...
Otherwise, i suggest you this book.

Excellent Book
I highly, highly recommend this book to anyone who either is taking a course in cryptography in school or wants to learn about it. It is a very well written book which clarifies a lot of basic concepts. I bought it as it was recommended by my professor in school and managed to get an A in the course. It is a good book and I think it helped me come back after a lecture and find all the matter that I needed. Good reference material.

Inadequate mathematical explanations
The authors of the book are obviously very knowledgeable about the subject matter. This book would have worked well as a reference to lectures delivered by the authors. But for self-study, this book provides INADEQUATE mathematical explanations.

My bachelor's degree is in Physics, and my commercial computer experience totals 11 years. And yet I found it hard to follow many of the mathematical assertions of the authors. If you are willing to accept the mathematical assertions on FAITH, then you will likely feel satisfied with this book. But if you want to UNDERSTAND the mathematics, and you want to be able to PROVE to yourself that the assertions and theorems are true, then you may find the explanations inadequate, as I did.

This book really REQUIRES a very strong foundation in Number Theory. My Physics course was not concerned with Number Theory. If you are like me, who has not finished a college-level course in Number Theory, then you might have the same difficulty in understanding this book.

The writing style of the authors does not help, either. They seldom give solved examples of the mathematical concepts they are presupposing. The end-of-chapter Exercises and Computer Problems are supplied with no feedback answers. The authors do not define two mathematical objects, that they use, and which I do not recognize.

In the first several chapters, the authors make about 10 mathematical assertions that they do not prove or demonstrate. These are embedded in "explanations" seeking to explain something else. But since the "explanations" make use of undemonstrated mathematical assertions, they fail to elicit understanding in the mind of the reader.

To summarize, this book is more like a textbook in support of classroom lectures, NOT for self-study seeking UNDERSTANDING of the subject matter. ... Read more

Product Description
Cryptography is concerned with the conceptualization, definition, and construction of computing systems that address security concerns. The design of cryptographic systems must be based on firm foundations. Building on the basic tools presented in the first volume, this second volume of Foundations of Cryptography contains a rigorous and systematic treatment of three basic applications: Encryption, Signatures, and General Cryptographic Protocols. It is suitable for use in a graduate course on cryptography and as a reference book for experts. The author assumes basic familiarity with the design and analysis of algorithms; some knowledge of complexity theory and probability is also useful.Also available: Volume I: Basic Tools0-521-79172-3 Hardback $75.00 C ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

From Go to Woo.
I read this book while my husband was studying honours year computer science.It was,in one word,readable.I could understand it, and it gave me a good grasp of the field and a better appreciation of whatspecialists in computer science actually do with this stuff.I am not acomputer scientist, but like to be active in understanding what my husbandis up to, and I could take this book in.So, while it is probably not forthe complete novice, I found it educational for an arts grad who hasobtained all of her information on computing osmotically.

Great read,when will it be in print again.I lent my copy and it never came backhome.

Still quite good!
I got hold of a copy from a friend who also bought one. I was told that this was a classic, and sure it is. I'd not use it today for Cryptografy education (New stuff evolves every month), but it DO contains alot of othergems, still very intresting today which you could use for education - Ifyou can get hold of a copy i suggest that you buy it asap!

A timeless invaluble book for cryptography and data security
This is one of the first book in this field. It was one of the most cited book. This book deals with cryptography with algorithm approches. Apart from cryptography, data security, especially for secure operating systems,is presented. I got a copy of the book in the early 1980s when I was astudent. I also taught cryptography with it. I would like to recommend thebook as the first book to be read for a student with interest incryptography. ... Read more

Product Description
Learning about cryptography requires examining fundamental issues about information security. Questions abound, ranging from "From whom are we protecting ourselves?" and "How can we measure levels of security?" to "What are our opponent's capabilities?" and "What are their goals?" Answering these questions requires an understanding of basic cryptography. This book, written by Russian cryptographers, explains those basics.

Chapters are independent and can be read in any order. The introduction gives a general description of all the main notions of modern cryptography: a cipher, a key, security, an electronic digital signature, a cryptographic protocol, etc. Other chapters delve more deeply into this material. The final chapter presents problems and selected solutions from "Cryptography Olympiads for (Russian) High School Students".

This is an English translation of a Russian textbook. It is suitable for advanced high school students and undergraduates studying information security. It is also appropriate for a general mathematical audience interested in cryptography. ... Read more

Product Description
For one-semester, undergraduate/graduate level courses in Cryptography, Computer Security, and Network Security.Best-selling author and four-time winner of the TEXTY award for the best Computer Science and Engineering text, William Stallings provides a practical survey of both the principles and practice of cryptography and network security. This text, which won the 1999 TAA Award for the best computer science and engineering textbook of the year, has been completely updated to reflect the latest developments in the field. It has also been extensively reorganized to provide the optimal sequence for classroom instruction and self-study. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

It's definitely a CompSci textbook
The variability in textbook reviews are interesting.I would consider this text "math heavy" whereas other reviewers believe you'll need another serious text on the matter to round out your collection.

I bought this to learn the high level details/processes behind encryption and cryptography but after flipping through the detailed treatment of each, the book got really short, really fast.If you're looking for "Hey here's DES in a nutshell" then this book isn't for you.It is in the sense that the three paragraphs preceding the several-page detailed discussion of the DES algorithm are for you, but the rest isn't.

A one-step guide
I was able to use this book as an introduction, and more than an introduction, on the world of cryptography. I started reading it with no knowledge on cryptographic algorithms, ad I learned the principles behind cryptographic algorithms and how they are linked with pratical implementation on security products.

The area of network security is less developed than the cryptography area, but still valuable.

Fantastic Primer for this Subject Area
I adored this book!It's one of my favourite texts of all time.I used it for a computer security subject and it's a great primer.It covers a middle ground in computer encryption and network security that serves wonderfully as a primer for the novice and a reference for the experienced.

The contents are roughly evenly split between detailed descriptions of currently used encyrption protocols, and descriptions of network security protocols.For a complete reference library on this field, you would also need a book on network communications protocols, a mathematics-heavy text on the design of encryption algorithms and a programming-heavy text on encryption algorithm implementation.

But if you have prior knowledge of network comms, aren't ineterested in encryption design or maths, and can do the coding yourself, then this book has all you need to understand practical encryption and security currently used in industry and to implement the protocols yourself.

