Recommended Cryptography Books: General Interest Section

General Interest Section:
(If it’s here, I have it. If it’s reviewed, I have, at a minimum, read all of the crypto-relevant parts.)

Computer Security Basics
Russell, Deborah / Gangemi Sr., G. T. 1991. 464 pages.
Categories: General Interest

I don't know why everyone seems to like this book. It's out of date, and when it was new, it had the wrong focus. It is too concerned with the DOD "Orange Book" and the lesser known volumes of the "Rainbow Series". Models for trusted systems make for good research, but generally turn into unmanageable systems, proven to be secure against a mere handful of specifically chosen idealized attacks.

Cryptography Demystified
Hershey, John E. 2003. 356 pages.
Categories: General Interest, Mathematics, Newly Added Books, Top Picks

As "Cryptography Decrypted" is a great "from the ground up" tutorial in cryptography for the non-technical, so "Cryptography Demystified" is for those with a computer science or math degree. The author crafts notions of cryptographic security, then leads you down less-than traditional, but highly illuminating paths to get there. This book is very unconventional and refreshing original – certainly not another rehash of introductory cryptography topics. You’ll find yourself carefully reading every page. While a math background in statistics, calculus, linear algebra, and automata theory is not required to absorb this book cover to cover, it does help you complete the exercises. 58 pages contain the detailed solutions to the chapter questions. Go get this book.

Hacker Proof: The Ultimate Guide to Network Security
Klander, Lars. 1997. 660 pages.
Note: I have not read the newer 2nd edition (release date December 2001).
Categories: General Interest

I only include this book because it presumes to explain cryptography in its hacking context (dedicating three chapters on cryptography and Kerberos) and I still seem to see it in every bookstore I go to. While more technical than the cover would indicate, it is dated, as are all books that focus too heavily on the cool software and URLs of the month. Note: There is now a far more up-to-date second edition that people seem to like.

Love in Code: Or, How to Keep Your Secrets
McCormick, Donald. 1980 (Currently out of print). 216 pages.
Categories: General Interest, History

This is a roughly chronological history of lovers who resorted to cryptography to cover up their illicit or socially unacceptable affairs. The book gives many accounts of encrypted love letters, many of which were anonymously published in local newspapers as an innocuous means of dissemination. Other anecdotes tell of encrypted diary entries, soldiers wishing to circumvent the censors when sending home love letters, and the all-too-frequent encrypted communications by couples engaged in adultery.

Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World
Schneier, Bruce. 2000. 432 pages.
Categories: General Interest

Schneier surprised a lot of folks with this book, showing the many shortcomings of cryptography and security systems when implemented in the real world. He has radically changed from the perspectives he laid out in Applied Cryptography to an outlook of risk management, liability, detection, and response. If you think biometrics make for good keys, or that digital signatures don't require a fully trusted machine, or that 128 bit keys are 128 bits strong, then read this book and lose that false sense of security. I especially liked the part where he explains that Moore's law applies to computers, but not to humans, which means security systems will continue to get weaker as humans continue to manage their (the security systems') entropy inputs.

Security Engineering: A Guide to Building Dependable Distributed Systems
Anderson, Ross. 2001. 612 pages.
Categories: General Interest, Information Warfare, Top Picks

A best of its class book. The book covers nearly everything concerning security design in such diverse domains as the cable industry, friend or foe systems, banking, and healthcare. Topics include MLS design, nuclear command and control, emission security, directed energy weapons, phreaking, government planted back doors, and much more. Well known attacks (man in the middle, replay, etc.) normally associated merely with networks are explored in other unexpected contexts. This work is chock full of fascinating DMCA violations, including extensive information on defeating hardware crypto systems and smart cards, with many of the methods being developed by the author himself. The book demands a careful reading because over and over again, gems are hidden in seemingly innocuous sections.

The books I haven't finished reading yet...

Code Book, The: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
Singh, Simon. 1999. 410 pages.
Categories: General Interest, History, Quantum