Pki: Implementing & Managing E-Security

You can treat this as "the" book you need to read to understand different aspects of PKI to get a "big picture". Very good analogies to the things that you use in day-to-day life. It reads like fiction and will make you happy that you chose to read this.

The author has a unique ability to explain PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) in a way that is detailed and clear. PKI is a very complex topic and requires a knowledge of many other fieds including technology and security to even begin. It is beyond the grasp of the average Internet user today. After reading many other PKI books and doing hours of research on the Internet regarding PKI, I had been able to piece together the processes and basics on PKI. But after only reading the first 2 chapters of this book, I felt I understood concepts better than any other source. The only criticism I have is that the author uses too much levity in explaining his points. The jokes are not that funny but unfortunately they keep coming.

This is a great book for those fairly new to PKI. I needed to find out about PKI quickly, and this book explained it in clear terms. It begins by explaining encryption techniques and algorithms, and you don't have to have PhD in mathematics to understand it. Then it introduces PKI in logical pieces and concepts. Each chapter builds on the previous chapter, so it is really easy to understand. It shows how various applications can use PKI (SSL, SMIME, etc) as well as how a PKI can be implemented. If you are new to PKI and need to get a handle on it quickly, then I highly recommend reading this book. It is well worth the money.

I've read quite a few books on PKI now, one of the best being Schneier's Secrets and Lies, which is fairly negative on the technology over all, and appropriately so.This book is a good deal more positive on the technology, but is not pollyanna. I think that Schneier realizes that the technology is a helpful tool, though it does not solve the human engineering problems that need o be solved to implement "real" security. This book helps you understand how to do that, and gives you a feel for where the bodies are buried.The biggest skeleton in PKI's closed has always been authentication, which PKI does not solve, but vendors would have you believe it does. This is the first book by from a PKI house that lays those cards on the table. OF course, RSA *does* make most of its dough from selling securIDs...But I think this one is a keeper.