Stallings has a great writing style and explains concepts in clear and interesting English.You can't go wrong with this book.As a primer for the primer, I'd recommend The Code Book by Simon Singh (very readable) or any of Stallings' other books specifically dealing with data comms.

Smooth and Quick Transaction
Completely satisfied with delivery of book.It came on the date that the seller promised.

I would do business again the future.

Excellent
Cryptography and Network Security: Principles and Practice by Stallings is a very good book on crypto.

It is not as detailed as Schneier's Applied Cryptography, but is still a great book.
... Read more

Product Description
Addresses the difficult and essential foundations of cryptography in a way that is accessible to people with a wide variety of backgrounds. An unconventional, fun way to master the basics of cryptography. Softcover. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

A beginner-low advanced level book
This book was used in a course I took taught by the author, Dr. John Hershey. I have read and own several books in this category, am working to obtain two advanced degrees in the field of computer security, and feel that I have enough information to write an objective review. It is an excellent introduction book to the general area of cryptography, but suffers from several shortcomings.

If you do not know much about what cryptography and encryption are, this book should provide a decent introduction. The book provides the mathematical concepts needed to understand the chapters, but I felt it did not cover enough detail or provide enough examples to let me feel I had a solid understanding of everything.

There are three aspects to cryptography: authentication, integrity, and verification. This book only discusses integrity issues, i.e. encryption. DES, RSA, and Diffie-Hellman are discussed, but a detailed covering of AES is noticibly absent. It covers integrity rather well, breaking down the different methods of using block encryption into separate chapters. In other words, DES operation in electronic codebook, output feedback, and cipher feedback modes are three different chapters. This is something that isn't usually done and is a rather nice touch. It makes it much easier to learn the advantages and disadvantages for each mode of operation.

In terms of total mathematical theory, Hershey's book does not contain much theory. If you want theory, I recommend you find William Stallings book titled "Cryptography and Network Security: Principles and Practice." Also, Hershey's book does not contain code to let you start programming a security system. If you want applications, I recommend you find Bruce Schneier's book titled "Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C." Those books are for advanced readers, however, and may be difficult to understand if you don't know the area.

Overall, it is a good read. I recommend it more for IT people than computer scientists or engineers simply because it touches upon the topic, instead of being very detailed. Look at the editorial review section criteria for who should read the book, it is right for the most part.

BA/BS in Mathematics Required
If you can make sense of this then you'll be able to make sense of the rest of the book (From Module 4):

Prob[p(t)=1lc(t)={Prob[c(t)=1lp(t)=1]Prob[p(t)=1]}/{Prob[c(t)=1]}
Now,
Prob[c(t)=1lp(t)=1]=Prob[k(t)=0]
and
Prob[c(t)=1]=Prob[p(t)=1]Prob[k(t)=0]+Prob[p(t)=0]Prob[k(t)=1]
therefore,
Prob[p(t)=1lc(t)=1]={prob[k(t)=0]Prob[p(t)=1]}/{Prob[p(t)=1]Prob[k(t)=0}+Prob[p(t)=0]Prob[k(t)=1]}

This book is slanted towards more theory and math than others that deal in practicality, for instance "Cryptography for Dummies".But if you have a solid foundation in mathematics and have the temporal ability to "quantinize" then this is a fantastic book.I would speculate this book is meant for graduate comp. sci/eng coursework as it is broken down into 35 Modules with problem solving exercises at the end of each.At any rate, good luck!

Great intro to crypto!
Cryptography Demystified is a great intro guide to cryptography, well worth its price.

Dr. Hershey shines, again, in this book -- by far his best
The simplicity, yet thoroughness, which he uses to explain one of the more difficult topics in engineering and mathematics shows that Dr. Hershey is a true expert in the field. I highly recomend this book for both the novice and the advanced reader.

A book about Cryptography for everyone
If you are looking to expand your mind, think about learning Cryptography.It is an excellent discipline to help you think in new ways.If you decide you want to learn Cryptography, this is the book for you.The book is written in modules, making it easy to digest.The book is equally suitable for a formal classroom or self-study environment.Using the book for self study is enhanced by the modular format, superb clarity of the teaching, the well-explained answers to the problems, and the appropriately injected humor.People that need to learn Cryptography will undoubtedly have this book on their shelf, whether they are an expert or beginner.I would like to speak to the people that don't need to learn Cryptography - this book is for you too, as you will enjoy learning the thought processes of Cryptography that will enhance your creativity in any field.This book is a gift. ... Read more

Product Description

The theory of algebraic function fields over finite fields has its origins in number theory. However, after Goppa`s discovery of algebraic geometry codes around 1980, many applications of function fields were found in different areas of mathematics and information theory. This book presents survey articles on some of these new developments. The topics focus on material which has not yet been presented in other books or survey articles.

Product Description
Java 1.1 and Java 1.2 provide extensive support for cryptography with an elegant architecture, the Java Cryptography Architecture (JCA). Another set of classes, the Java Cryptography Extension (JCE), provides additional cryptographic functionality. This book covers the JCA and the JCE from top to bottom, describing the use of the cryptographic classes as well as how to extend them.The book is designed for moderately experienced Java programmers who want to learn how to build cryptography into their applications. No prior knowledge of cryptography is assumed. The book is peppered with useful examples, ranging from simple demonstrations in the first chapter to full-blown applications in later chapters.Topics include:

• The Java Cryptography Architecture (JCA)
• The Java Cryptography Extension (JCE)
• Cryptographic providers
• The Sun key management tools
• Message digests, digital signatures, and certificates (X509v3)
• Block and stream ciphers
• Implementations of the ElGamal signature and cipher algorithms
• A network talk application that encrypts all data sent over the network
• An email application that encrypts its messages
• Creating signed applets

In addition to his discussions and examplesfor individual pieces of the cryptography infrastructure and hisimplementation of the ElGamal system, Knudsen includes two niftycrypto-enabled programs: a chat system and an e-mail system. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Review of Java Cryptography/Jonathan Knudsen
Java Cryptography (Java Series)

The book is written very well.It starts simple with explanations of principles of Cryptography and shows its usage on simple examples.Then Java Sun classes forCryptography are presented and again their usage is demonstrated on examples which are never difficult to understand and thoroughly commented.Then more theory and more examples follow. Terms used and explained are Keys, Key Generators and Translators, Authentication, Integrity, Encryption, Signatures, Certificates.

