Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsAn informative book on the history of leaking and the development of crypto.
Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2014
If you want to learn more about the history of leaking, this is a good book to read. It covers the material by focusing frequently on the prominent personalities that have shaped the technology and events in that history. And his interviews and brief bios of these people are a fascinating read.
As a layman, when it comes to understanding the technology of crypto systems, I found several rather lengthy sections in which the author tried to explain and describe the intricacies of those systems difficult to follow without slowing down and carefully analyzing the text. And these section were to me tedious at times.
Nevertheless, I feel I gain quite a bit of understanding about the challenges of keeping one's information secret and devising an unbreakable code.
Overall I found the book essential reading to keep up with what is happening in the online and non-online world. Enough so that I bought a copy for a friend who is taking computing courses in college. I felt he would be vitally interested in the content, given his college emphasis, and that he needs to know that content.
With books of this sort, which are really current history, accounts of "What's going on right now, with details," I always appreciate so conclusions on where all this secrecy verses "national security" tug-of-war is going. What are the implications for the future? And, there is some of that, but I would of liked to have read more along that line.
Recommended.
