Digital Certificates: Applied Internet Security
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Description
Because the Internet is based on connectionless protocols that route messages through more or less public machines, standard means of Internet communication offer no guarantees of integrity or authenticity. A variety of schemes have sprung up to solve this problem, and Digital Certificates: Applied Internet Security does a great job of explaining the Microsoft approach to securing Internet communications. Helpfully, the authors spend a fair amount of time explaining the problem of network security and the broad technologies (public-key encryption, key length considerations, authentication, and so on). Having explained the universe in which a security system must work, they then show how to acquire a digital certificate from a certification authority (CA). From there, they show how to use the digital certificate with several pieces of software, including Internet Explorer 3 and 4 (but not 5), Netscape Communicator 4, and Outlook Express 4. Of more interest to administrators and developers are code snippets that show how to request and process digital certificates in a variety of environments, including Active Server Pages (ASP) and Java. There's background information on the newly standardized Public Key Infrastructure with X.509 (PKIX) and the Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) standard for financial operations too. Coverage of Microsoft Certificate Server includes a lot of programming information, including coverage of the Policy and Exit Modules. --David Wall Topics covered: Encryption, authentication, X.509 digital certificates, certification authorities, S/MIME, trust relationships, and Microsoft Certificate Server.
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3 out of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Great book on Digital CertificatesMonday, March 26, 2001
I really got a lot out of this book. While I was not thrilled with the Microsoft-centricity of the book, I don't feel it detracted from the purpose of the book. They go at a reasonable pace, and do an excellent job at explaining complex subjects.
I do disagree with some of the other reviewers about it being a good book for learning about digital and/or network security. Digital certificates are a small albeit important component of computer security.
2 out of 3 people found the following review helpful:
An oustanding book aimed at an average audienceTuesday, January 16, 2001
This is surely a book I would recommend for those who are interested in learning about digital security without having to delve into complex algorithms and technicalities. The language is simple and objective, and the content provides a comprehensive overview, without being vague. There are a lot of clear examples and cases. A great work indeed !
1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful:
A great book , Every IT professional must-haveSaturday, July 15, 2000
step-by-step get you in to the security arena, very well organized, teaches you things that you can use and work with in a very short period of time. Enjoyed especially the simple yet effective language used in explaining rather complex topic.
2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Great overview. Not afraid to go into real world examplesMonday, May 29, 2000
If you would like to get an overview of digital certificates - this is the book. It doesn't go much into the details, but as an interview it's great.
1 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:
A Good OneMonday, February 14, 2000
A Good book for someone wanting an overall picture about Internet Security. Excellent coverage on the concept of Digital Certificates, SSL and encryption. Examples depend heavily on Microsoft products but get the message accross.