The strength of the book is in the fact that the reader is able to start with Java Cryptography rather fast.The examples are easy to understand and fully explained.The book is not trivial and it is good to know something about random number generators and have a good grasp of Java programming and Java socket programming in particular, even knowledge of awt GUI principles is useful. Java professionals who intend to devote their work to Cryptography should find this book very helpful.

The coverage of this book ends with JDK 1.2 - we have JDK 1.6 now when this review is being written.It actually may be a strength.Instead of trying to grasp latest software features attention may be more diverted to principles which is always a good thing.Generally, I would recommend this book

Good introduction but I expect more
Good introduction and explanation of cryptography, great for begineers, great view of Java. Specially chapters from 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9. The rest is sometimes poor, sometimes obsolete. It's a good job, but since 1998 a lot of things came to this area. Maybe a second edition will be a good idea. For provider architecture I prefer Scott Oaks' Java Security. I miss some explanation of cryptography. But the explanations included are very clear. I agree the average from the rest of the reviews and I think 3 stars is the deserved rate for this book.

Not good at all
The reviewer who mentioned this book is out of date is absolutely correct.Worse than that, this book on cryptography is written by someone who doesn't actually understand cryptography very well.Lots of bad practices are recommended, and there are several examples in the book that are insecure as written.

I would also give this book zero stars if it were possible.

If I could have given this zero stars I would have.
Do not waste your money or time. This is a very poor book and is very much out of date.

One of the best books on the subject
Are you concerned about someone outside your company intercepting a password between your applet and your server? Are you worried about someone inside your company using a packet sniffer to capture the credit card numbers of your customers? No? Well, perhaps you should be! As a first step towards closing your security holes you should pick up a copy of "Java Cryptography". This book is written for the experienced Java developer with no cryptography background who needs to build cryptography into their application. The book starts off with a brief description of secure systems and demonstrates a "Hello zoT1WY1NJA0=!" program. It then gives a fairly detailed description of cryptographic concepts and the Java Cryptography Architecture (JCA). Subsequent chapters discuss how to use the Java Cryptography Extension (JCE). Chapter 5 covers generating and managing symmetric and asymmetric keys with an explanation of the difference. Chapter 6 discusses authenticating users and messages. Signatures and certificates are covered. Chapter 7 covers encryption techniques using different types of ciphers. Chapter 8 covers signing applets. The last chapters include sample encrypted chat and e-mail programs. The end result is a book that provides excellent coverage of cryptography in Java. The only defect in the book is that it is three years old (Java 2 was in beta). Fortunately, the book was written recently enough to include the new utilities used in Java 2. Even though a new edition is desirable, "Java Cryptography" still stands alone as the best book available on this topic. ... Read more

Product Description

After two decades of research and development, elliptic curve cryptography now has widespread exposure and acceptance. Industry, banking, and government standards are in place to facilitate extensive deployment of this efficient public-key mechanism.

Anchored by a comprehensive treatment of the practical aspects of elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), this guide explains the basic mathematics, describes state-of-the-art implementation methods, and presents standardized protocols for public-key encryption, digital signatures, and key establishment. In addition, the book addresses some issues that arise in software and hardware implementation, as well as side-channel attacks and countermeasures. Readers receive the theoretical fundamentals as an underpinning for a wealth of practical and accessible knowledge about efficient application.

Features & Benefits:

* Breadth of coverage and unified, integrated approach to elliptic curve cryptosystems

* Describes important industry and government protocols, such as the FIPS 186-2 standard from the U.S. National Institute for Standards and Technology

* Provides full exposition on techniques for efficiently implementing finite-field and elliptic curve arithmetic

* Distills complex mathematics and algorithms for easy understanding

* Includes useful literature references, a list of algorithms, and appendices on sample parameters, ECC standards, and software tools

This comprehensive, highly focused reference is a useful and indispensable resource for practitioners, professionals, or researchers in computer science, computer engineering, network design, and network data security.

Customer Reviews (3)

fabulous introduction to implementing ECC
I bought this book because I was designing a cryptographic protocol, and wanted to know if I could use ECC in my design. It begins with an explanation of "traditional" public key cryptography (i.e., cryptography over prime fields), introduces binary fields and elliptic curves, shows how to perform computations over elliptic curves, puts this together into ECC protocols, and then includes very useful implementaiton information. This book does a good job explaining not only how to use ECC algorithms, but why they work.

As advertised, this book doesn't go into too much mathematical depth, omitting most proofs. This doesn't mean that there is no math in this book; if you don't have a decent background in algebra (no, not the stuff you learned in seventh grade), you're likely to get confused. However, if you have a little background in theoretical math and cryptography, you'll find this a very readable and easy to understand book.

The one thing that's left out of this book are intellectual property issues. Certicom owns a lot of patents on ECC, and it's not clear which ideas in this book are covered by Certicom patents. This is a minor complaint though; overall, the book is excellent. It's rare to find a book that is so exactly on target. Highly recommeneded.

Detailed and practical
This is the only source I've found that goes into the nuts and bolts of elliptic curve (EC) cryptography. The mathematical content is rich, although proofs are generally in references rather than in the text itself. The real value is in its many and detailed algorithm examples, and in the way it builds up to them.

Before it even gets into the text, Hankerson et al have created a model of clarity. In addition to the usual, front matter includes a list of abbreviations. If you've ever choked on the alphabet soup in other books, you'll appreciate how this makes the discussion much easier to absorb. There's also a list of the algorithms presented - what the practitioner wanted in the first place.

After an introductory chapter, the authors present finite field arithmetic in a thorough but readable way. First they present prime fields over the integers, then optimal extension fields and (most importantly) binary fields. There's nothing here for the cut&paste programmer, but dozens of algorithms help the thoughtful developer work through material that is immensely complicated in other presentations. Other goodies, like Karatsuba-Ofman fast multiplication appear here as well.

The third chapter is the book's real payload: EC techniques. I've been looking for years for a book that was so explicit in the how-to, without watering down the technical content. This is practical stuff - not just the theory of EC operations, but the techniques that make EC calculations practical for high-speed implementations.

