Java Security Handbook

Chapter 5. Introduction to Cryptography

In Part 1, you learned about the foundations for Java security: the sandbox, runtime system, and security policies. In this part, you'll focus on cryptography and its applications. You'll cover secret- and public-key cryptography, message digests, digital signatures, key management, the Java Cryptography Extension (JCE), and the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol.

This chapter provides you with the background information that you need to understand Java's support for cryptographic security. It provides an introduction to cryptography and covers secret- and public-key algorithms. It also explains the basics of message digests, digital signatures, and digital certificates. When you finish this chapter, you'll ...