Foundations of Cryptography: Volume 1, Basic Tools

Focuses on the basic mathematical tools needed for cryptographic design: computational difficulty (one-way functions), pseudorandomness and zero-knowledge proofs.

Oded Goldreich (Author)

9780521035361, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 18 January 2007

396 pages
25.4 x 17.8 x 2.1 cm, 0.68 kg

'The written style is excellent and natural, making the text rather comfortable to read even on quite advanced topics. The book is suitable for students in a graduate course on cryptography, and is also a useful reference text for experts.' The Mathematical Gazette

Cryptography is concerned with the conceptualization, definition and construction of computing systems that address security concerns. The design of cryptographic systems must be based on firm foundations. This book presents a rigorous and systematic treatment of the foundational issues: defining cryptographic tasks and solving new cryptographic problems using existing tools. It focuses on the basic mathematical tools: computational difficulty (one-way functions), pseudorandomness and zero-knowledge proofs. The emphasis is on the clarification of fundamental concepts and on demonstrating the feasibility of solving cryptographic problems, rather than on describing ad-hoc approaches. The book is suitable for use in a graduate course on cryptography and as a reference book for experts. The author assumes basic familiarity with the design and analysis of algorithms; some knowledge of complexity theory and probability is also useful.

List of figures
Preface
1. Introduction
2. Computational difficulty
3. Pseudorandom generators
4. Zero-knowledge proof systems
Appendix A: background in computational number theory
Appendix B: brief outline of volume 2
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Mathematical theory of computation [UYA], Computer networking & communications [UT], Number theory [PBH]