The rest of the book - about half - discusses what to do with EC codes. That includes protocols for choosing parameters, public-key and signature algorithms, and standard kinds of attacks. It also includes hardware-level description of possible implementations, down to specific instruction sets and cache structures and different kinds of chip implementations. That leads to another set of discussions on attacks, the kind that go in through the power supply or RF emissions. Appendices provide or point to pragmatic details such as parameters to use or software support available.

The only thing that could be improved in this book is the index - it's just too brief, and lacks the thoroughness the rest of the book led me to expect. I hope you realize just how small a complaint that is. In all other ways, this book meets the highest expectations.

Highly recommended for anyone who needs to understand exactly how EC cryptography works, right down to the bit level.

//wiredweird

A very nice introduction to the field
This book is a must have if you are interested in implementing elliptic curve cryptography. It does not have any of the juicy ellpitic curve mathematics, but that is okay as this book is directed towards engineers and others who want to learn about how elliptic curve cryptosystems are being deployed. ... Read more

Product Description
Cryptography plays a crucial role in many aspects of today's world, from internet banking and ecommerce to email and web-based business processes. Understanding the principles on which it is based is an important topic that requires a knowledge of both computational complexity and a range of topics in pure mathematics. This book provides that knowledge, combining an informal style with strong proofs of the key results to provide an accessible introduction.It includes many examples and exercises, and is based on a highly successful course developed and taught over many years. ... Read more

Product Description

This book is about relations between three different areas of mathematics and theoretical computer science: combinatorial group theory, cryptography, and complexity theory. It is explored how non-commutative (infinite) groups, which are typically studied in combinatorial group theory, can be used in public key cryptography. It is also shown that there is a remarkable feedback from cryptography to combinatorial group theory because some of the problems motivated by cryptography appear to be new to group theory, and they open many interesting research avenues within group theory.

Then, complexity theory, notably generic-case complexity of algorithms, is employed for cryptanalysis of various cryptographic protocols based on infinite groups, and the ideas and machinery from the theory of generic-case complexity are used to study asymptotically dominant properties of some infinite groups that have been applied in public key cryptography so far.

Its elementary exposition makes the book accessible to graduate as well as undergraduate students in mathematics or computer science.

Product Description
Want to keep your Web site safe? Learn how to implement cryptography, the most secure form of data encryption. Highly accessible, and packed with detailed case studies, this practical guide is written in conjunction with RSA Security--the most trusted name in e-security(tm). Part of the RSA Press Series. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

book contents dont keep up to the overstated title
I have some basic idea on cryptography and security. Based on the title, I was excited to read some book that is from RSA press (RSA is one of the leading cryptography related companies). However, the book sounds more like a marketing pitch and some ideas are just thrown at you. The first two chapters are good for a person new to security. The drawbacks of password based security are described in a concise manner. I was expecting some brief overview (understandable to a common man) on some cryptography concepts. However, after reading the book the only take home idea is "use cryptography", with no more insight or information. I was expecting more, at least from RSA Press. The author just says that we need cryptography and there are companies and certification agencies.
The title "official guide to cryptography" is very misleading.

There are a lot of good books to tell us the need for cryptography (e.g. Secure Coding by microsoft) and I would not recommend this book.

A very good combination.
A good book that combines the expressions of a Mathematician: Burnett and an Engineer: Paine.
The book is descriptively very good with images that today in day is necessary to understand the theoretical ideas better.
The chapters two, three four contain the most didactic description and with an efficient theoretical profile.
RSASecurity made well in publishing this book as official guide as much as makes CISCO with their books.
It is necessary to stand out that they exist other books of RSA that explain particular details about PKI and IPSec, however the book of Burnett and Paine it is distinguished by the clarity of the exposed topics.
I agree with the chapters eight, nine and ten, although they should expose a little but about the kindness of the protocol SET.
It is a very good book that I recommend for those who want to know about the applied cryptography.
A final recommendation: it is certain that today in day the topic of the telecommunications has come being developed with more peak in the world, and although it is certain, the great majority of the books it defines aspects linked to the nets of computers, it is not necessary to leave aside the nets of cellular telephony and the security of the telecommunications, you that it exists now for example RSA Mobile.
For the side of the content of the CD, it is excellent because it offers us information in files pdf of aspects itemized in cryptography.
Lastly, the algorithm I find RSAOAEP that it should be more extended, with more examples and bigger covering, however its inclusion in the book is the appropriate one.
Very good support of RSASecurity to the world.

Burnett/Paine hit the "nail on the head" with this book
This is a MUST HAVE book, I have not been able to put it down! the other engineers that I work with are so impressed by the attention to detail and clarity that they are also ordering this as I write. For anyone implementing high level security this is the best all around book I have picked up. The info in the appendix sections would be worth buying alone! It gives Technical leaning/learning folks a great primer (and I learned a lot from it too). If you are looking to clarify security models/risks buy this book!

Half and Half
This book really did it.It put me to sleep so fast.The reason why I gave it 2 stars was because the first few chapters did give a quite good introduction on cryptography.I don't know how I got fool into buying this book.Oh yes, it was because of the 5-stars rating I saw on others' comments.

A great introduction to cryptography
A fantastic book for the IS professional interested in learning more about cryptography.This book is one of the better-written books I have read in a long time. The authors keep the content flowing without bogging you down in a lot of high-level mathematical theory or techno garbage. From history to the concepts behind different algorithms, the book presents the pros and cons of many different technologies. My one fear was that it would be nothing more than an advertisement for RSA's products. I couldn't have been more incorrect. I started this book on a two-hour flight, and five chapters into it I actually didn't want to put it down. A great read with lots of information. ... Read more

Product Description

Cryptography is a key technology in electronic key systems. It is used to keep data secret, digitally sign documents, access control, and so forth. Users therefore should not only know how its techniques work, but they must also be able to estimate their efficiency and security. Based on courses taught by the author, this book explains the basic methods of modern cryptography. It is written for readers with only basic mathematical knowledge who are interested in modern cryptographic algorithms and their mathematical foundation. Several exercises are included following each chapter. This revised and extended edition includes new material on the AES encryption algorithm, the SHA-1 Hash algorithm, on secret sharing, as well as updates in the chapters on factoring and discrete logarithms.

Customer Reviews (5)

Used this during independent study
It's a nice reference book with fun activities, but it was abandoned after awhile.I liked the structure of the book, and the topics it covered.But I wouldn't use this without a professor or someone to work with.Definitely good for practicing and for use with other material.

