Product Description

The Handbook of Applied Cryptography serves as a valuable reference for novices as well as for experts. It provides a multifunctional treatment that introduces the more practical aspects of both conventional and public-key cryptography, and offers a valuable source of techniques and algorithms for serious practitioners. The book contains enough abstraction for theoreticians and provides enough detail to actually allow implementation of the algorithms discussed. With outstanding organization that allows easy access to all information, it includes more than 200 algorithms and protocols, extensive cross referencing, and more than 1,250 references that include brief comments on each entry.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #209391 in Books
• Published on: 1996-10-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 780 pages

Review
"very well suited for the reader who wants an encyclopedic description of the state of the art of applied modern cryptography." -Mathematical Reviews, Issue 99g "[This book] is an incredible achievement. [T]he handbook is complete. If I want to check what problems there were with a proposed system, determine how the variations on a particular algorithm developed, see what research preceded and followed an idea, I go to the Handbook. The Handbook has accurate, clear, and correct information. It is wonderful. If I were limited to only one cryptography text on my shelves, it would be the Handbook of Applied Cryptography." - Bulletin of the AMS

From the Back Cover
Cryptography, in particular public-key cryptography, has emerged in the last 20 years as an important discipline that is not only the subject of an enormous amount of research, but provides the foundation for information security in many applications. Standards are emerging to meet the demands for cryptographic protection in most areas of data communications. Public-key cryptographic techniques are now in widespread use, especially in the financial services industry, in the public sector, and by individuals for their personal privacy, such as in electronic mail. This Handbook will serve as a valuable reference for the novice as well as for the expert who needs a wider scope of coverage within the area of cryptography. It is a necessary and timely guide for professionals who practice the art of cryptography.

The Handbook of Applied Cryptography provides a treatment that is multifunctional:

Customer Reviews

Excellent reference indeed
If you're going to work in the area of Cryptography, you can't afford
to neglect this book.

We used this in a course, and even though it's a handbook, it doubles up
pretty well as a textbook, since it has all the underlying mathematical
theory, presented in a clear and concise manner.

For sheer breadth and depth of coverage, this book is unmatched in the
field. It may not have enough on some topics to satisfy everyone, but
then i suspect most such topics were not so prominent in 1996, which
is when the book was written.

Starting with number theory, it goes on cover pseudorandom bits and
sequences, stream and block ciphers, hash functions, and digital signatures,
establishment protocols, implementation, patents and standards - you name
it, you got it.

On the one hand, there's enough theory to make you wonder whether it
should be called 'applied', but then it indeed qualifies as implementations
are discussed as well.

And of course, there's an exhaustive bibliography, with more pointers to
the literature than one could possibly follow up.

One word of caution, though : it requires hard work. If you want a more
'relaxed' coverage of comparable breadth (but not depth), you can do
worse than look up Bruce Schneier's 'Applied Crypography', which is a
delightful read, but nowhere as rigorous (read academic) as this one.

All in all, this is an indispensable reference for those in the field -
rigorous and exhaustive, yet eminently readable.

If you still haven't made your mind up, here's one final piece of advice :
visit the authors'(rather the book's) website, where you'll get the
implementations of all the algorithms in the book, and a (presumably)
pleasant surprise :-)

Consider it a Bible of Cryptography
It is an excellent book. Almost everything you want to know about cryptography in one huge book (with many pages and small letters). No need for a second one. Algorithms, uses, known attacks, everything there. It also includes very detailed and up to date references about any subject it coves (for those who need to know more).

It is a MUST for everyone who needs to know about cryptography and how cryptography serves Information Security. Not for those who need just an introductory book.

Downsides: Quite expensive. It needs a lot of time and patient to read it. It requires adequate mathematical background.

Thorough and complete
Menezes et. al. provide a thorough review of the field of cryptography. It's the first book I grab when I'm looking for something. Much more in depth than Bruce Scheier's "Applied Cryptography"