Salomaa, Arto Public-key cryptography. (English) Zbl 0712.68003 EATCS Monographs on Theoretical Computer Science, 23. Berlin etc.: Springer-Verlag. 245 p. DM 64.00 (1990). Although the main topic of this book is public-key cryptography, as mentioned in the title, it nevertheless starts with a chapter devoted to the so-called classical two-way cryptosystems, i.e. the symmetric systems. This chapter treats in detail the following points: what is a cryptosystem, symmetric systems versus asymmetric (public-key) systems, examples of symmetric systems including DES. The next chapter deals with the public-key systems, their architecture and their main advantages. The following chapters investigate some particular public-key systems as the knapsack systems (including a discussion on their weaknesses), the RSA system and the discrete logarithm based systems. The last chapter of the book is devoted to cryptographic protocols that are based on public key systems, including new techniques as secret sharing, oblivious transfer, zero-knowledge. It is worth mentioning that the book also contains two brief lessons (in the appendices) on complexity and number theory for readers who are missing the necessary background in these disciplines. Furthermore it also includes one hundred problems for users who want to test themselves. The book is provided with a bibliography for those who wish further reading on specific subjects. We can recommend this book for its pleasant reading to anyone who wants an introduction to the basic principles and the use of public key cryptography. Reviewer: M.De Soete (Brussels) Cited in 1 ReviewCited in 18 Documents MSC: 68-01 Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to computer science 94-01 Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to information and communication theory 68P25 Data encryption (aspects in computer science) 94A60 Cryptography Keywords:public key systems; public key cryptography PDFBibTeX XMLCite \textit{A. Salomaa}, Public-key cryptography. Berlin etc.: Springer-Verlag (1990; Zbl 0712.68003)