Everyday Cryptography: Fundamental Principles and Applications

Cryptography is a vital technology that underpins the security of information in computer networks. This book presents a comprehensive introduction to the role that cryptography plays in providing information security for technologies such as the Internet, mobile phones, payment cards, and wireless local area networks. Focusing on the fundamental principles that ground modern cryptography as they arise in modern applications, it avoids both an over-reliance on transient current technologies and over-whelming theoretical research.

Everyday Cryptography is a self-contained and widely accessible introductory text. Almost no prior knowledge of mathematics is required since the book deliberately avoids the details of the mathematical techniques underpinning cryptographic mechanisms, though a short appendix is included for those looking for a deeper appreciation of some of the concepts involved. By the end of this book, the reader will not only be able to understand the practical issues concerned with the deployment of cryptographic mechanisms, including the management of cryptographic keys, but will also be able to interpret future developments in this fascinating and increasingly important area of technology.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

While the title Everyday Cryptography may give the impression that this is an introductory text; that is not the case. Author Keith Martin is the director of the information security group at Royal Holloway, a division of the University of London, and the book is meant for information security professionals in addition to being used as a main reference for a principles of cryptography course. The book is also a great reference for those studying for the CISSP exam.

While the book notes that almost no prior knowledge of mathematics is required since the book deliberately avoids the details of the mathematical techniques underpinning cryptographic mechanisms. That might be a bit of a misnomer as the book does get into the mathematics of cryptography. While the mathematics in the book is not overwhelming, they are certainly not underwhelming. For those that want a deeper look, the book includes an appendix for many of the mathematical concepts detailed in the book.

Table of Contents

Part I: Setting the Scene
Chapter 1. Basic Principles
Chapter 2. Historical Cryptosystems
Chapter 3. Theoretical versus Practical Security

Part II: The Cryptographic Toolkit
Chapter 4. Symmetric Encryption
Chapter 5. Public-Key Encryption
Chapter 6. Data Integrity
Chapter 7. Digital Signature Schemes
Chapter 8. Entity Authentication
Chapter 9. Cryptographic Protocols

Part III: Key Management
Chapter 10. Key Management
Chapter 11. Public-Key Management

Part IV: Applications
Chapter 12. Cryptographic Applications
Chapter 13. Closing Remarks