Codes ― The Guide To Secrecy From Ancient To Modern Times

Although recently they've become most closely associated with computer security, the art and science of cryptography have histories and applications stretching along disciplines and millennia. Mollin (mathematics, U. of Calgary, Canada) creates an accessible survey of that history from antiquity to the present, but rightly devotes most of his effort to revealing how historical (and therefore present) codes work, including a variety of examples in symmetric-key public-key cryptography such as block ciphers, blowfish, and digital signatures. He describes in detail cryptographic protocols, key management, message authentication, applications such as email and Internet security, new wrinkles in noncryptographic security issues such as hacking and cybercrime, and closes with very useful descriptions of information theory and coding including Huffman codes. Appendices give committed readers information on mathematics associated with cryptography and exercises. Annotation c2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)