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マンガでわかる [Manga de Wakaru]
The Manga Guide to Cryptography
Cryptography is hard, but it’s less hard when it’s filled with adorable Japanese manga. The latest addition to the Manga Guide series, The Manga Guide to Cryptography , turns the art of encryption and decryption into plain, comic illustrated English.
As you follow Inspector Jun Meguro in his quest to bring a cipher-wielding thief to justice, you’ll learn how cryptographic ciphers work. (Ciphers are the algorithms at the heart of cryptography.) Like all books in the Manga Guide series, The Manga Guide to Cryptography is illustrated throughout with memorable Japanese manga as it dives deep into advanced cryptography topics, such as classic substitution, polyalphabetic, and transposition ciphers; symmetric-key algorithms like block and DES (Data Encryption Standard) ciphers; and how to use public key encryption technology. It also explores practical applications of encryption such as digital signatures, password security, and identity fraud countermeasures.
The Manga Guide to Cryptography is the perfect introduction to cryptography for programmers, security professionals, aspiring cryptographers, and anyone who finds cryptography just a little bit hard.
As you follow Inspector Jun Meguro in his quest to bring a cipher-wielding thief to justice, you’ll learn how cryptographic ciphers work. (Ciphers are the algorithms at the heart of cryptography.) Like all books in the Manga Guide series, The Manga Guide to Cryptography is illustrated throughout with memorable Japanese manga as it dives deep into advanced cryptography topics, such as classic substitution, polyalphabetic, and transposition ciphers; symmetric-key algorithms like block and DES (Data Encryption Standard) ciphers; and how to use public key encryption technology. It also explores practical applications of encryption such as digital signatures, password security, and identity fraud countermeasures.
The Manga Guide to Cryptography is the perfect introduction to cryptography for programmers, security professionals, aspiring cryptographers, and anyone who finds cryptography just a little bit hard.
248 pages, Paperback
Published July 31, 2018
41 people are currently reading
263 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 28, 2019
Unfortunately, in my time as a Computer Science student I didn't really get a chance to learn much about cryptography. I knew a bit but only from watching some lectures on YouTube. I picked up this book figuring that it may be an easy way to learn a thing or two. It's just that.
The book is pretty delightful in how it presents a story, explanations of how cryptography works, and sprinkles of history lessons. Generally I would say the first half of this book was pretty understandable. However, the second half this this book the math got a little above my head. Or at least above the level where it is worth my time to search for the mathematical intuition. I don't think I would recommend this book to someone looking to understand the basics of cryptography unless they've already got a pretty strong math background.
The book is pretty delightful in how it presents a story, explanations of how cryptography works, and sprinkles of history lessons. Generally I would say the first half of this book was pretty understandable. However, the second half this this book the math got a little above my head. Or at least above the level where it is worth my time to search for the mathematical intuition. I don't think I would recommend this book to someone looking to understand the basics of cryptography unless they've already got a pretty strong math background.
December 20, 2024
ত্রি-চরণে স্মরি :
ক্রিপ্টোগ্রাফি বা গুপ্তবিদ্যা, আদিমকাল থেকে চলে আসা বার্তা লুকানোর পদ্ধতি; আমার বার্তা যেন তৃতীয় ব্যক্তি বুঝতে না-পারে, তা লুকানোর কৌশল। বর্তমান প্রযুক্তির যুগে এটা তো সবচে চর্তিত বিষয়। বরং এই ক্রিপ্টোগ্রাফি ছাড়া আমাদের সকল তথ্য নিরাপত্তাহীনতায় রয়ে যেত, অনিরাপদ থাকতাম আমরা।
ক্রিপ্টোগ্রাফি বা গুপ্তবিদ্যা, আদিমকাল থেকে চলে আসা বার্তা লুকানোর পদ্ধতি; আমার বার্তা যেন তৃতীয় ব্যক্তি বুঝতে না-পারে, তা লুকানোর কৌশল। বর্তমান প্রযুক্তির যুগে এটা তো সবচে চর্তিত বিষয়। বরং এই ক্রিপ্টোগ্রাফি ছাড়া আমাদের সকল তথ্য নিরাপত্তাহীনতায় রয়ে যেত, অনিরাপদ থাকতাম আমরা।
February 27, 2020
It's a really hard book! But it has some great explanations, for example, about RSA. Don't expect to understand everything in the first read though.
November 25, 2019
This book is simultaneously a discussion of cryptography as well as a bit of a mystery novel. Now, if one is alert and aware, the mystery is not particularly difficult to solve and the reader may very well solve the novel before any of the characters do, which tends to make at least some readers (like this one) a bit irritated at the way that the novel is framed where at least two female characters are portrayed as far more intelligent than any of the male characters in the book. When these characters are not nearly as smart as they think they are, it tends to undercut the feminist message of the text itself. There are, unfortunately, readers who will celebrate the violent behavior of this book's protagonist against her brother and be less than observant of how dim-witted she in fact is despite being the voice of understanding for the book's material. I would rather have had the book reverse its male and female characters and have a brother explain matters of cryptography to his sister while avoiding violence or arrogance or aiding and assisting criminals through being ignorant of their identities.
This book is a bit more than 200 pages and is divided into four large chapters. After a preface and a prologue, the book begins with a discussion of the foundations of encryption that discuss what a cipher is, Shannon's encryption model, as well as the types of ciphers that can be used and various key space and perfectly secure encryption (1). After that the author discusses symmetric-key algorithms, still more types of useful ciphers, and how to work with AES And DES when it comes to keys and ciphertexts (2). After this there is a chapter on public-key encryption that also manages to move into a discussion of prime numbers and integer factorizations as well as the use of Fermat's method and Euler's methods for determining prime numbers and how to generate and decrypt ciphertexts using RSA encryption (3). Finally, the book ends with a discussion of the practical applications of encryption in such areas as authentication codes, hybrid encryption, digital signatures, public-key infrastructure, and zero-knowledge interactive proof (4) as well as a discussion about what is next in the field along with various supplement material on entryption security and quantum cryptography.