Worst cryptography book I've ever seen
This book is horrible.
The text is ugly, some definitions are strange (for example, the author defines O-notation for complexity in a totally non-standard and non-intuitive way) and the reading the book is a pain.

Please use another Cryptography book. Good examples are Mao's Modern Cryptography: Theory and Practice) and Stinson's Cryptography: Theory and Practice for example. There are also the Handbook of Applied Cryptography and Foundations of Cryptography, volumes one and two.

Do not adopt this book as your textbook
This book should not be adopted as a textbook for a course in cryptography. It demonstrates little to no copy editing. For example, the text switches from English to German within the same sentence. This book contains countless errors which are not even reported in the errata. Further, the book is terse to the point of not supporting the students. It presumes advanced knowledge of algebra which is not explained in the text itself. This is true when it discusses irreducible polynomials, polynomial division, and its very terse segment on Galois Theory in an early chapter.

I adopted this text for my course based in part on prior Amazon recommendations and the general reputation of the Springer UTM series. Please, do not adopt this book as a textbook unless and until Springer performs a major rewrite. My students impressions of this textbook were confirmed not only by myself, but by one of my colleagues in the department as well. This experience with this book was in a 600 level graduate course populated by both mathematics graduate students and computer science graduate students. All students are profoundly unhappy with this text.

Good but Brief Book
Buchmann's text provides an excellect introduction to cryptography for those who are comfortable with mathematical rigour, and have some knowledge of number theory.Buchmann does provide a review for each of the number theoretic concepts he introduces throughout the text.However, one who is unfamiliar with number theory and not comfortable with learning by proofs might get lost.The other problem with the text is its brevity.This might be suitable for a class on cryptograpy, but it proves quite detremental to self-study.The brevity is especially problematic in the section dealing with Elliptic Curve Crypto (3 and 1/2 pages)Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who is comfortable with rigour, and doesn't mind brevity.

Good Book
Very readable. If you are new to crypto,
this is the book for you.
Very well written. ... Read more

Product Description

Numbers have fascinated people for centuries. They are familiar to everyone, forming a central pillar of our understanding of the world, yet the number system was not presented to us "gift-wrapped" but, rather, was developed over millennia. Today, despite all this development, it remains true that a child may ask a question about numbers that no one can answer. Many unsolved problems surrounding number matters appear as quirky oddities of little account while others are holding up fundamental progress in mainstream mathematics.

Peter Higgins distills centuries of work into one delightful narrative that celebrates the mystery of numbers and explains how different kinds of numbers arose and why they are useful. Full of historical snippets and interesting examples, the book ranges from simple number puzzles and magic tricks, to showing how ideas about numbers relate to real-world problems, such as: How are our bank account details kept secure when shopping over the internet? What are the chances of winning at Russian roulette; or of being dealt a flush in a poker hand?

This fascinating book will inspire and entertain readers across a range of abilities. Easy material is blended with more challenging ideas about infinity and complex numbers, and a final chapter "For Connoisseurs" works through some of the particular claims and examples in the book in mathematical language for those who appreciate a complete explanation.

As our understanding of numbers continues to evolve, this book invites us to rediscover the mystery and beauty of numbers and reminds us that the story of numbers is a tale with a long way to run...

Customer Reviews (2)

Number Story is Wonder Story
This book has nothing wrong with it except a few typos.It's a well-written entry into higher math.Every chapter could be the summary of a PhD thesis.Yet, it's for you and me.I never got further than college statistics, yet, with a willingness to focus, I can roughly follow what Mr. Higgins is talking about.On the other hand, if I really knew my math, I'd be soaring into all sorts of mathematical heights and details.I personally loved the chapter on cryptography.Mr. Higgins tell the story of this fascinating field, which originated from war-time necessity.His simple non-mathematical explanations seduced me into actually delving with him into deeper math.So if you're like me, this chapter alone was worth the read.If you are a real mathematician, oh man, you'll follow all the math, and be so glad you read this book.

Classic
The book is a classic.It is well written.It is a joy to read.Do you know the story of numbers?Read the book, and find out.The author, in a delightful style of writing, explains the story of numbers.Peter Higgins, I feel, can get his information across to the reader so they'll understand it.You'll say to yourself, over and over again, that makes sense, how come in the past no one could explain it to me in this manner?There are professors, then there are Professors, Peter Higgins deserves the title of Professor of Mathematics.

These are my feelings, and I read the book with an open mind.Every now and then I'll re-read a chapter, or I'll dive into the chapter "For Connoisseurs."In the end, it's a classic. ... Read more

Product Description

Quantum computers will break today's most popular public-key cryptographic systems, including RSA, DSA, and ECDSA. This book introduces the reader to the next generation of cryptographic algorithms, the systems that resist quantum-computer attacks: in particular, post-quantum public-key encryption systems and post-quantum public-key signature systems.

Leading experts have joined forces for the first time to explain the state of the art in quantum computing, hash-based cryptography, code-based cryptography, lattice-based cryptography, and multivariate cryptography. Mathematical foundations and implementation issues are included.

This book is an essential resource for students and researchers who want to contribute to the field of post-quantum cryptography.

Customer Reviews (1)

Good, solid book.
Good, solid book. Used it in a difficult course I took.

It's been a while, so I don't remember specifics -- but it provides an detailed overview of the various potential contenders for cryptography (public key and digital signatures) in a "post-quantum" world where traditional mechanisms like RSA and similar, are broken.

This is [hopefully obviously!] for people involved in the field of Cryptography only, and I wouldn't consider it 'easy bedtime reading' unless you are Bernstein himself! (Or Bruce Schneier, or...)

In short: recommended for cryptology/mathematics students! ... Read more

Product Description
Leading experts from "The Physics of Quantum Information" network, initiated by the European Commission, bring together the most recent results from this emerging area of quantum technology. Written in a consistent style as a research monograph, the book introduces quantum cryptography, quantum teleportation, and quantum computation, considering both theory and newest experiments. Both scientists working in the field and advanced students will find a rich source of information on this exciting new area. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Unique
This book is unique. It contains a lot of information about physical experiments regarding to Quantum Information. Moreover, the book has an interesting approach to quantum communications. A must to buy for anyone interested in quantum information, computation and communications.

