[Cryptography] Books on modern cryptanalysis

[Jonathan Katz]

On Wed, 11 Sep 2013, Bernie Cosell wrote:

> Anyhow, are there any (not *too* technical) books on the modern
> techniques for attacking cryptosystems?

Really depends what you mean by "attacking"; there are attacks at the 
protocol level (e.g., padding-oracle attacks), at the crypto level (e.g., 
differential cryptanalysis), and at the physical level (e.g., side-channel 
attacks).

As a general introduction to modern crypto that covers the first two 
categories a bit, I recommend "Introduction to Modern Cryptography" by 
myself and Y. Lindell (soon to come out with a 2nd edition containing even 
more attacks!).

For block-cipher cryptanalysis, I have been very impressed by the material 
in "The Block Cipher Companion" by Knudsen and Robshaw.