Serious Cryptography

PREFACE

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

I’ve heard “crypto is hard” more than a dozen times since then. But is crypto really that hard? To play an instrument, master a programming language, or put the applications of any fascinating field into practice, you need to learn ...