Schneier on Security

It's the Cryptonomicon!

Oddly enough, this book has no chapters on stealing fast food, long lines at airports, or squids.

Bruce, is this on your 'wish list' ? :-)

Immediately after reading the entry and contemplating the publication date, my first thought was, "Is it bad that my first thought of cryptography involves digital methods?" (I instantaneously thought of RC4, AES, DES, etc. It took a second to think of One-Time-Pads, Polyalphabetic Ciphers, and Caesar Ciphers.)

Just in time for Christmas!

l'argent de poche for Bruce.

He could award it as a prize for his next contest!

Partial translation to English is available at

http://www.sirbacon.org/ResearchMaterial/NineBooksofCryptography.htm

Okay, enough with the bashing about the McDonald's exploit.

Yes, it seems like small change when cast against larger and more profitable forms of fraud. But then, when you learn cryptography, you start with simple transposition ciphers, and then move on to more complex ones.

When you learn sleight-of-hand, you practice the small things and the basics.

Discussion of the McExploit helps people grasp security concepts and social engineering.

20% buyer's premium! They can't be serious!

I'll wait until they have it on Amazon.

Any idea whether it's snake-oil or serious crypto (for the time)?

20% buyer's premium is pretty much the norm now, within a point or so. Special discount rate if you're buying an item for a few hundred thou. But with luck, that book won't bring such a bid.

And yet the auction business goes on, and makes a profit. I don't understand it either.

For those who like old book (and can't afford to buy this one), you can go to http://www.petitcolas.net/fabien/steganography/steganographica/index.html and watch the 1665's "Schola Steganographica".

Almost worth the 6000USD to find out what is the difference between "scattering of letters" and "strewing of letters".

Maybe Bruces next cipher should adopt the terminoligy -- " And lo though shalt scatter the letters according to thine seed then thow strewest thine scattered letters about thine S-box unto the fourth and twentieth round. "

The reference implementation could be coded in LISP to make reading even easier.