Customer Reviews

Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is extremely complete. It briefly covers the history of cryptography. It describes the political implications of cryptography and finally it shows how cryptography can be used in applications and presents the different cryptographic algorithms.

The algorithm section starts with a number theory primer.Honestly, I have found it a little bit too thin to learn all the needed background to fully understand the algorithms but on the other side, you cannot expect a simple 600 pages book to provide that background in the latest mathematical research number theories. It has at least the merit that it did stimulate my curiosity about number theory when I have read the first edition of this book.

Another point that makes this book interesting is that at the end of each chapter presenting the various algorithms in a given category, you will get Bruce Schneier opinion on which algorithm is the best. Of course, this type of information usually become outdated real fast but it is interesting to follow his thought process and test his predictions as the book grow older.

So, if you are looking for your first cryptography book, it should be this one.

Over the long term, this is the applied math book that I come back to most often.

The first quarter of the book may come as a surprise. It's not about encryption, it's about secure protocols. This is great stuff. It includes secure key exchange, where you and I can agree on an encryption key in a public conversation, but none of the other listeners know what we agreed on. It includes zero-knowledge proofs, ways of establishing authorization without releasing your identity. It includes lots more, as well. The next brief section discusses different modes for using encryption algorithms, key management, and other logistics.

The third section is what you might have expected: detailed descriptions of many encryption schemes, taking up at least half the book. That includes public key schemes, private key codes, secure hashing algorithms, and all the other details needed for implementing the algorithms. One of the most useful subsections here is a set of pseudorandom number generators. It's not exhaustive, by any means - it omits the Mersenne Twister, for example. Still, it gives a fair set of algorithms, some of which are "cryptographically secure". That means the generator's output strongly resists attempts to find regularities, just the way a truly random sequence would.

The last two chapters give a brief summary of the practice, legalities, and even culture around cryptography.

This won't make you into a crypto professional. Despite its 600+ pages, it barely introduces the world of crypto and certainly doesn't release anything from the "closed" world of government agencies. It will, however, give you useful algorithms, a basic background, and an appreciation of just what real crypto is about. That last may be the most important part. Too many people think inventing a good code is like making love: anyone can do it, and they instinctively do it better than most people. Wrong! Real crypto is not for dabblers, and this book gives some sense of what is involved.

The first edition of "Applied Cryptography" was a landmark text, but the second edition is even better. It's so much better that, if you just have the first edition, you really should upgrade to the second, and I've never said that about any other book.

If you want to buy a book which is a wonderful introduction to cryptography, then you have just found it.
Many books suffer from excessive bloat where the author tries to be everything to everybody.
This book is not one of them.
It's lean and clean and it'll turn you into a mean cryptographic machine.

Some reviewrs seem to berate the author for:
a) losing his job
b) trying to make a buck by writing books
c) not writing a mathematical tome

Well, I have some news for you:
a) Anyone can get laid off from any job at any time - period.
b) All authors write books for money.
c) The author clearly states at the beginning of the book under the heading, How to read this book - 'I wrote Applied Cryptography to be both a lively introduction to the field of cryptography and a comprehensive reference...This book is not intended to be a mathematical text.'

Need I say more.

If you have no knowledge on cryptography and want to get some information, this book is suit for you. If you are doing some actual work, it's not a good one. The book does not cover sufficient mathematic knowledge, and contains errors. E.g., the proof of RSA decryption is absolately wrong! Can't beleive!

If Bruce Schneier has acquired a habit, it is the ability to take the same old material and rehash it into different books, year after year. My guess is that, next year, he'll use another slightly different angle and try to sell you the same basic information. What you need to do, as a consumer, is step back and see this book for what it is: supplemental income and marketing for Bruce Schneier.

Years ago, Bruce was laid off from AT&T Bell Labs. Since then, Bruce has been using rubes like you to augment his salary. Let's face it; if Bruce were a Ken Thompson or a Claude Shannon, he'd probably still have his job at Bell Labs. But he isn't and he doesn't. Instead he wrote Applied Cryptography and touted himself as an expert. The problem is that most people believed him. Not many people actually know an active cryptographer who can dispel fact from fiction.

Applied Cryptography is just a tourists look at algorithms whose mathematical foundations, and use, are explained more effectively by other authors. Applied Cryptography may have been there first, but the industry has moved forward. Better books currently exist that are more rigorous, not to mention more lucid. This is strictly a "shelfware" book that you'd keep at your desk to impress your coworker's with, nothing more.

Recently I spoke with a PhD, from Brown, who performed decades of research in number theory. He recommended "Cryptography in C and C++," by Michael Welschenbach. He also said "I don't know why people think Applied Cryptography is such a good book. He [Schneier] doesn't seem to understand the mathematics very well." Pick up Applied Cryptography sometime and compare it side-by-side with Welschenbach's book. You'll see what that PhD was talking about.

What I find truly onerous about his books is the condescending tone that Schneier adopts when addressing the reader. It's if he's saying "I am so much more elite than you, I can't even begin to tell you." The truth is that Bruce Schneier is a lot of style without much substance. What he lacks in ability he makes up for with moxie. Having lived in Minneapolis, I'm more than familiar with the type of yuppie pretenders that live on Hennepin Avenue with their nose piercings and their tattoos. Bruce, that ponytail doesn't fool anybody. You're just another suit from the midwest with something to sell. Freakin' cake eaters...

Excellent introduction and explanation for both novice and professional cryptographers. Easy read with very detailed explanation. I Highly Recommend both this and Handbook of Applied Cryptography (for some of the mathematical algorithms) if you are planning on implementing your own cryptographic library.

Bruce Scheier clear writing makes understandable the hard issues very well. If you want to know that what cryptography has been used and also can be used for real life. Like digital money, authentication systems , secret sharing etc...
This is not a theoric math book it explains the spirit of cryptography but and its usage.After reading it I recommend that get a mathematical oriented cryptography book like "Introduction to Cryptography with Coding Theory
"

You know that Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C is a classic, since anyone who write a book or article about crypto quotes and plagiarizes from Schneier.

But this is the text if you want to be a crypto guru.

Mr. Schneier does a beautiful job of making the most complex topics of cryptography easy to understand. His examples and explanations brilliantly explain the topics. This book is actually a very interesting approach to something that at first glance would appear dull and dry. There are plenty of charts and diagrams, as well as the source code for popular encryption algorithms. These visuals, and the accompanying text have really aided me in understanding cryptography. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to have a better understanding of cryptography.

Great job Mr. Schneier.

It covers many theories. However, this book is boring and it is hard to transfer what you learned to real world application without other resources. You can not download the small C programs in book if you don't pay ($). Probably I should buy other books with free programs.