Chuck Easttom - Modern Cryptography: Applied Mathematics for Encryption and Information Security

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This book is dedicated to the men and women working in military and intelligence agencies who implement cryptography, work with cryptanalysis, and apply cryptography to computer security.

Chuck Easttom has more than 20 years of experience working in various aspects of the computer industry. For the past 15 years, he has focused primarily on computer security. He has wide experience in security, penetration testing, and forensics, but his favorite security topic is cryptography. Easttom has taught cryptography to U.S. government personnel, Department of Defenserelated personnel, and friendly foreign governments. Of his six computer science patents, one is a method of distributed steganography. He has published papers on cryptography, and his various computer security books always include chapters on cryptography. He is a frequent speaker on cryptographic topics including RSA encryption, cryptographic backdoors, and cryptanalysis.

Easttoms security-related background includes 30 industry certifications, work with various vendors in the creation or revision of their certification tests, years of hands-on direct experience, and extensive teaching experience.

Writing a book is an arduous task. It is always my goal to make each book better than the last. I have to thank several people for aiding me in this ask. First, the very helpful editorial staff at McGraw-Hill Professional. They were simply wonderful to work with! And their commitment to quality is unsurpassed in the publishing world. The team included a copy editor and technical editor, both working to make sure no mistakes crept into the book. The McGraw-Hill Professional team included Meghan Manfre, Amy Stonebraker, and LeeAnn Pickrell. The technical editor did an excellent job of ensuring that all the details were technically correct, and nothing was overlooked. Without all their help, I could not have written this book. Finally, I must thank my wife, Teresa, who was so patient when I spent long hours working on this book.

There are a number of cryptography books on the market today. Many are very well written. I would know; I have an extensive cryptography library and have read most of the books on the market. However, most of these books suffer from one common issue: they assume the reader has a solid mathematical background and approach cryptography from that perspective. It is also sometimes the case that cryptography authors write as if they were speaking to experienced cryptographers, or at least to those with a basic working knowledge.

This book was designed to bring cryptography to the general security community. You need not have any mathematics background beyond basic secondary school algebra. The book will cover the math you need. Furthermore, the book includes chapters on topics rarely covered in cryptography texts: cryptographic backdoors, military cryptography, and applied cryptography.

This book makes an excellent Introduction to Cryptography textbook for students taking a first course in cryptography. It is also appropriate for computer security professionals who wish to self-study and gain a working knowledge of cryptography. If you are reading this as self-study, pause at the end of each chapter, use the review questions, and ensure that you fully mastered the critical topics before proceeding.

The book is really a journey through cryptography, starting with historical cryptography and then moving into the mathematical foundations necessary to understand modern cryptography. The book then moves on to the symmetric and asymmetric algorithms used today. It also includes chapters on Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), cryptanalysis, military applications for cryptography, and the future of cryptography.