What this book covers
Section 1: A Brief History and Outline of Cryptography
Chapter 1, Deep Dive into Cryptography, introduces cryptography, what it is needed for, and why it is so important in IT. This chapter also provides a panoramic view of the principal algorithms in the history of cryptography.
Section 2: Classical Cryptography (Symmetric and Asymmetric Encryption)
Chapter 2, Symmetric Encryption Algorithms, analyzes symmetric encryption. We will focus on algorithms such as DES, AES and Boolean logic, which are widely used to implement cybersystems. Finally, we will showcase attacks to these algorithms.
Chapter 3, Asymmetric Encryption Algorithms, analyzes the classical asymmetric encryption algorithms, such as RSA and Diffie–Hellman, and the main algorithms in private/public key encryption.
Chapter 4, Hash Functions and Digital Signatures, focuses on hash functions such as SHA-1 and looks at digital signatures, which are one of the pillars of modern cryptography. We will look at the most important and famous signatures and, as a particular case of anonymous signatures, blind signatures.
Section 3: New Cryptography Algorithms and Protocols
Chapter 5, Zero-Knowledge Protocols, looks at zero-knowledge protocols, which are one of the new fundamental encryption protocols for blockchain. They are very useful for authenticating humans and machines without exposing any sensitive data in an unsafe channel of communication. New protocols, such as zk-SNARK, used in the blockchain are based on these algorithms. Finally, we will present Z/K13, which is a new protocol I invented in zero knowledge.
Chapter 6, New Inventions in Cryptography and Logical Attacks, presents three algorithms I invented. MB09 is based on Fermat’s Last Theorem. MB11 could be an alternative to RSA. Digital signatures related to these algorithms are also presented. Moreover, we will present MBXX, a new protocol, which can be used for consensus.
Chapter 7, Elliptic Curves, looks at the new frontier for decentralized finance, elliptic curves. Satoshi Nakamoto adopted a particular kind of elliptic curve to implement the transmission of digital currency in Bitcoin, called SECP256K1. We’ll see how it works and what the main characteristics of this very robust encryption are.
Chapter 8, Homomorphic Encryption and Crypto Search Engine, looks at the crypto search engine, which is an application of homomorphic encryption. It is a search engine able to search for a query inside encrypted content. We will see how it has been implemented, the story of this enterprise, and the possible applications of this disruptive engine for security and data privacy.
Section 4: Quantum Cryptography
Chapter 9, Quantum Cryptography, looks at how, with the advent of quantum computing, most of the algorithms we have explored until now will be under serious threat of brute-force attacks. One possible solution is quantum cryptography. It is one of the most exhilarating and fantastic kinds of encryption that the human mind has invented. We are only at the beginning of quantum cryptography, but it will be widely adopted in a short time.
Chapter 10, Quantum Search Algorithms and Quantum Computing, introduces Grover’s algorithm as an example of quantum search and attacks to classical symmetric encryption. By learning the logic of this algorithm, we will see how some elements of quantum computing are applied in cryptography, in particular for problems related to random searching and brute force attacks.
