Review of APPLIED CRYPTOGRAPHY in Cryptologia

[schneier@chinet.com (Bruce Schneier)]

The following review of APPLIED CRYPTOGRAPHY appeared in the
January 1994 issue of Cryptologia (v. 18, n. 1).  Written by
Louis Kruh.

     The past twenty years have seen an explosive growth in
     public research into cryptology, accompanied by an
     unprecedented public awareness of matters cryptologic. 
     Programmers and engineers trying to benefit from the fruits
     of this research, to solve real-world problems, have often
     been stymied by not knowing where to start looking, let
     alone when to stop.  This book is for them.  Written as a
     "comprehensive reference work for modern cryptology" the
     book succeeds both as an encyclopedia survey of the past
     twenty hears of public research and as a hansom "how-to"
     cookbook of the state-of-the-art.  It could well have been
     subtitled "The Joy of Encrypting."

     The author's style is colloquial and informal, but never
     imprecise.  Theory takes a back seat to clarity and
     directness, without deliberate misrepresentation; unabashed
     informed opinion wins out over academic hesitations.  Since
     the work is a practical snapshot of the field, circa mid-to-
     late 1993, several of the book's recommendations may prove
     timely: new results seem to be reported monthly.  While his
     political axe is never concealed the book is written as a
     whetstone for others rather than a soapbox rant, and the
     focus is manifestly practical solutions and the tools with
     which to achieve them.

     After a forward from Whitfield Diffie the author explains
     foundations; examined protocols; discusses techniques;
     presents algorithms; explores the real world (including
     legal and political aspects); and finishes up by printing
     read-to-run C source code programs of several of the
     algorithms, including ENIGMA, DES and IDEA.  Reflecting the
     confused nature of the real world, a set of IBM PC disks
     containing the sources published in the book is available
     from the author--but only to residents of the USA and
     Canada.  Drawing on 908 references and the collected
     experience of contributors throughout the Internet and
     around the world, this book will be a useful addition to the
     library of any active or wouldbe security practitioner.

It's the first review of the book that has appeared in print, and
I am very pleased with it.  The book has turned out to fill two
very different niches.  One, it is the book that people are being
handed to read when they want to learn about the field.  Two, it
is the reference work that people are turning to first if they
want to find out about some aspect of cryptography.  The third
important niche, which the book does not fill, is that of a
textbook.  This field sorely needs a textbook.  Anyone
interested?

Bruce

From owner-cypherpunks  Fri Feb  4 07:45:10 1994
Received: by toad.com id AA18908; Fri, 4 Feb 94 07:25:05 PST