Excellent book on physics and ideas of Quantum Information
This book is interesting for understanding 'physics' of quantum information, how quantum processing is done physically. Authors have properly described all experiments and ideas on quantum information, quantum cryptography and teleportation. This book assumes that you have some knowledge on quantum mechanics or basic concepts about this subject.

To learn it.
You could use this book as a first if you have a general idea
of basic concepts in quantum theory. It is a collection of
very nicely written tutorials. They are done by authorities in the field, and cover the main trends. I especially liked Jozsa's
chapter on quantum algorithms. By now there are also good textbooks that can get you started from scratch, such as Hirvensalo, or Nielsen-Chuang. If you have trouble getting hold the original journal articles, World Scientific just came out with a collection of major papers on quantum computation and quantum information, isbn 9810241178. It includes the full text [reprinted] of some of the papers which are cited in the present book; quite a few by the very same authors. That is a big help, as the papers in the subject are scattered and spread out over many different journals, and it might be hard to know where to start when
logging into the arXiv.

Amust have, for every mind traineed in sciences
I read this books in all most 4 nites, and found it excellent to clear many dark concepts of quantum physics. I hardly recommended it to friends all over the world.

Excellent book on the Physics of Quantum Information
I have heard about this book when I was attending a series of lectures in Cambridge related to this topic, and one of the speakers was D. Bouwmeester. A. Eckert and A. Zeilinger are quite well known names inquantum physics, and this is assures for the high quality of the book. Thebook is clear in form and complete in its contents and reflects theprofessionality of the people involved in this research topic. It startsfrom the basic concepts, and gives the reader a complete perspective onQuantum Cryptography and entanglement, then is discussed teleportation,computation, including a step towards the experimental set up.Environmental decoherence, purification of entanglement and quantum errorcorrection are discussed in the last chapters. ... Read more

Product Description
Cryptology is the practice of hiding digital information by means of various obfuscatory and steganographic techniques. The application of said techniques facilitates message confidentiality and sender/receiver identity authentication, and helps to ensure the integrity and security of computer passwords, ATM card information, digital signatures, DVD and HDDVD content, and electronic commerce. Cryptography is also central to digital rights management (DRM), a group of techniques for technologically controlling the use of copyrighted material that is being widely implemented and deployed at the behest of corporations that own and create revenue from the hundreds of thousands of mini-transactions that take place daily on programs like iTunes.

This new edition of our best-selling book on cryptography and information hiding delineates a number of different methods to hide information in all types of digital media files. These methods include encryption, compression, data embedding and watermarking, data mimicry, and scrambling. During the last 5 years, the continued advancement and exponential increase of computer processing power have enhanced the efficacy and scope of electronic espionage and content appropriation. Therefore, this edition has amended and expanded outdated sections in accordance with new dangers, and includes 5 completely new chapters that introduce newer more sophisticated and refined cryptographic algorithms and techniques (such as fingerprinting, synchronization, and quantization) capable of withstanding the evolved forms of attack.

Each chapter is divided into sections, first providing an introduction and high-level summary for those who wish to understand the concepts without wading through technical explanations, and then presenting concrete examples and greater detail for those who want to write their own programs. This combination of practicality and theory allows programmers and system designers to not only implement tried and true encryption procedures, but also consider probable future developments in their designs, thus fulfilling the need for preemptive caution that is becoming ever more explicit as the transference of digital media escalates.

• Includes 5 completely new chapters that delineate the most current and sophisticated cryptographic algorithms, allowing readers to protect their information against even the most evolved electronic attacks.


• Conceptual tutelage in conjunction with detailed mathematical directives allows the reader to not only understand encryption procedures, but also to write programs which anticipate future security developments in their design.


• Grants the reader access to online source code which can be used to directly implement proven cryptographic procedures such as data mimicry and reversible grammar generation into their own work.
  

Customer Reviews (6)

Accessible introduction to a fascinating topic
This is a very easy read that does not really assume much about the reader other than mathematical maturity at the precalculus level, knowledge of programming in a higher level language, and a curiosity about hiding information in such things as images. In fact, I bought this book to get a grasp on how to hide a watermark in an image. The early chapters are devoted to material that forms the basic toolkit for steganography - private key encryption, secret sharing, and error correcting codes. The later chapters describe how to apply these techniques in various ways to hide information.

Chapter 5 discusses common data compression algorithms, not to the point that you could write an encoder/decoder system, but so that you know which allow perfect reconstruction and which do not. Compression leads to the topic of mimicry, which is the subject of chapter 6. Basic mimicry produces text that looks statistically similar to the original text but is far from perfect. Chapter 7 shows methods of improving mimicry techniques so that the mimicked text not only passes statistical tests for similarity to the original, but passes rules for grammar. This leads to the concept of context free grammars and their role in mimicry. Thus, you can hide data in realistic sounding text.

Chapter 8 concentrates on a robust and complete model known as the Turing machine. Such a machine hides data as it "runs forward", while running the machine in reverse allows the hidden data to be recovered. Certain proofs show that this is a stronger data hiding model than those previously discussed.

Chapter nine discusses a more image-processing related data hiding topic - hiding in the noise. What appears as noise to the untrained eye can actually be a message. Of course, the flip side of this is "real" noise has the power to obscure the hidden message.

Chapter 10 discusses anonymous remailers, which is the deletion of the name of the originator of a message by an intermediate node. Such systems can range from very secure to very insecure depending on strategies involved. Chapter 11,"Secret Broadcasts", is a companion chapter on how to broadcast a message so that everyone can read it but nobody knows the source. The solution lies in the "Dining Cryptographers" algorithm, and this solution is discussed at length.

Chapter 12, "Keys", discusses message keys as extensions to the concept of keys in basic cryptography, which was discussed earlier in the book. Adding keys to any algorithm discussed up to this point makes that algorithm stronger. Chapter 13, "Ordering and Reordering", discusses how steganography strategies might be disrupted by reordering parts of a message, and discusses methods that might prevent this from being a problem.

Chapter 14, "Spreading", is a more mathematical chapter than the preceding ones and takes a different approach to the problem of information hiding. It takes ideas from spread spectrum radio and applies them to steganography. This is the one chapter where a knowledge of calculus, Fourier transforms, and even wavelets will be helpful.

The last three chapters, "Synthetic Worlds", "Watermarks", and "Steganalysis" are short and more subjective than previous ones, mainly giving the reader a broad overview of these topics.

