"A staggeringly comprehensive review of the state of modern cryptography. Essential for anyone getting up to speed in information security." - Thomas Doylend, Green Rocket Security

An all-practical guide to the cryptography behind common tools and protocols that will help you make excellent security choices for your systems and applications.

In Real-World Cryptography, you will find:

Best practices for using cryptography

Diagrams and explanations of cryptographic algorithms

Implementing digital signatures and zero-knowledge proofs

Specialized hardware for attacks and highly adversarial environments

Identifying and fixing bad practices

Choosing the right cryptographic tool for any problem

Real-World Cryptography reveals the cryptographic techniques that drive the security of web APIs, registering and logging in users, and even the blockchain. You’ll learn how these techniques power modern security, and how to apply them to your own projects. Alongside modern methods, the book also anticipates the future of cryptography, diving into emerging and cutting-edge advances such as cryptocurrencies, and post-quantum cryptography. All techniques are fully illustrated with diagrams and examples so you can easily see how to put them into practice.

Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications.

About the technology

Cryptography is the essential foundation of IT security. To stay ahead of the bad actors attacking your systems, you need to understand the tools, frameworks, and protocols that protect your networks and applications. This book introduces authentication, encryption, signatures, secret-keeping, and other cryptography concepts in plain language and beautiful illustrations.

About the book

Real-World Cryptography teaches practical techniques for day-to-day work as a developer, sysadmin, or security practitioner. There’s no complex math or jargon: Modern cryptography methods are explored through clever graphics and real-world use cases. You’ll learn building blocks like hash functions and signatures; cryptographic protocols like HTTPS and secure messaging; and cutting-edge advances like post-quantum cryptography and cryptocurrencies. This book is a joy to read—and it might just save your bacon the next time you’re targeted by an adversary after your data.

What's inside

Implementing digital signatures and zero-knowledge proofs

Specialized hardware for attacks and highly adversarial environments

Identifying and fixing bad practices

Choosing the right cryptographic tool for any problem

About the reader

For cryptography beginners with no previous experience in the field.

About the author

David Wong is a cryptography engineer. He is an active contributor to internet standards including Transport Layer Security.

Table of Contents

PART 1 PRIMITIVES: THE INGREDIENTS OF CRYPTOGRAPHY

1 Introduction

2 Hash functions

3 Message authentication codes

4 Authenticated encryption

5 Key exchanges

6 Asymmetric encryption and hybrid encryption

7 Signatures and zero-knowledge proofs

8 Randomness and secrets

PART 2 PROTOCOLS: THE RECIPES OF CRYPTOGRAPHY

9 Secure transport

10 End-to-end encryption

11 User authentication

12 Crypto as in cryptocurrency?

13 Hardware cryptography

14 Post-quantum cryptography

15 Is this it? Next-generation cryptography

16 When and where cryptography fails