Serious Cryptography, 2nd Edition

INTRODUCTION

I wrote this book to be the one I wish I had when I started learning cryptography. In 2005, I was studying for my master’s degree near Paris, and I eagerly registered for the upcoming semester’s crypto class. Unfortunately, the class was canceled because too few students had registered. “Crypto is too hard,” the students argued, instead enrolling en masse in the computer graphics and database classes.

I’ve heard “crypto is hard” dozens of times since then. But is it really that hard? To play an instrument, master a programming language, or put the applications of any field into practice, you need to learn some concepts and symbols, ...