Understanding Cryptography: A Textbook for Students and Practitioners

There are dozens of hours of youtube lectures of Christof Paar lecturing in his class in Germany (in English) which I found extraordinarily helpful in really getting into the nitty gritty of Cryptography which I needed on product development. Picking up Cryptography in bits and pieces from reading articles and watching short videos really doesn't give you a proper overview if you are planning on designing a system using cryptography as there are so many choices and it'snot easy to understand places and situations that may be right for one or the other.Christof's classes are excellent, I bought the book to use as a reference while going through the online courses but you probably wouldn't need it.I do feel that people like Christof should be rewarded for making serious donations of a life long study and in their ability to crystallize the teachings and then put it up on something like youtube FREE. So be nice and give back.. buy the book, you will find it useful in it's own right.

This textbook is hands down one of the best ones that I have encountered in any subject throughout an undergrad and most of a grad degree in math. The chapters are clear and concise, and usually begin with a high level conceptual overview before breaking down component algorithms and supporting math theory. It is easy to read and is fantastic about providing a combination of historical, functional, and mathematical context. It provides examples and explanations without being overly wordy, and is formatted to avoid large sections of block text. The end-of-chapter problems are a mixture of straight algorithmic/mathematical practice as well as ones that challenge you to think about the security and attack vectors for various ciphers (meaning a good blend of true practice and appropriately challenging thought exercises). I would highly recommend this text.

Prof. Paar's course on YouTube is superb, and this text makes it even better. If you're interested in cryptography, I don't think you could do better than the combination of watching the lectures and working through this text. Consider watching the lectures at 1.25x speed. Prof Paar uses the blackboard a lot, so most of the time you won't miss much watching at the faster speed.

This is a textbook for a 1 or 2 semester work on cryptography. It has lots of exercises and math. It is very comprehensive and not a quick or easy read. The latter is not a reflection on the author. It is just that the subject matter is not easy and not familiar to most people, so it will take some time to a good feel for the subject matter. Another good book that I have used for many years is "Applied Cryptography" by Bruce Schneier.If you wish to explore more about cryptocurrencies and Blockchain technology, you must have a good understanding of cryptography.Very good but lots of math.

If you've heard people mention things like ECC, HMACs, discrete logarithms and wanted to what they were talking about; or if you wanted to understand who RSA and AES really work along with many other things, then this is the book for you.I had been hunting for something more current than the 1996  Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C, Second Edition  when I came across Understanding Cryptography. I could tell from the available samples and the table of contents, that it should meet my needs. It has not only met my needs, but has exceeded them in every respect.This book was absolutely perfect for me, so it would be of some use for you to know my background.I've long had an interest in cryptography but never any training. When I read Martin Gardener's famous 1977 article on RSA I thought it was the coolest thing ever, but I didn't fully grasp it and didn't pursue it at the time. In college I studied some math, but my degree is in linguistics, not in math or computing. I have read popularizations of cryptography, and had tried to make it though Applied Cryptography when it first came out in 1996, but I can't say that I really understood how the algorithms and the more intricate protocols worked. So that is roughly my background.One of the great things about Understanding Cryptography is that it taught me exactly the math that I needed. You need to be comfortable learning new math. (I also found that I had to brush up on basic linear algebra on my own to understand one component of the deals of AES).Working though this book on my own through self study took time. It is extremely well presented (with the possible exception of the final chapter, which could do with another round of copy-editing). The subject matter is not simple, so if you really wish to understand them you need to go through things very slowly, stopping frequently to check understanding, but everything you need is in the book without it being overly long. The excellent organization and presentation of the material means that I was able to get far, far more out of this book than anything else I have read on the topic.The problem sets at the end of each chapter progress from easy to more challenging. I still need to go back and take on some of the more challenging ones I skipped the first time through. Often I was too eager to get to the new chapter than to work through the problems. As a consequence I missed some of the extended material that was presented through those problems sets.Personally, my second favorite chapter is the chapter on AES which really steps through how it works and why each component does what it does. My favorite is the chapter on ECC. I had known wat ECC was used for, but before reading this, I had no idea of what it really was. Now I find it "the coolest thing ever". (OK, I may over use that phrase.) The authors' presentation of it is just right. They lead you though the process so that you can share in the delight of how ECC works.Although I have worked though this as complete self-study, I would have preferred to do this as part of a class or at least some study group. Sometimes because I could have more quickly gotten through things that I held me up a few times, but mostly because I would have liked to share the experience. My wife and daughter are not entirely happy with the fact that I've been trying to teach them bits of what I've been learning over the month.There are still bits that I don't fully understand. Some are questions not addressed in the book, but the further readings and bibliography are excellent. So I have the resources to investigate those. There are also bits that I don't fully understand because I haven't gone back and worked through the relevant exercises in the problem sets.What I would like to see in a second addition:(1) A bibliography for each chapter as well as the comprehensive one at the end(2) A reworking of the final chapter, which appears rushed and not as well presented as everything else(3) More on hash functions reflecting what is being learned now as part of the SHA3 process.I am sure that this makes an outstanding textbook for a college course in the matter, but I want to add that it is so clearly presented, organized with introductions to the necessary math that it works for self-study as well.

I was searching for information on AES encryption algorithms and came across this book online; yes, online. The critical information was published and readily available for the reader, made available by the author for free.I honor those who are willing to open their hands and to share their wealth of knowledge with others without demanding anything in return. You can learn a good amount of information from this book for free, which is why you should honor these authors and purchase this book!I do not regret purchasing this book. The information is presented in a very readable format, and is helpful for those looking for a great introduction to the subject of cryptography.

This book needs to be read in conjunction with Paar's lecture series on Youtube.com: by itself it sometimes lacks sufficient detail to be a stand alone text book. Notwithstanding this I am very pleased with my purchase.

This book is fantastic, subjects I thought I knew well (I obviously didn't). I don't have a maths background, but seemed to just about grasp what was being described.Highly recommended.

I had follow the cryto course on Youtube sometime its hard to understand the principle (for me at least) until I follow it in a book. Cryptography is very hard anyway I am still working my way through the book. very very good companion to the YouTube series.

Great book with great accompanying material. "Ok, thanks... great lecture" ;D

Great stuff. See his lectures on You Tube that go with the book.