Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Best book on modern cryptography?

news.ycombinator.com

11–20 of 45 posts

Re: Ask HN: Best book on modern cryptography?

#11

To piggy back on this thread, can anyone recommend a book on cryptography for mathematicians? I'm familiar with some of the more popular applied books, but I'm also interested in more rigorous texts that use careful proofs and state theorems etc.

As written below, "Introduction to Modern Cryptography" by Katz & Lindell. Another option would be "A Graduate Course in Applied Cryptography" by Boneh & Shoup. However, for starting out, I would definitely recommend the former as it's more polished and focuses on the essentials.

Re: Ask HN: Best book on modern cryptography?

#12

To piggy back on this thread, can anyone recommend a book on cryptography for mathematicians? I'm familiar with some of the more popular applied books, but I'm also interested in more rigorous texts that use careful proofs and state theorems etc.

Oded Goldreich's "Foundations of Cryptography" books are the rigorous, theoretical oriented books used in many grad-level crypto courses: https://www.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il/~oded/foc-book.html

Neil Koblitz has "A Course in Number Theory and Cryptography", which I haven't read, but is often used: https://www.amazon.com/Course-Number-Cryptography-Graduate-M...

Also, Boneh and Shoup is good and mentioned in other comments: https://toc.cryptobook.us/

Re: Ask HN: Best book on modern cryptography?

#13
post #4

Serious Cryptography https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593278268/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b... It's quite accessible for non-math majors and includes source code. It seems to have been written with software engineers in mind. The formatting of the source code in Kindle isn't great but otherwise the book is excellent and balances between "cookbook" and "graduate level textbook". The author is also quite reputable having designe…

+1 on this, it hits the right spot between being not too mathy/theoretical but going sufficiently deep for most engineers.

It’s probably the right book for anyone who needs to learn more about crypto but isn’t planning to become a full time cryptographer

Re: Ask HN: Best book on modern cryptography?

#15

To piggy back on this thread, can anyone recommend a book on cryptography for mathematicians? I'm familiar with some of the more popular applied books, but I'm also interested in more rigorous texts that use careful proofs and state theorems etc.

Cryptography: Theory and Practice, Third Edition by Douglas R. Stinson

Re: Ask HN: Best book on modern cryptography?

#16
post #13
post #4

Serious Cryptography https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593278268/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b... It's quite accessible for non-math majors and includes source code. It seems to have been written with software engineers in mind. The formatting of the source code in Kindle isn't great but otherwise the book is excellent and balances between "cookbook" and "graduate level textbook". The author is also quite reputable having designe…

+1 on this, it hits the right spot between being not too mathy/theoretical but going sufficiently deep for most engineers. It’s probably the right book for anyone who needs to learn more about crypto but isn’t planning to become a full time cryptographer

This sounds perfect thank you.

Re: Ask HN: Best book on modern cryptography?

#17

A fun book to read is "The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography" It's a fast read and it gives a brief history of cypher tech over time.

I'm excited to read this!

This isn't about cryptography but Code by Charles Petzold is also a fun book ( vaguely ) about information theory.

Re: Ask HN: Best book on modern cryptography?

#18

A fun book to read is "The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography" It's a fast read and it gives a brief history of cypher tech over time.

I read this in the 4th grade and it changed the course of my life. It explains everything up to RSA with math that a middle schooler can follow, with exciting stories of cryptography and linguistics across history. Lots of cool spy stories!

Re: Ask HN: Best book on modern cryptography?

#19

Joy of Cryptography by Mike Rosulek is my favorite: https://joyofcryptography.com/ Written by a past professor of mine. Grounded in a lot of math, but not intimidating.

I vouched for your comment, because it seems earnest but was marked dead. I don't see anything in your comment history to indicate that you are shadowbanned.

I have not read the book, except to verify that it was real and looked plausible. If your comment was downvoted for content, I hope people will comment instead.

Post reply on HN