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Intro to Encryption

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the getting-on-the-same-page dept.

An anonymous reader submitted a Techworld story which is a sort of encryption primer. The difference between codes & cyphers, and what all those acronyms like RSA and DES actually mean. This is good primer material for newbs, and a good refresher for fogeys.

5 of 244 comments (clear)

  1. Inaccuracy in article? by DarkHelmet · · Score: 5, Informative
    About RSA: Current hardware means key lengths should be 1024 bits for complete security. The present generation of web browsers use 128-bit keys so cannot be considered secure against a determined and sufficiently well-resourced attack.

    Certificates are 1024 or 2048 bit with SSL. On the other hand, once the key is sent and shared, a 128 bit symmetric form of encryption is used. The only thing RSA is used for is sending / receiving the symmetric encryption key, yes?

    Correct me if I'm wrong.

    --
    /^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
  2. Much better than that article by yahyamf · · Score: 5, Informative

    I would strongly recommend the Code Book by Simon Singh over that short article. It takes the reader from the Ceaser cipher all the way to quantum codes and is a very enjoyable read. The Codebreakers by David Kahn is also an excellent though somewhat lengthier volume

  3. Handbook by Ann+Coulter · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Handbook of Applied Cryptography: http://www.cacr.math.uwaterloo.ca/hac/ is a very detailed guide to some cryptographic algorithms and theories. This is not for newbies at all. For those wanting to implement a particular cipher, this book is the place to refer to. On top of everything, it is free.

  4. Re:intro to encryption by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
    n o p q r s t u v w x y z a b c d e f g h i j k l m

    first post!

  5. Applied Cryptography by Meostro · · Score: 5, Informative

    Bruce Schneier's Applied Cryptography is another excellent resource for all you crypto-geeks out there. It goes from the basics (including the substitution cipher presented in the article) through basic crypto (ENIGMA, DES) all the way up through state-of-the-art (don't think AES was in my 1st ed., but I believe it's in there now). He talks about everything from the theoretical to the practical, hash collisions to rubber-hose cryptography.

    It comes with source too! You know you love source....