Secure XML: The New Syntax for Signatures and Encryption

Chapter 2. Digital Cryptography Basics

This chapter introduces the basic building blocks of modern digital cryptography, describes what they can do for you, and explains how to compose them to produce useful and practical secure services.

If you are familiar with these basics, you can probably skip this chapter. Good general references in this area are [NetSec] and [Schneier]. This chapter—and indeed this book—do not generally get down to the details of bit-level formats or algorithms. That is, they do not provide enough information for you to implement the cryptographic algorithms mentioned. Nevertheless, this chapter should provide a foundation of knowledge about modern digital cryptography that will make later chapters more comprehensible. ...