Crypto: How the Code Rebels Beat the Government Saving Privacy in the Digital Age Paperback – January 15, 2002

I bought this book based on the recommendation of the professor who teaches my cyber security class, and since it is out of print, I took a chance and got a used one. The condition of the book is far better than I anticipated and the seller shipped it super fast.As for the content, it is interesting and engaging and Mr. Levy has done a great job at conveying the history and importance of cryptography and how it relates to cyber security on a level that is neither overly technical nor dumbed down. While the book was originally published nearly two decades ago, the information is still relevant today. He has written several other books including The Unicorn’s Secret: Murder in the Age of Aquarius, another I very much enjoyed.Whether or not you are working in the cyber security field, I feel like this is an important book for everyone to read, especially with all the rumblings of Russian hackers, data breeches on credit cards and social media accounts and all the other hacking and phreaking that’s going on right under our noses. Knowledge is power, and it is our best defense against those who seek to hurt us. This book will help you find your ammunition.

This easy-to-ready short history by writer Steven Levy, who has written numerous articles for Wired, is a very well-researched volume on the human side of public-key cryptography.Levy has interviewed all of the major players: Diffie, Adleman, Chaum, Zimmerman, and others; he's done nearly a decade of research on the subject, and monitored the sci.crypt.* newsgroups. Clearly, this is an authoritative account of the short 30-year history of public key.The main theme of the book is how the NSA tried to stifle new developments by the researchers, placing secrecy orders and classifying their patents and papers. Throughout the book, as Levy draws out the characters, it's the crypto community vs. the government, until ultimately the cypherpunks win out.This book doesn't contain a single diagram; no photos, and no equations at all. So if you're looking for a technical introduction to crypto, look elsewhere; this is purely an informally-written account on the people behind the scenes.Five stars, for what it is; sure, Levy writes with magazine-style prose, but this fits the high-level view he takes on the subject. Most importantly, this volume was exhaustively researched and has the collaboration of all of the key players, which lends Levy's account great credibility.

This book held my interest from start to finish, and is an excellent summary of how public key cryptography came into being, as well as a good history of cryptography in the public sector. Steven Levy writes in a style that is very easy to read. I found the history of the battle between government (e.g. the NSA) and private encryption technology to be quite interesting. I would recommend this book to those interested in the field of cryptography as a good history of the private development of crypto. It's not overly technical, although it does discuss some basics of algorithms and how they developed over time.

This story about the development of computer cryptography is both fascinating and important. The book is very well-written, and very easy to read. Its importance lies in the fact that it explains the machinations of government agencies to prevent the masses from using strong cryptography, and how the good guys in the software industry were able to overcome the obstacles. So, if you need a good read, go ahead and grab a copy.

I'll save the complete review for goodreads, but as someone who is semi-interested in cryptography this is a fun read. The lengths that the NSA went to in order to quash attempts at building solid encryption are astounding. This book reads like a spy novel... albeit one with rather pasty and doughy spies.The book was in perfect condition and arrived quickly.

I gifted this to my boyfriend and he really likes it. Recommended for someone who is also studying cryptography.

Fascinating book. Recommended for anyone who is interested in how great ideas get to market and how they can be smothered in their crib by government and, frankly, just bad management decisions. Some of the descriptions of encryption techniques get a bit heavy, but a) I was interested in that part too and b) if that is not your thing, jump ahead.

Very well conveyed story of how the last best hope for liberty was given to mankind.Also serves as a testimony of how little trust we should have in government and it's beauracratic functionaries.