The opening section of this book covers key concepts of cryptography,
from encryption and digital signatures to cryptographic protocols.
Essential techniques are demonstrated in protocols for key exchange,
user identification, electronic elections and digital cash. The second
part addresses advanced topics, such as the bit security of one-way
functions and computationally perfect pseudorandom bit generators.
Examples of provably secure encryption and signature schemes and their
security proofs are given. Though particular attention is given to the
mathematical foundations, no special background in mathematics is
presumed. The necessary algebra, number theory and probability theory
are included in the appendix. Each chapter closes with a collection of
exercises. The second edition presents new material, including a
complete description of the AES, an extended section on cryptographic
hash functions, a new section on random oracle proofs, and a new section
on public-key encryption schemes that are provably secure against
adaptively-chosen-ciphertext attacks.