The book has a wealth of algorithms, equations, and simple examples. There is even a very basic Java mimicry program in the appendix. However, this is not a programming book full of ready to implement solutions - you will have to do that yourself. There are numerous references to web addresses where you can find both executable and source code for implementing some of the algorithms mentioned in this book. I would say if you are interested in hiding information in data of any kind - text, sound, imagery, etc. - then this book is essential reading. I highly recommend it.

One year after purchase, I keep opening this book
All in all just a fascinating book on a fascinating topic. In general, the introductory parts of each chapter are accessible to anyone with a standard 12 year education. The mathematics are best understood by people with a background in algebra and statistics at the American High School level, but not much more. If you buy this book, expect John Ashcroft to put your name on a list of people buying dangerous published works (and with the Patriot Act in place, I am neither paranoid nor joking). The best chapter is the one about encoding information in ordered lists. This book taught me how to include a one line hidden message in a 50 item list of my favorite Country and Western Songs of all time (and THAT is a cool thing to do).

Excelent book
I read the entire book from first to last page and enjoyed the content absolutely. The book has theory and practice, clear examples and many references to free and open source software to make tests. The math part has razonable level (not too much, not tolittle). I have no found anything better in the area.
Good for Peter Wayner!

P.D. ...

You know you are a crypto geek when....
This book is a great introduction to learning how to hide data in places most people wouldn't think about looking.Sample code and various URL's are provided for places to start, this not the easiest subject to grasp, but the book helps put it at a manageable level.

A great place to start!...

Cool, deep, although a bit goofy
This is a deep, serious book about making information transmogrify, even if there are a few silly parts. I liked the funny parts and they reminded me of Goedel Escher and Bach ... Read more

Product Description
For a long time, there has been a need for a practical, down-to-earth developers book for the Java Cryptography Extension. I am very happy to see there is now a book that can answer many of the technical questions that developers, managers, and researchers have about such a critical topic. I am sure that this book will contribute greatly to the success of securing Java applications and deployments for e-business.--Anthony Nadalin, Java Security Lead Architect, IBM

For many Java developers and software engineers, cryptography is an "on-demand" programming exercise, where cryptographic concepts are shelved until the next project requires renewed focus. But considerations for cryptography must be made early on in the design process and it's imperative that developers know what kinds of solutions exist.

One of Java's solutions to help bridge the gap between academic research and real-world problem solving comes in the form of a well-defined architecture for implementing cryptographic solutions. However, to use the architecture and its extensions, it is important to recognize the pros and cons of different cryptographic algorithms and to know how to implement various devices like key agreements, digital signatures, and message digests, to name a few.

In Java Cryptography Extensions (JCE), cryptography is discussed at the level that developers need to know to work with the JCE and with their own applications but that doesn't overwhelm by packing in details unimportant to the busy professional. The JCE is explored using numerous code examples and instructional detail, with clearly presented sections on each aspect of the Java library. An online open-source cryptography toolkit and the code for all of the examples further reinforces the concepts covered within the book. No other resource presents so concisely or effectively the exact material needed to begin utilizing the JCE.

* Written by a seasoned veteran of both cryptography and server-side programming
* Covers the architecture of the JCE, symmetric ciphers, asymmetric ciphers, message digests, message authentication codes, digital signatures, and managing keys and certificates
* Includes a companion web site that contains the code for the examples in the book, open-source cryptographic toolkits, and further resources ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Excellent practical guide!
This is an excellent book for those who understand the theory behind cryptography, digital signatures, certificates, etc, and just want to start implementing all these things using Java fast. This is not an exhaustive cookbook, though, covering all possible situations but rather a quick start guide that allows a person with no previous experience in JCA and JCE to implement encryption/decryption, hashing or digital signature generation/verification in minutes. One of the very rare books where not every page but every line is to the point and one doesn't have to filter out annoying discussions looking for useful information.

Limited help and weak examples
The book has good introduction material the examples described in the book are bit old and some of the classes are deprecated. The book also needs an update to include newer features of JCE and JSSE. I hurried up to buy this book and then realized it is bit outdated. Now I have Core security patterns by chris steel which covers well on cryptography api and examples using j2se 5.0 and j2ee 1.4 as well.

Practical not so practical
What's wrong with this book? There is no thorough explanation of the concepts of cryptography, he just starts off taking shotcuts and with code examples that are absolutely not mature.
I have a theoretical background in cryptography, but often had to read the text many times over before I could understand what the author was trying to say.

This is the starting point for a practical guide on java cryptography, an introduction, but by no means enough.
I would have considered giving it 3 stars, weren't it not that het appendix A on Base64coding, another topic that the author doesn't treat, is completely missing !

Truly a practical guide
This book delivers on what it promises. A practical guide to implementations using the JCA and JCE. If you're a Java developer starting on projects that deal with certificates, keystores, encryption, digital signatures, tokens, digests, or hardware cryptographic devices (HSMs), then you need to read this book before you begin.

Jason covers the topics he sets out to cover. If your eyes glazed over at the JCA documentation describing EngineSPIs or at mathematical treatises on crypto algorithms, then this book is for you. He gets right to the meat of the matter, and the code is simple enough to follow without having an IDE running. There are only a few typographical flaws, and nothing that distracted from the concepts being explained.

The book walks you through the overall provider architecture, gives examples of provider selection and some key workaround information for some historical problems as the JCA and JCE were being developed, extended, and improved by Sun.

Straight-up crypto is covered with symmetric and asymmetric keys, the coverage of block and stream ciphers, and the importance of specifying chaining (EBC/CBC/etc.) and padding (PKCS1/PKCS5/etc.). Digests, HMACs, Password-based encryption (PBE) and digital certificates are covered, along with key exchange (DH), and key management in keystores. The extra depth the author gives on key management was quite welcome, and often ignored. Examples using the Java keytool utility will also be appreciated by the target audience.

In short, this book is going to be on my required reading list for the Java application developer generalist starting on projects that involve crypto or, in particular, certificates. In my case, I use hardware-based keystores, and this book makes it very easy for me to build a common understanding in explaining what we want our team to accomplish.

This book should take about a week to digest.

