Serious Cryptography, 2nd Edition: A Practical Introduction to Modern Encryption

Crypto can be cryptic. Serious Cryptography, 2nd Edition arms you with the tools you need to pave the way to understanding modern crypto.

This thoroughly revised and updated edition of the bestselling introduction to modern cryptography breaks down fundamental mathematical concepts without shying away from meaty discussions of how they work. In this practical guide, you’ll gain immeasurable insight into topics like authenticated encryption, secure randomness, hash functions, block ciphers, and public-key techniques such as RSA and elliptic curve cryptography.

You’ll find coverage of topics like:

• The basics of computational security, attacker models, and forward secrecy
• The strengths and limitations of the TLS protocol behind HTTPS secure websites
• Quantum computation and post-quantum cryptography
• How algorithms like AES, ECDSA, Ed25519, Salsa20, and SHA-3 work
• Advanced techniques like multisignatures, threshold signing, and zero-knowledge proofs

Each chapter includes a discussion of common implementation mistakes using real-world examples and details what could go wrong and how to avoid these pitfalls. And, true to form, you’ll get just enough math to show you how the algorithms work so that you can understand what makes a particular solution effective--and how they break.

NEW TO THIS EDITION: This second edition has been thoroughly updated to reflect the latest developments in cryptography. You’ll also find a completely new chapter covering the cryptographic protocols in cryptocurrency and blockchain systems.

Whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or a beginner looking to dive into the field, Serious Cryptography will demystify this often intimidating topic. You’ll grow to understand modern encryption and its applications so that you can make better decisions about what to implement, when, and how.

Jean-Philippe (JP) Aumasson is the Chief Security Officer and cofounder of Taurus SA, a Swiss financial tech company specializing in digital assets infrastructure. Since 2006, he has authored more than 60 research articles in the field of cryptography and designed the widely used hash functions BLAKE2 and SipHash. He speaks regularly at information security conferences and has presented at Black Hat and DEF CON.