Although I am a reader who has a great interest in semiotics and communication in general, and this book has a lot to deal with those subjects as it shows how it is that signals can be intercepted and corrupted and how it is that companies try to protect themselves and the messages of their customers from efforts to corrupt communication through various types of encryption. I was especially intrigued to see that some types of encryption are so good that they are not allowed because the government itself wants access to messages and therefore it forbids the most secure types of encryption that would be impossible for them to hack. As if often the case, unfortunately, the corruption and lack of respect by government for the privacy of citizens has meant that communication is less secure overall when one considers the brute force and other means that hackers have of gathering passwords and solving encryption keys. Paradoxically enough, a book about improving the safety of technology and communication only underscores how unsafe and how vulnerable those signals are to being read and/or corrupted by intermediaries between the sender and receiver, which is not quite a reassuring message in a book that sends a lot of mixed signals already.
This book is a bit more than 200 pages and is divided into four large chapters. After a preface and a prologue, the book begins with a discussion of the foundations of encryption that discuss what a cipher is, Shannon's encryption model, as well as the types of ciphers that can be used and various key space and perfectly secure encryption (1). After that the author discusses symmetric-key algorithms, still more types of useful ciphers, and how to work with AES And DES when it comes to keys and ciphertexts (2). After this there is a chapter on public-key encryption that also manages to move into a discussion of prime numbers and integer factorizations as well as the use of Fermat's method and Euler's methods for determining prime numbers and how to generate and decrypt ciphertexts using RSA encryption (3). Finally, the book ends with a discussion of the practical applications of encryption in such areas as authentication codes, hybrid encryption, digital signatures, public-key infrastructure, and zero-knowledge interactive proof (4) as well as a discussion about what is next in the field along with various supplement material on entryption security and quantum cryptography.
Although I am a reader who has a great interest in semiotics and communication in general, and this book has a lot to deal with those subjects as it shows how it is that signals can be intercepted and corrupted and how it is that companies try to protect themselves and the messages of their customers from efforts to corrupt communication through various types of encryption. I was especially intrigued to see that some types of encryption are so good that they are not allowed because the government itself wants access to messages and therefore it forbids the most secure types of encryption that would be impossible for them to hack. As if often the case, unfortunately, the corruption and lack of respect by government for the privacy of citizens has meant that communication is less secure overall when one considers the brute force and other means that hackers have of gathering passwords and solving encryption keys. Paradoxically enough, a book about improving the safety of technology and communication only underscores how unsafe and how vulnerable those signals are to being read and/or corrupted by intermediaries between the sender and receiver, which is not quite a reassuring message in a book that sends a lot of mixed signals already.
March 2, 2021
Surely, if its manga, the explanations cannot be hard to grasp, right?
Well... that was as foolish as assuming, like a parent, that all "drawings" are rated as appropriate for any age.
While this was entertaining, it had all the mathematical rigor one can expect in regular text books, and it made my head ache.
Of course, cryptography is a mathematics-intensive topic, and there is no way around it. The usage of cryptography was made clear with some situations that happened to the main characters, and it was fun... until the math part came out of nowhere, and hit you with the Fermat theorem among others.
In all, I would really recommend this manga/textbook as a good introduction to cryptography. However, make no mistake: there are math equations inside, and those are unavoidable.
Well... that was as foolish as assuming, like a parent, that all "drawings" are rated as appropriate for any age.
While this was entertaining, it had all the mathematical rigor one can expect in regular text books, and it made my head ache.
Of course, cryptography is a mathematics-intensive topic, and there is no way around it. The usage of cryptography was made clear with some situations that happened to the main characters, and it was fun... until the math part came out of nowhere, and hit you with the Fermat theorem among others.
In all, I would really recommend this manga/textbook as a good introduction to cryptography. However, make no mistake: there are math equations inside, and those are unavoidable.
May 21, 2020
Starts off really good but gets complicated quite fast. Yeah, modular arithmetic is not that easy but another explaination form would've been great (like they did with PKIs), f.e. as an circular linked list.
Still it's a great addition to other cryptobooks but nothing I would recommend a complete beginner.
It has to be said, I would love more content in this kind of book to the big topic cryptography.
Still it's a great addition to other cryptobooks but nothing I would recommend a complete beginner.
It has to be said, I would love more content in this kind of book to the big topic cryptography.
February 9, 2025
all i hope is for a cryptocurrency enthusiast to find this book and find the better version of crypto
July 29, 2024
书本身的质量非常好（阅读英文版本的体验）。但是中文翻译版本不仅有排版问题，比如100的2次方印成1002；还有翻译质量问题；内容质量也有问题，很多英文翻译版本中存在的更详细的解释步骤，在中文版本里并没有。
举一个翻译质量问题的例子：
英文版本说(p165)：After you solve Euler's function, p and q become unnecessary! You should discard them so that other parties don't find them. This is crucial because if an adversary finds p and q, it is trivial to then calculate d and break RSA encryption.
中文版本说(p167)：求欧拉函数的时候，就不需要p和q了，为了不让他人知道，就取消掉吧！
举一个翻译质量问题的例子：
英文版本说(p165)：After you solve Euler's function, p and q become unnecessary! You should discard them so that other parties don't find them. This is crucial because if an adversary finds p and q, it is trivial to then calculate d and break RSA encryption.
中文版本说(p167)：求欧拉函数的时候，就不需要p和q了，为了不让他人知道，就取消掉吧！
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews