Encryption, etc.

[mikebw at bilow.bilow.uu.ids.net (Mike Bilow)]

Mark Spencer wrote in a message to Mike Bilow:

 MS> I'm looking for recommendations on books that include
 MS> everything from basic theory through design and
 MS> implementation - on encryption, digital certificates &
 MS> signatures, and related technologies (for the uninitiated!).
 MS> Are there such books that people have found valuable? I have
 MS> been following announcements on new developments in the
 MS> infosec arena, but have never delved into the core
 MS> technology to gain a better understanding. 

I probably should not even bother replying, since I'm sure warlord will give
you a more authoritative answer, but probably the best place to start is Bruce
Schneier's "Applied Cryptography," now in its second edition (red cover).

RSA publishes their "Public Key Cryptography Standards" which define the
particular formats used in common protocols such as SSL.  These are available
on-line ("http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/pubs/PKCS/";).  One rather nice web site
with some good information, which seems to have been put together as a school
project, is "http://www3.tsl.uu.se/~micke/web_security_main_page.html";.

There are many heavily mathematical treatments of this stuff, and I probably
read everything that was available on the subject a very long time ago when I
took Number Theory classes, but the subject has grown explosively since then. 
Many of the great classics of cryptography, such as Friedman's previously
classified papers, have been reprinted by the specialty publisher Aegean Park
Press ("http://www.aegeanparkpress.com/";).
 
-- Mike



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