An Introduction to Cryptography provides a solid mathematical treatment of cryptography for readers with little or no background in number theory. Although intended for undergraduate students, it contains enough optional, advanced material to challenge even the most informed reader and provides a solid basis for a second course on the subject. Throughout the book, the author incorporates nearly 300 problems, more than 80 examples, and over 60 diagrams, figures, and tables, as well as optional topics that go beyond the basics. An extensive index, appendices that review background material, and a list of symbols for easy reference complete this outstanding text.
This edition presents the ideas behind cryptography and the applications of the subject. The first chapter provides a thorough treatment of the mathematics necessary to understand cryptography, including number theory and complexity, while the second chapter discusses cryptographic fundamentals, such as ciphers, linear feedback shift registers, modes of operation, and attacks. The next several chapters discuss DES, AES, public-key cryptography, primality testing, and various factoring methods, from classical to elliptical curves. The final chapters are comprised of issues pertaining to the Internet, such as pretty good privacy (PGP), protocol layers, firewalls, and cookies, as well as applications, including login and network security, viruses, smart cards, and biometrics. The book concludes with appendices on mathematical data, computer arithmetic, the Rijndael S-Box, knapsack ciphers, the Silver-Pohlig-Hellman algorithm, the SHA-1 algorithm, radix-64 encoding, and quantum cryptography.
