Modern Cryptography: Theory and Practice

Author: [UK] Mao Wenbo / Wang Jilin, etc.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: With the advent of the information society, information security has become a crucial guarantee for survival and development in the information space. The renowned futurist Toffler once said, "Whoever controls information and the network will control the world" in the information age. Therefore, cryptography and information security technologies have garnered increasing attention over the past two decades, especially since the "9/11" incident, when information security has become a key agenda item for governments, departments, enterprises, and institutions worldwide. Modern cryptography emerged in the 1970s, marked by two significant events: the U.S. development and publication of the Data Encryption Standard (DES) on January 15, 1977, and the birth of public-key cryptography. These events hold landmark significance in the history of cryptography. Many cryptographic schemes and protocols, particularly those based on public-key cryptography, have foundational or so-called "textbook-style" versions, which are often included in cryptography textbooks. This book adopts a different approach to introducing cryptography—placing greater emphasis on its application-oriented aspects. It explains why these "textbook-style" versions are only suitable for idealized scenarios, where data is random and adversaries' actions do not exceed predefined assumptions. By demonstrating how "textbook-style" versions of schemes, protocols, and systems are vulnerable to numerous attacks in real-world applications, the book reveals their impracticality in reality. The book selectively introduces practical cryptographic schemes, protocols, and systems, most of which have become standards or de facto standards. It provides in-depth studies of their working principles, discusses their practical applications, and often examines their strong (practical) security through formal proofs of security. Additionally, the book comprehensively covers the theoretical foundations essential for learning modern cryptography. It can serve as a textbook for graduate students or upper-level undergraduates in computer science at colleges and universities, as well as a reference for cryptography security architects, engineers, developers, and managers.