Over the last 31 years, cryptography has grown from being a specialist technology used almost exclusively by governments and the military, to a technology underpinning the security of the electronics world. Authors Alex W. Dent and Chris J. Mitchell have done an outstanding job of bringing you both cryptography and standards for cryptography.

Dent and Mitchell begin this book by reviewing the main relevant standardization bodies and provide a brief introduction to the main standardization processes. Next, the authors define a set of terminology for the use of cryptography. In addition, the authors describe in detail the different types of encryption algorithms and their use for providing data confidentiality. They also describe cryptographic hash functions, message authentication codes, and digital signatures, respectively. Then, they look at non-repudiation and authentication protocols. The authors then describe a standardized framework for key management. Next, protocols for establishing shared secret keys are the main focus. The topic of public key infrastructures is then discussed. Then, they deal with standards governing the use of trusted third parties to support the use and management of cryptographic techniques. The standardization of cryptographic application program interfaces is then considered. The authors then summarize a variety of other standards with relevance to cryptography. Finally, they discuss the future of cryptographic standardization.

With the preceding in mind, the authors have done an excellent job of making this book accessible to the general reader, although it is not really designed for the reader completely unfamiliar with cryptography and its possible applications. Nevertheless, the reader is encouraged to get started on the book, and only refer to mathematical algorithms if concepts arise with which they are not familiar.

Rating: 5 / 5