REQ: Review of Nigel Smart's "Introduction to Cryptography"

[Mads Rasmussen]

Has anyone read Nigel Smart's book from late 2002, "introduction to
Cryptography" 
 
The latest IACR newsletter brought an overview and TOC of the book,
which I found interesting. It seems to me the first time provable
security is mentioned in a textbook (see part IV, 17 and 18)
 
As the newsletter said, more info is available at
 
     http://www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/html/0077099877.html
<http://www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/html/0077099877.html> 
 
I would be very interested in hearing from someone that read the book on
how this material is presented. I find Bellare and Rogaway's lecture
notes magnificent but it isn't a textbook.
 
I quoted the excerpt from the IACR newsletter below for those who might
be interested
 
Regards,
 
Mads Rasmussen
 
--
 
Cryptography, An Introduction
 
   by Nigel Smart,
   McGraw-Hill, 2002.
   ISBN 0 077 09987 7 (PB).
   
   Nigel Smart's Cryptography provides the rigorous detail required for
   advanced cryptographic studies, yet approaches the subject matter in
   an accessible style in order to gently guide new students through
   difficult mathematical topics. Covering the latest developments in
   cryptography, including the Rijndael algorithm chosen for the new
   Advanced Encryption Standard, the OAEP padding system for RSA,
   elliptic curve based systems and provable security this book is a
   complete introduction to cryptography.
 
Part I Mathematical Background 
1 Modular Arithmetic, Groups, Finite Fields and Probability 
2 Elliptic Curves 
 
Part II Symmetric Encryption 
3 Historical Ciphers 
4 Information Theoretic Security 
5 Symmetric Ciphers 
6 Symmetric Key Distribution 
 
Part III Public Key Encryption and Signatures 
7 Basic Public Key Encryption Algorithms 
8 Primality Testing and Factoring 
9 Discrete Logarithms 
10 Key Exchange, Signature Schemes and Hash Functions 
11 Implementation Issues 
12 Obtaining Authentic Public Keys 
13 Protocols 
 
Part IV Security Issues 
14 Attacks on Public Key Schemes 
15 Definitions of Security 
16 Complexity Theoretic Approaches 
17 Provable Security: With Random Oracles 
18 Provable Security: Without Random Oracles 
Appendices 
Appendix A Basic Mathematical Terminology 
Appendix B Java Examples 
Index 
   
 

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