Question on Cryptogtaphy

[Spudinski]

So as some would know my programming knowledge is manageable, neither brilliant nor inferior.

I'm quite contempt with where I am for what I know: I know how to program.

I've read quite a few books that details out how Unix works, from the boot manager all the way through to kernel timing and more.

I'm still practicing everything I've learned, since I'm not the best when it comes to why something works the way it does, but rather what does it actually do.

What I'm getting at is: I think I have a good and well rounded knowledge base on the technologies I need, but what I have yet to learn are the often overlooked parts of security. And that's cryptography. :(

So can anyone suggest books on the following topics?

• History of Cryptography(Early stages, how it came into being, etc)
  
• Practical applications of it(where, what, how)
  
• Modern and prospects of it(current, up to date methods and techniques of using it)
  

 

And for the last of the line, is somewhat unrelated, but it's something I know I will need. That's: Assembly. Can anyone also recommend books on that.

PS. I like real books, not the Learn x in 10 days. Also I'm very analytic, I need an in-depth explanation within the books.

Thank you.

S.

[a_bertrand]

Book about cryptography: there is tons about that subject. All depends what you are really up to. I mean, history? well it's really old, even old Romans had ways to code messages. But maybe it's not what you are after, so you should have a goal and look info about how to reach the goal... trying to get all of a subject is normally hard.

Assembler, well, you well need again to define for which platform / OS you want it... as a 8086 assembler is completely different from an ARM one. About the usefulness of Assembler... well in some field it is in deed mandatory (for example embeded systems) but most of today development doesn't need it. So you should really evaluate the effort / benefit of it.

[Spudinski]

I know there a loads of books about cryptography, but I feel I would waste my time in reading a summary of a broad aspect.

 

Book about cryptography: there is tons about that subject. All depends what you are really up to. I mean, history? well it's really old, even old Romans had ways to code messages. But maybe it's not what you are after, so you should have a goal and look info about how to reach the goal... trying to get all of a subject is normally hard.

Mostly to use/do with authentication procedures, and the transfer of data over WAN.

 

Assembler, well, you well need again to define for which platform / OS you want it... as a 8086 assembler is completely different from an ARM one. About the usefulness of Assembler... well in some field it is in deed mandatory (for example embeded systems) but most of today development doesn't need it. So you should really evaluate the effort / benefit of it.

My main focus area is on UNIX operating systems(Solaris & AIX specifically), but I would like to have the knowledge on Windows as well.

My reason for wanting to learn Assembly is purely educational, as I see it being a vital skill in the arsenal of a security professional no matter which field you are in.

Edited December 5, 2011 by Spudinski

[a_bertrand]

If it's cryptography for communications, then you should check asymmetric keys and symmetric keys cryptography.

Assembler... well it may help but a good C coding skill shall do the trick as well as well as good knowledge of kernel and drivers as well as base protocols (HTTP, FTP, NFS and more). If this is the road you want to take you should do some school, has you will need to demonstrate somehow your knowledge to companies which may hire you later on, and for that nothing will work as well as a paper demonstrating your knowledge. Beside of course if you discover some security issues, however it may be really hard.

[semaphore.v]

So as some would know my programming knowledge is manageable, neither brilliant nor inferior.

I'm quite contempt with where I am for what I know: I know how to program.

I've read quite a few books that details out how Unix works, from the boot manager all the way through to kernel timing and more.

I'm still practicing everything I've learned, since I'm not the best when it comes to why something works the way it does, but rather what does it actually do.

What I'm getting at is: I think I have a good and well rounded knowledge base on the technologies I need, but what I have yet to learn are the often overlooked parts of security. And that's cryptography. :(

So can anyone suggest books on the following topics?

• History of Cryptography(Early stages, how it came into being, etc)
  
• Practical applications of it(where, what, how)
  
• Modern and prospects of it(current, up to date methods and techniques of using it)
  

 

And for the last of the line, is somewhat unrelated, but it's something I know I will need. That's: Assembly. Can anyone also recommend books on that.

PS. I like real books, not the Learn x in 10 days. Also I'm very analytic, I need an in-depth explanation within the books.

Thank you.

S.

In cryptography, an all-or-nothing transform (AONT), also known as an all-or-nothing protocol, is an encryption mode which allows the data to be understood only if all of it is known.AONTs can be used to increase the strength of encryption without increasing the key size. This may be useful to, for example, secure secrets while complying with government cryptography export regulations. AONTs help prevent several attacks.

[sniko]

Here's my input, Spudinski.

History of Cryptography(Early stages, how it came into being, etc)

I'd look into the World War(s), when sending secret information was a 'buzz' and allowed spied to send their findings back to HQ. So, with this information, I'd look into understanding how the Enigma Machine worked and was put together, it's quite fascinating really (I touched on it at college). Here's a good site for information on World War machines.

Practical applications of it(where, what, how)

I'd have a look at Troy Hunts blog, a Microsoft MVP, and he blogs about security flaws in modern applications - it's worth a read.

GCHQ released a puzzle last year, which was quite intriguing on how cryptography was used, but it was cracked a few hours/days from it being released. They've also got a four-part puzzle going on here.

I hope that helps :)

[JakeB]

I work with hardware crypto equipment on an almost daily basis. If there's anything you need to know about it feel free to ask