The Joy of Cryptography is a free, undergraduate-level textbook that provides a comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of provable security in cryptography. Authored by respected cryptographer Mike Rosulek, the textbook covers a wide range of topics, including one-time pads, pseudorandomness, secret sharing, block ciphers, authentication codes, public-key cryptography, and more.
Recommend For:
- Undergraduate students in computer science, mathematics, or related fields
- Individuals interested in learning the theoretical foundations of modern cryptography
- Instructors and educators looking for a rigorous yet accessible textbook on cryptography
- Researchers and practitioners who need a solid understanding of provable security concepts
You Will:
- Gain a deep understanding of the core principles and techniques that underlie cryptographic security
- Learn to analyze security definitions and constructions using methods from complexity theory
- Develop the ability to compose cryptographic building blocks in secure ways
- Explore practical cryptographic systems and common attack models
- Acquire a solid theoretical foundation that enables further study of advanced cryptography topics
Detailed Overview
The Joy of Cryptography covers a wide range of topics in cryptography, starting with fundamental concepts such as one-time pads, provable security, and secret sharing. The textbook then delves into the foundations of cryptography, including basing cryptography on intractable computations, pseudorandom generators, and pseudorandom functions.
Later chapters focus on practical cryptographic primitives, including block ciphers, message authentication codes, hash functions, and authenticated encryption. The book also explores public-key cryptography, covering topics like RSA, digital signatures, and Diffie-Hellman key agreement.
Throughout the textbook, the author emphasizes the importance of provable security, teaching readers how to analyze security definitions and constructions using techniques from complexity theory. Numerous examples and exercises reinforce the concepts and enable readers to apply the material in practical scenarios.
Citation
Rosulek, Mike. The Joy of Cryptography. 2021. https://joyofcryptography.com.
Licensing
The Joy of Cryptography is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license. This means that the textbook can be freely used, shared, and adapted for non-commercial purposes, as long as proper attribution is given to the author and any derivative works are distributed under the same license.
Download
