Crypto Dictionary

Expand your mind—and your crypto knowledge—with the ultimate desktop dictionary for all things cryptography. Written by a globally recognized cryptographer for fellow experts and novices to the field alike, Crypto Dictionary is rigorous in its definitions, yet easy to read and laced with humor. You’ll find:

- A survey of crypto algorithms both widespread and niche, from RSA and DES to the USSR’s GOST cipher

- Trivia from the history of cryptography, such as the MINERVA backdoor in Crypto AG’s encryption algorithms, which may have let the US read the secret communications of foreign governments

- An explanation of why the reference to the Blowfish cipher in the TV show 24 makes absolutely no sense

- Discussions of numerous cryptographic attacks, like the slide attack and biclique attack (and the meaning of a crypto “attack”)

- Types of cryptographic proofs, such as zero-knowledge proofs of spacetime

- A polemic against referring to cryptocurrency as “crypto”

- A look toward the future of cryptography, with discussions of the threat of quantum computing poses to our current cryptosystems and a nod to post-quantum algorithms, such as lattice-based cryptographic schemes

Or, flip to any random page and learn something new, interesting, and mind-boggling for fun. Organized alphabetically, with hundreds of incisive entries and illustrations at your fingertips, Crypto Dictionary is the crypto world go-to guide that you’ll always want within reach.