Cryptography: An Introduction to Computer Security

Cryptography is a fascinating and important subject; so is computer security. But as all of us know who have suffered from breaches of computer security, cryptography, although a useful tool, is only one small aspect of computer security. This book is quite a nice book on cryptography, although not the best; I recommend Bruce Schneier’s book and Alan Konheim’s book as better texts on cryptography for anyone seriously interested in cryptography. However, the relationship of this book to the subject of computer security is sort of like that of a book on padlocks to the care and protection of racehorses.

Unfortunately, there is no book I know of that gives adequate treatment even to the role of cryptography in computer security, let alone to the entire subject of computer security, so we learn the hard way, from our mistakes. The only book I know that places this topic in proper perspective is “Cryptography’s Role In Securing The Information Society” created in 1996 by the Computer Science and Technology Board of the National Research Council, and published by the National Academy Press. This latter book is kind of interminably boring, and it raises far more questions than it answers, but it’s the best we’ve got; it’s well balanced, and was prepared by a group of hard-bitten scientists and engineers with lots of practical experience (plenty of it bad.) So if you want to know how cryptography relates to computer security (maybe), read this latter book, not Seberry and Pieprzyck.
Rating: 2 / 5