Authentication: From Passwords to Public Keys

by Richard E. Smith

Gives readers a clear understanding of what an organization needs to reliably identify its users and how the different techniques for verifying identity are executed. Softcover.

549 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2001

Reviews

[Brian Powell]

This is an expansive survey of the field of authentication: from biometrics, to public key cryptosystems, to the various network authentication protocols in use today. The discussion is at a high level (although too terse at times), and helpful diagramatic representations of the various handshakes and negotiations guide the reader through the more complex protocols like RADIUS and Kerberos.

The writing at times is unclear and better writing overall would improve the book. It is also dated (from 2002, pre-NTLMv2).