Cryptography Links

This is a list of resources on cryptography knowledge that I've compiled. The goal of this list is to cover the fundamental spectrum of cryptography and to touch on the higher mathematical end.

Index of Links

• Pre-Cryptography Concepts
• Fundamental Cryptography Concepts
• Simple Encryption Algorithms
• Advanced Encryption Algorithms
• One-Way Hashes / Checksums
• Cryptographic Attacks
• Online Books/Papers
• Encryption Programs
• Encryption Libraries
• Resources on Cryptographers
• Historical Background
• Cryptography Conferences

Pre-Cryptography Concepts

• Why Cryptography is Harder Than it Looks
• Security Pitfalls in Cryptography
• Cryptography is not Security

Fundamental Cryptography Concepts

• Definition of Cryptography by RSA Security
• Symmetric/Private Keys
• Asymmetric/Public Keys
• Kerckhoffs' Law (Security Through Obscurity)
• Block Ciphers
  • Block ciphers explained by Wikipedia
  • Block cipher modes of operation defined by the NIST
  • Cipher block modes of operation explained by Wikipedia
• Stream Ciphers / Pseudo-Random Number Generators

Simple Encryption Algorithms

• Substitution/Ceaser Cipher
  • Defined by Wikipedia
  • ROT-13 variant
  • Atbash variant
• Pig Pen Cipher
• RC4
• Rail Fence Cipher
• Solitaire Cipher
  • As explained by Bruce Schneier (author)
  • Weaknesses in the algorithm
• Vernam Cipher / One-Time Pad
  • Cryptology and Data Secrecy : The Vernam Cipher
  • Vernam Cipher, A Perfect Cipher
• Viginere Cipher
• XOR

Encryption Algorithms

• AES / Rijndael
  • NIST Standard
  • Is AES Secure?
  • Javascript walk-though of AES implementation
  • Error-checking your implementation of AES
• Blowfish
  • Explained by Bruce Schneier (author)
  • Explained by Wikipedia
• (Triple) DES
  • DES defined by the NIST
  • The DES Algorithm Illustrated -- (Contains test vectors lacking in the NIST specification.)
• Serpent
  • Serpent Specification
  • The Case for Serpent
• Twofish
  • Home Website
  • Explained by Bruce Schneier (co-author)
• Quantum Cryptography
  • Simple Introduction by HowStuffWorks
  • Quantum Cryptography Overview (PDF)

One-Way Hashes / Checksums

• Definition of a cryptographic hash
• An illustrated guide to cryptographics hashes
• CRC
• MD5
  • As explained by Wikipedia
  • RFC specification of MD5
  • MD5 walk-through in JavaScript
  • MD5 Weakness
    • Paper on MD5 collisions
    • MD5 collisions visualized
    • Sample MD5 collisions
    • Implementation for generating MD5 collisions
• RIPEMD
  • RIPEMD-160 Specification
  • General Info
• SHA
  • NIST specification for SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-256
  • SHA-1 explained by Wikipedia
  • SHA-1 Weakened

Cryptanalysis

• Analyzing and Breaking Ciphers
• General Block Cipher Attacks
• General Stream Cipher Attacks
• Breaking a Polyalphabetic Substitution Cipher (PPT)
• Breaking Polyalphabetic Substitution Ciphers
• Breaking a Vigenère Cipher
• Basic Text-Based Cryptanalysis by the US Army
• NIST's Guide to Statistical Tests
• Linear Cryptanalysis (with demo)
• Brute-force
• Man in the middle
• Side-Channel Attacks
• Confusion and Diffusion
• Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems -- The paper by Claude Shannon that introduced the concept of "confusion and diffusion".
• AES Competition (Purity Noise) Tests

Online Resources

• Databases of Papers
  • The Cryptology ePrint Archive
  • Crypto Conference Papers -- Papers that have been submitted at the conferences Crypto, Eurocrypt, and Ches.
  • Cryptographer's World -- Statistics on published cryptography authors and papers.
  • Ron Rivest's Collection of Links
  • arXiv - Cryptography and Security
• Books / Compilations of Notes
  • MIT summer course -- Notes from an MIT summer course on cryptography (1996-2001).
  • Graduate-level notes by Mihir Bellare (UCSB) and Phillip Rogaway (UCD)
  • Handbook of Applied Cryptography -- A free ebook that provides a good introduction to mathematical cryptography.
  • A Computational Introduction to Number Theory and Algebra
  • An Overview of Cryptography -- An overview of cryptography and a look into real-life modern programs.
• Course Materials
  • MIT - Spring 2005 - Cryptography and Cryptanalysis
  • University of Washington - Winter 2006 - Practical Aspects of Modern Cryptography
  • A Self-Study Course in Block Cipher Cryptanalysis
• Introduction to Cryptography
• Security Engineering -- A practical approach to employing cryptography.
• Peter Gutmann's Crash Course on Cryptography
• PKCS #5 -- A cryptographic standard for using user-specified keys in encryption.

Encryption Programs

• TrueCrypt -- Symetric key, disk/virtual disk encryption.
• GPG -- Public key, multiple encryption options.
• PGP -- Public key, multiple encryption options.
• AxCrypt -- Symmetric key, individual file encryption.
• DriveCrypt -- Symmetric key, whole disk encryption.
• dsCrypt -- Symmetric key, individual file encryption (stand-alone EXE).
• Snake Oil Encryption Software -- This isn't an encryption program, but it's a good article on how to evaluate encryption software.

Encryption Libraries

• Crypto++ -- A C++ library under a custom, permissive license.
• PolarSSL -- A C library under the GNU GPL license.
• OpenSSL -- A C++ library under an Apache-style license.
• Brian Gladman -- C source code for AES, SHA, and HMAC.

Cryptographer Resources

• Bruce Schneier
• Peter Guttmann
• Matt Blaze
• Ron Rivest
• Xiaoyun Wang
• Neils Ferguson
• Professor Michael Anshel
• David Wagner
• Dr. Vlastimil Klima
• Claude Shannon

Historical Background

• Historical Overview
• Crypto AG - The NSA backdoor
• The AES Competion

Cryptography Conferences:

• Crypto
• Eurocrypt
• CHES
• Financial Cryptography

Page info:

• List Started: October 27, 2007
• Last Content Update: November 15, 2009 - Removed stale links, added more links, reorganized some existing links.