Would someone recommend a good book on data encryption algorithms? I would like one that has the math theory as well as some code examples.
+10
A:
Anything by Bruce Schneier.
I'd recommend "Applied Cryptography" and "Practical Cryptography"
Crowe T. Robot
2009-12-09 23:40:31
Not really anything. *Beyond Fear* and *Secrets and Lies* aren't very suitable :-)
Joey
2009-12-09 23:41:22
Interesting reading though... "Applied Cryptography" is really the canonical answer to this question.
Paul McMillan
2009-12-10 01:06:01
+1
A:
An excellent resource for this is Bruce Schneier's Applied Cryptography.
Greg Hewgill
2009-12-09 23:40:54
+4
A:
Handbook of Applied Cryptography (http://www.cacr.math.uwaterloo.ca/hac/) is available online for free. Personally, I also enjoyed Cryptography Theory and Practice by Doug Stinson.
Mic
2009-12-09 23:41:29
Good call -- this covers the underlying theory *much* better than any of Schneier's books.
Jerry Coffin
2009-12-10 04:36:56
Yes, absolutely. It is so sad that good books like the two mentioned above don't get more attention.
Accipitridae
2009-12-10 20:57:00
+5
A:
Just an advice, just in case you are tempted to re-implement one of the algorithms on you own: don't! At least not for a real world product. Just use one of the standard libraries. You can do so much wrong. In case of security when you need to rely on the algorithm and the implementation you should use something that has proven for many years and checked by many (knowledgeable) eyeballs.
Though, it's fine to implement one just to get some feelings and experiences :-)
akr
2009-12-09 23:50:35
+7
A:
Others mention Bruce Schneier. Note however this blog by Schneier himself, on a comparison between "Applied Cryptography" and "Practical Cryptography". Schneier himself seems to be saying that "Applied Cryptography" is rather outdated now, and "Practical Cryptography" is the one to read.
He also comments on the danger of reading a book and then thinking you're good-to-go on design of secure systems.
Craig McQueen
2009-12-09 23:52:20
They really serve different purposes. It sounds like the OP wants to know about how encryption works, as opposed to how to implement and use it.
Paul McMillan
2009-12-10 01:07:56
"Applied Cryptography" is indeed outdated. Quite a large number of claims in this book are wrong, e.g., because new attacks have been found in the meantime.
Accipitridae
2009-12-11 09:24:02
A:
Some alternatives are:
"Cryptography decrypted" by H. X. Mel, Doris M. Baker: This book is well written and easy to understand. It describes the concepts behind cryptography, but does not go too much into details.
"Modern cryptography" by W. Mao: This book explains the math behind cryptography exceptionally well.
Accipitridae
2009-12-11 09:33:41