BKUNDPKI.RVW   20031107

"Understanding PKI", Carlisle Adams/Steve Lloyd, 2003, 0-672-32391-5,
U$49.99/C$77.99
%A   Carlisle Adams
%A   Steve Lloyd
%C   P.O. Box 520, 26 Prince Andrew Place, Don Mills, Ontario  M3C 2T8
%D   2003
%G   0-672-32391-5
%I   Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.
%O   U$49.99/C$77.99 416-447-5101 fax: 416-443-0948
%O  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0672323915/robsladesinterne
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0672323915/robsladesinte-21
%O   http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0672323915/robsladesin03-20
%P   322 p.
%T   "Understanding PKI"

Part one is about concepts.  Chapter one (and the first chapter of
every section) is an outline of the contents of this part of the book. 
A simple introduction to symmetric cryptography, and the basics of
asymmetric, is provided in chapter two.  The purpose and components of
a public key infrastructure (PKI) is reviewed in chapter three. 
Chapter four relates core PKI to the standard security model of
confidentiality, integrity, and availability.  Some extension of the
basic services is given in chapter five (although there is no mention
of the most common hybrid form of encryption).  Certificates and some
fundamentals of certification are in chapter six.  Chapter seven looks
at key and certificate management.  Certificate revocation, in chapter
eight, is oddly undetailed in comparison to the previous material. 
Chapters nine to thirteen cover, in short order, trust models,
certificate and information dissemination, operational factors, and
digital signature legislation.  What PKI does, and doesn't, do is
presented in chapter fourteen, which probably should have come earlier
in the book.  Chapter fifteen speculates on the future of PKI. 
Chapter sixteen, and the last chapter of every part, outlines
conclusions and further reading.  The material is very terse: in this
case, only two pages.

Part two is entitled standards.  There is the introduction, and then
chapter eighteen lists major standards.  The status of some of those
standards is discussed in chapter nineteen.  Chapter twenty provides
examples of the piloting of standards, and points out that the
standards do not always confer interoperability.  The reading list in
chapter twenty one is a bit bigger than that in sixteen.

Part three concerns deployment.  There is a generic cost/benefit
argument in chapter twenty three.  Chapters twenty four and twenty
five basically reiterate earlier material in regard to deployment. 
Some specific issues are mentioned in regard to the business models
discussed in chapter twenty six.  There are almost no conclusions and
suggestions for further reading in chapter twenty seven.

This book does cover many issues associated with PKI, but in a very
pedestrian fashion.  There is nothing here that is not covered by many
volumes dealing with cryptography as a general topic, such as
Schneier's "Applied Cryptography" (cf. BKAPCRYP.RVW) or the simpler
works like Mel and Baker's "Cryptography Decrypted" (cf.BKCRPDEC.RVW). 
Indeed, any number of general security texts provide as much detail on
PKI as does this book.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 2003   BKUNDPKI.RVW   20031107