Cryptography is technically synonymous with information security. Providing security features for data and information is the most important concern in a business requirement. Most undergraduate students of electrical engineering and computer science around the globe undertake a course on cryptography. Over and above the engineering concepts, strong mathematical knowledge in number theory, linear algebra, and discrete mathematics is to excel in the field. Most of the popular books in this field comprehensively cover the basics of these mathematical concepts [1,2]. However, in-depth coverage of the required mathematical concepts is a must to excel in cryptography.

In 11 chapters, this book provides a detailed mathematics-centric treatment of cryptography. The first three chapters introduce the basics: important theorems in field theory required for cryptographic techniques. Wherever possible, the author provides numerical illustrations to explain the concepts clearly. Each section has interesting exercises.

In chapter 4, the author presents applications of these algebraic concepts to public key cryptography. This chapter focuses on the most popular asymmetric key cryptographic techniques, namely the Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) algorithm, Diffie-Hellman key exchange, ElGamal encryption, and digital signature algorithm.

In chapters 5 and 6, the author presents mathematical concepts, namely fields and finite fields. Cryptographic algorithms, especially symmetric key methods, heavily rely on finite fields. These two chapters provide the required content with lots of numerical illustrations and exercises.

In chapter 7, applications of finite field to stream ciphers are presented neatly. Major focus is given to entropy and pseudorandom number generations. Linear feedback shift registers and other popular pseudorandom number generators are presented. Working principles of these registers are clearly explained. In chapter 8, Boolean functions and transforms are presented, and their applications to block ciphers are provided in chapter 9. Major focus is given to the advanced encryption standard (AES). Number theory for public key cryptography is presented in chapter 10. The last chapter focuses on future research and further reading.

Overall, this book provides rich mathematical treatment of cryptographic algorithms in a simplified way. The presentation is by and large good, however the chapters could be rearranged to further improve readability. Most of the focus is on symmetric key rather than asymmetric key cryptotechnology. Cryptology in general focuses on both cryptography and cryptanalysis, but here the major focus is on cryptography. This book presents nice and valuable material for students, researchers, and practitioners working in the field of information security.