Reddit reviews Cryptanalysis: A Study of Ciphers and Their Solution
We found 7 Reddit comments about Cryptanalysis: A Study of Ciphers and Their Solution. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
If you're looking for a book that teaches you about codes and practical codebreaking, here are two greats: Cryptanalysis: A Study of Ciphers and Their Solution, by Helen Fouché Gaines and Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing, by Martin Gardner.
For a historical look try The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography, by Simon Singh. I really loved that one!
Here are some resources I've found especially helpful for my own puzzle-making and codebreaking endeavors.
General Overviews and Websites for Getting Started:
Basic Cryptanalytic Techniques:
Beginner Hand-cracking Tutorials:
Tools for Creating and Cracking Codes Quickly:
Interesting Cryptographic Puzzles/Methods for Inspiration:
Books for Learning:
Books for Puzzle Solving:
Games:
EDIT: Fixed a link and made a couple minor touch-ups.
Try Cryptanalysis: A Study of Ciphers and Their Solution by Helen Gaines. This book addresses classical (pre-computing) cryptography. It's cheap and discusses mental / pencil and paper methods rather than heavy mathematics.
You might check out books by former intelligence operatives, as well as declassified/leaked intelligence field manuals.
But true OPSEC is really a state-of-mind ... just like the foot soldier must regularly engage in physical training to keep in shape for battle, so must the OPSEC practitioner engage in continual mindset training to keep himself in the right frame of mind. For this, I recommend a steady diet of broader interest reading, things like Sun Tzu, Clausewitz, Hart's Strategy, Clancy novels (or whatever military fiction you prefer), etc. Watch all the DEFCON lectures, especially lectures on things like bump keys, safe-cracking, social engineering attacks, and so on. Regularly read Schneier on Security. Read a good book on classic ciphers, e.g. Gaines' Cryptanalysis (you can do a book on modern ciphers if you're a math nerd). This will keep your state-of-mind sharp and "in the zone" at all times, where it needs to be.
For classical cryptography, check out https://www.nsa.gov/news-features/declassified-documents/military-cryptanalysis/
https://www.amazon.ca/Elementary-Cryptanalysis-Mathematical-Abraham-Sinkov/dp/0883856220
https://www.amazon.ca/Cryptanalysis-Study-Ciphers-Their-Solution/dp/0486200973
It might be a rebranding of one of those. Alternatively, email one of the technical consultants for the movie and ask them.
Do the codebreakers still use Helen Gaines' book for reference?
You might also enjoy these two:
Crypto by Steven Levy. This is a very approachable, very good read. It doesn't cover the entire history of cryptography. Instead, it chronicles a much small, more modern aspect of it. It begins by talking about the problem of key distribution, how that problem was solved, and how that solution has changed our world.
Cryptanalysis by Helen F. Gaines. This one is very dry reading. It's basically a textbook on how to perform cryptanalysis on encrypted data to figure out the method needed to decrypt it.