Modern Cryptography: Theory and Practice (paperback) (Hewlett-Packard Professional Books) - Softcover

"This book would be a good addition to any cryptographer's bookshelf. The book is self-contained; it presents all the background material to understand an algorithm and all the development to prove its security. I'm not aware of another book that's as complete as this one."

--Christian Paquin, Cryptographic/Security Developer, Silanis Technology Inc. "The book is both complete, and extraordinarily technically accurate. It would certainly be a useful addition to any cryptographer's or crypto-engineer's library."

--Marcus Leech, Advisor, Security Architecture and Planning, Nortel Networks Build more secure crypto systems--and prove their trustworthiness Modern Cryptography is the indispensable resource for every technical professional who needs to implement strong security in real-world applications.

Leading HP security expert Wenbo Mao explains why "textbook" crypto schemes, protocols, and systems are profoundly vulnerable by revealing real-world-scenario attacks. Next, he shows how to realize cryptographic systems and protocols that are truly "fit for application"--and formally demonstrates their fitness. Mao presents practical examples throughout and provides all the mathematical background you'll need.

Coverage includes:

• Crypto foundations: probability, information theory, computational complexity, number theory, algebraic techniques, and more
• Authentication: basic techniques and principles vs. misconceptions and consequential attacks
• Evaluating real-world protocol standards including IPSec, IKE, SSH, TLS (SSL), and Kerberos
• Designing stronger counterparts to vulnerable "textbook" crypto schemes

Mao introduces formal and reductionist methodologies to prove the "fit-for-application" security of practical encryption, signature, signcryption, and authentication schemes. He gives detailed explanations for zero-knowledge protocols: definition, zero-knowledge properties, equatability vs. simulatability, argument vs. proof, round-efficiency, and non-interactive versions.