Cryptography Decrypted

by H.X. Mel, Doris Baker

Cryptography is at the heart of computer without it, secure e-commerce and Internet communications would be impossible. Decision-makers and sophisticated computer users need to understand cryptography -- but most explanations are highly mathematical and technical. Cryptography Decrypted explains cryptography in "plain English" -- and is authoritative and thorough enough to address the needs of professionals. It explains the processes step-by-step, with extensive visuals. The authors present the elements of cryptography systems; public key infrastructure (PKI); and the IPSec standard for virtual private network security; then review real-world systems and their applications. They show how real-world systems are attacked, and how to protect them; introduce essential cryptographic terms; and present the fascinating history of cryptography through sidebars highlighting its important events, people, and breakthroughs. For every decision-maker and computer user who needs to understand cryptography, this book is also ideal for security pros who need to educate management about cryptography.

Genres: Programming, Nonfiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2000

Reviews

[Beck Frost · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was used as a text book in a class. This book is really good at explaining the math behind cyphers and breaking things down in a text book style. However, the author does step into the book and gives his opinions (which I think were supposed to be jokes but they fall flat) which makes me wonder if this was intended to be a text book. At one point he makes a joke out of how the US Educational system is lacking compared European countries. If this was a text book then the joke should have been a notation of fact with data to back it up and not a jab that states "Well, what to do, what to do? Don't teach them (the masses) to read! Although it may not be ethical or particularly democratic, this approach worked for quite a long time. Major institutions supported it for centuries (and based on the reading scores of many American children, perhaps some of them still do.)" That is a bold statement to suggest that big institutions are still working to keep the people in the US uneducated. Not saying that he isn't right, but statements like this should not be made casually and need to have facts backing them up. Yes, our test scores are low, but this is speculative conjecture and does not belong in a book that is supposed to be based completely on fact. If it is not a text book, then fine. Unfortunately, I was asked to purchase it via a class of the American education system...irony.

[Logicitis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible. There are better sources, more entertainingly written and infinitely better edited, available for free in half-educated forums on the bulletin boards. If you can't remember bulletin boards, then this book is not for you. Heck, if you can remember bulletin boards, this book is not for you. This book exists so the publisher and the author get paid by universities who require it, tho why they require this piece of wasted trees, I cannot fathom.

[sid · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a fair amount of helpful information about cryptography, even though it is a dozen years old. I wanted to read the mathematical explanations in Appendix A, but not bad enough to power through it.

[Paul Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy introduction to cryptography. Later chapters explain modern cryptographic systems, like RSA and AES, and the iternet systems that use them, PGP, SSL/TSL/ IPsec, and X.509. It also discusses common pitfalls, such as man-in-the-middle attack, authentication, key distribution, and replay attacks.

[Christian]

A very good introduction to cryptography principles