Serious Cryptography, 2nd Edition

FOREWORD TO THE FIRST EDITION

If you’ve read a book or two on computer security, you may have encountered a common perspective on the field of cryptography. “Cryptography,” they say, “is the strongest link in the chain.” Strong praise indeed, but it’s also somewhat dismissive. If cryptography is in fact the strongest part of your system, why invest time improving it when there are so many other areas of the system that will benefit more from your attention?

If there’s one thing that I hope you take away from this book, it’s that this view of cryptography is idealized; it’s largely a myth. Cryptography in theory is strong, but cryptography in practice is as prone to failure as any other aspect of a security system. This is particularly true ...