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    Ellenziliak 2017

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    Jorge Vega
    This document reviews the book "The Mathematics of Secrets: Cryptography from Caesar Ciphers to Digital Encryption" by Joshua Holden. It summarizes that the book details the history of cryptography from basic ciphers to modern digital encryption. It describes how early ciphers worked and how they were cracked. It discusses the development of public key cryptography and standards like RSA and AES. It concludes by discussing the future of cryptography and the impact of quantum computing on existing algorithms.

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    Ellenziliak 2017

    Uploaded by

    Jorge Vega
    10 views2 pages
    This document reviews the book "The Mathematics of Secrets: Cryptography from Caesar Ciphers to Digital Encryption" by Joshua Holden. It summarizes that the book details the history of cryptography from basic ciphers to modern digital encryption. It describes how early ciphers worked and how they were cracked. It discusses the development of public key cryptography and standards like RSA and AES. It concludes by discussing the future of cryptography and the impact of quantum computing on existing algorithms.

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    This document reviews the book "The Mathematics of Secrets: Cryptography from Caesar Ciphers to Digital Encryption" by Joshua Holden. It summarizes that the book details the history of cryptography from basic ciphers to modern digital encryption. It describes how early ciphers worked and how they were cracked. It discusses the development of public key cryptography and standards like RSA and AES. It concludes by discussing the future of cryptography and the impact of quantum computing on existing algorithms.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    10 views2 pages

    Ellenziliak 2017

    Uploaded by

    Jorge Vega
    This document reviews the book "The Mathematics of Secrets: Cryptography from Caesar Ciphers to Digital Encryption" by Joshua Holden. It summarizes that the book details the history of cryptography from basic ciphers to modern digital encryption. It describes how early ciphers worked and how they were cracked. It discusses the development of public key cryptography and standards like RSA and AES. It concludes by discussing the future of cryptography and the impact of quantum computing on existing algorithms.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 2

    Math Horizons

    ISSN: 1072-4117 (Print) 1947-6213 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/umho20

    The Mathematics of Secrets: Cryptography from


    Caesar Ciphers to Digital Encryption

    Ellen Ziliak

    To cite this article: Ellen Ziliak (2017) The Mathematics of Secrets: Cryptography from Caesar
    Ciphers to Digital Encryption, Math Horizons, 25:1, 27-27, DOI: 10.4169/mathhorizons.25.1.27

    To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.4169/mathhorizons.25.1.27

    Published online: 13 Dec 2017.

    Submit your article to this journal

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    http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=umho20
    The Mathematics of Whitfield Diffie, and
    Martin Hellman cre-

    Secrets: Cryptography ated the first system


    that allowed indi-

    from Caesar Ciphers viduals who had not


    met to use a mutu-

    to Digital Encryption ally agreed-upon key.


    Thus, public key cryp-
    tography was born,
    Reviewed by Ellen Ziliak

    T
    forever changing the
    he word cryptography brings to mind im- way we interact with
    ages of ancient treasures hidden by secret technology. This sys-
    messages or wartime battle communica- tem has many uses, including VPN networks, in which
    tions. Many do not realize that cryptogra- individuals can gain remote access to networks.
    phy is essential for secure transmission of Holden then introduces the next development—an
    data online and that we use it every day. asymmetric system in which one party publicly broad-
    In The Mathematics of Secrets (Princeton University casts information that can be decrypted only by using
    Press, 2017), Joshua Holden details the history of cryp- private information that is impossible for an outsider
    tography from basic monoalphabetic ciphers such as the to determine. Ronald Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard
    Caesar cipher, which he uses to introduce notation, to Adleman discovered this system, now called RSA, sev-
    modular arithmetic, a crucial element of many modern eral years after it was secretly discovered by James Ellis,
    ciphers. He describes what makes each cipher secure and who worked for Britain’s equivalent to the NSA. RSA is
    gives methods to cryptanalyze the cipher—that is, to read used to encrypt connections to secure web servers. After
    the message without knowing how it was encrypted. a connection is encrypted, sensitive information, like
    As the discussion transitions from the early roots credit card numbers, is sent using a faster symmetric
    of cryptography to slightly more complex ciphers, the process such as AES.
    reader is entertained with tales of how these systems Holden ends with a discussion of the future of cryp-
    came to be and how they were used. For instance, tography. He focuses primarily on the impact of quan-
    once computers became a part of everyday life, the tum computing, which does not yet exist but which will
    National Security Agency (NSA) developed encryp- make current algorithms obsolete.
    tion standards for secure data transmission. The first In the preface, Holden expresses his lofty goal to write
    such standard, DES, was built within a shroud of a book about the mathematics of cryptography for a
    secrecy, and possibly in a way that allows the NSA to general population with at least “high school algebra
    access private communications. The current standard, and a willingness to really think about it.” Although he
    AES, was produced by an international competition. partially achieved his goal—all of the mathematics is
    Many believe it is very secure, but information leaked fully explained—a general audience reader could become
    overwhelmed by the computations.
    by Edward Snowden indicates that the NSA may
    But The Mathematics of Secrets would be a fantastic
    have techniques to tap in to these communications.
    book for an undergraduate student interested in math-
    As computers became more compact, stream ciphers
    ematics. It would also be an excellent resource for stu-
    were invented. These ciphers are the cryptographic
    dents looking for a research project; they could explore
    analogue of a recursive sequence, because the encryption
    and modify a cipher and then determine its security by
    of each bit is the result of the encryption of the previous
    cryptanalyzing the potential attacks. n
    bit. Cell phone companies used the A5/1 stream cipher
    because of its speed. However, by 2006 a hacker needed
    Ellen Ziliak is an associate professor of mathematics
    only four minutes of a phone conversation to intercept
    at Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois. She enjoys
    communication and less than 10 minutes to decrypt it.
    hacking crypto systems with undergraduate students and
    Today the A5/3 cipher is the standard on all 3G and
    sharing her love of mathematics with the general popula-
    4G networks.
    tion, especially kids.
    All early ciphers relied on both parties agreeing on a
    secret key in advance. In the mid-1970s Ralph Merkle, http://dx.doi.org/10.4169/mathhorizons.25.1.27

    www.maa.org/mathhorizons : : Math Horizons : : September 2017 27

    mh-26-27-bookshelf-final.indd 2 9/29/17 1:15 PM

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