What you won't find in this book are recipes or procedures. It's a practical guide, and lives up to the title. This book won't be a help to people writing JCPs either -- it's clearly targeted at the application developer needing to do things like load a certificate, implement a 3DES encryption/decryption, generate keys, or make sure you're using the required JCP implementation for your project. It also won't explain the nuances of ECB and CBC, or Blowfish and AES. But it will give you a practical guide on their fundamental differences as to the impact they have on your development. All example code is in Java. It doesn't cover elliptical algorithms, but, after reading this book, you shouldn't have a problem with writing code that relies on a specific provider's features.

As for the price, quite reasonable, and very useful to pass along or lend to the newcomers to your team. ... Read more

Product Description
"This book provides an excellent overview of howencryption is used, its strengths and weaknesses, and what to look forwhen building or choosing real-world solutions. This is a must-havebook for anyone considering the deployment of an important systemrelying on modern cryptography." - Marcus J. Ranum, Chief Scientist,V-ONE Corporation.

Here, in one comprehensive, soup-to-nuts book, is the solution forInternet security: modern-day cryptography. Written by a securityexpert with a wealth of practical experience, this book covers networkand Internet security in terms that are easy to understand, usingproven technology, systems, and solutions. From the client workstationto the Web host to the e-mail server, every aspect of this importanttopic is examined and explained. The once-daunting subject ofcryptography is demystified and applied to today's securitychallenges. Topics include: essentials of cryptography; networking andInternet fundamentals; encryption building blocks; virtual privatenetworks; legal considerations; setting realistic security objectives;secured electronic mail; World Wide Web transaction security; andInternet Firewalls.

This book is written for people who want to move data safely acrossthe Internet and protect corporate resources from unauthorizedaccess. Using real-life case studies, examples, and commerciallyavailable software products, cryptography is presented as a practicalsolution to specific, everyday security challenges.Amazon.com Review
For all the talk about the Internet's very real security weaknesses, information safety is not all that difficult to achieve. Yes, most Internet technology does a better job of making information accessible than it does of protecting privacy. Still, modern cryptographic products and techniques have made more than adequate security available to just about anyone who needs it. In Internet Cryptography, network security consultant Richard Smith explains the basics of online security. He avoids getting technical with too much cryptographic theory or the mathematics behind the magic. Instead he focuses on providing just enough information to enable information systems managers and administrators to make wise decisions. In fact, Smith pays close attention to matters of system configuration and operation, showing how even the best encryption methods can be ruined by careless operation. From there, Smith explains how today's techniques can protect information from being forged, altered, or stolen. Smith devotes most of his discussion of various cryptographic options to products that are presently on the market. Therefore, the techniques he describes are generally within the reach of most businesses and organizations. He progresses from the simplest to most complex approach, examining the strengths and weaknesses of each.As a result, readers wind up with a solid understanding of cryptographic security as well as a good feel for the level of security they require. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

If this man were a blues musician he'd be blowing the truth!
In a sea of charlatans and ego-bloated boasters Richard E. Smith stands as a beacon to whom all technical authors should aspire. As an author, trainer, technical editor and Microsoft security consultant I have amassed a huge library of security books. When I need a refresher on the basics or I'm prepping for YACE (Yet Another Certification Exam) or I just need the solace of an extremely well turned technical phrase, I pickup my well-thumbed copy of Internet Cryptography.

In fact that's the only error in the entire book - the title. The title should reflect the fact that it embraces the majority of fundamental concepts regarding networked computer security. Get it, read it and experience one of the best technical writers in the field! Also consider buying his book on Authentication. Hanging out with Mr. Smith is money and time well-spent.

This book is also absolutely essential to any security professional attempting certification be it CISSP, SANS, Security+, Microsoft or Cisco, et al.

A great handbook for network cryptography
I've had this book for a couple years, and find myself going back to it consistently (and recommending it to others on a regular basis).It covers all of the crypto concepts & protocols in an easily readable, thorough fashion.For understanding IPsec, digital signatures, hardware crypto devices, and much more it's a great read.The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is that the SSL connection isn't as complete as I'd like... and for that, I'd get Eric Rescorla's "SSL and TLS".

Of the 100 or so security books on my shelf, this is one of the handful that I refer to on a regular basis.

Very good overview of cryptography on the internet

This is a solid, if a little dry and sometimes a bit out of date, high-level overview of cryptography as it is used on the Internet. There are no equations or lines of code, so if you're looking to implement anything this is the wrong book. However if you're looking to learn about IPSEC, public-key crypto, secret keys, SSL, virtual private networks and things like that this is the right book.

The familiar cryptographic couple Alice and Bob are used in many examples to illustrate four general types of attacks made by "Henry the Forger", "Peeping Tom", "Play-it-again Sam" and "Bailey the Switcher". These are used throughout the book and this really simplifies understanding of how various types of cryptography can be attacked. Another one of the strengths of this book is lots of useful pointers to other books and Internet sites to provide supplementary information.

I'm not going to give this book 5 stars because to me that's a perfect book. However I highly doubt you'll be disappointed with this book as an overview to cryptography and how it is used on the Internet.

Right to the Point
This book at will give you just what you want to know. If you want to get into the bits and Bytes then you read every page and you will be a cryptography expert. If however you just need a broad understanding of thesubject then skipping the Bits and bytes will do fine. I sell VPN solutionsfor a living and this book was a real help.

Very good intro
I read this book as I was beginning to research the IPSEC protocol suite and its applications, and I found it to be an invaluable introduction.Anyone interested in how the encryption protocols work on the Internet, or interested in deploying virtual private networking, ought to read this book.The only caveat is that this stuff gets out of date very fast - IPSEC has already been revised since this book came out. ... Read more

Product Description

A Classical Introduction to Cryptography: Applications for Communications Security introduces fundamentals of information and communication security by providing appropriate mathematical concepts to prove or break the security of cryptographic schemes.

This advanced-level textbook covers conventional cryptographic primitives and cryptanalysis of these primitives; basic algebra and number theory for cryptologists; public key cryptography and cryptanalysis of these schemes; and other cryptographic protocols, e.g. secret sharing, zero-knowledge proofs and undeniable signature schemes.

A Classical Introduction to Cryptography: Applications for Communications Security is designed for upper-level undergraduate and graduate-level students in computer science. This book is also suitable for researchers and practitioners in industry. A separate exercise/solution booklet is available as well, please go to www.springeronline.com under author: Vaudenay for additional details on how to purchase this booklet.