Book descriptions and editorial reviews were culled from a variety of sources, including jacket covers, book reviews, publisher reviews, and my own reviews.

Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C, 2nd Edition
by Bruce Schneier
John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0471117099

Bruce Schneier''s "Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C" offers an authoritative introduction to the field of cryptography, suitable for both the specialist and the general reader. The book adopts an encyclopedic approach to cryptographic systems throughout history, from ciphers to public key cryptography. Schneier also outlines cryptographic protocols -- the steps required for secure encryption -- with the precision of a chess master.

Readable, instructive, and truly exhaustive, this text is a must for anyone wanting a solid introduction to the field in a single volume. Applied Cryptography presents the source code for most algorithms and other procedures in C rather than using pure math. The book also includes source code for the Data Encryption Standard (DES) and other algorithms, but readers don''t need to know programming to benefit from this text. With a truly comprehensive bibliography of over 1,600 entries, Applied Cryptography provides the reader with plenty of sources for more information.

At Large: The Strange Case of the World''s Biggest Internet Invasion
by David H. Freedman, Charles C. Mann
Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 0684824647

The story centers on the exploits of a young hacker known as both "phantomd" and "Infomaster" and the terror he inflicts on computer systems worldwide. The essential question raised by Freedman and Mann is: if phantomd, who is both physically and mentally handicapped, can penetrate into university, corporation, and military systems through sheer tenacity, what will stop the legions of better-equipped, more intelligent cybercriminals from doing far worse? Their conclusion is not pretty.

Building Internet Firewalls
by D. Brent Chapman, Elizabeth D. Zwicky, Deborah Russell (Editor)
O''Reilly & Associates
ISBN: 1565921240

"Building Internet Firewalls" is a practical guide to building firewalls on the Internet. If your site is connected to the Internet, or if you''re considering getting connected, you need this book. It describes a variety of firewall approaches and architectures and discusses how you can build packet filtering and proxy solutions at your site. It also contains a full discussion of how to configure Internet services (e.g., FTP, SMTP, Telnet) to work with a firewall. Within the book is a complete list of resources, including the location of many publicly available firewall construction tools.

Building SET Applications for Secure Transactions
by Mark S. Merkow, Jim Breithaupt, Ken Wheeler
John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0471283053

The authors of "Building SET Applications for Secure Transactions" show you why the Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) standard makes secure e-commerce a reality. This wide-ranging text fully explains to Information Systems (IS) managers what SET is, how it works, and how to implement a secure commerce system on their Web sites. The book''s strength is its wide-ranging perspective on e-commerce and how it fits into traditional business systems. Several chapters provide checklists for the IS manager considering the move toward the Web for commerce. Analyzing and designing, planning for security, and testing are just some of the issues that must be faced when implementing a successful e-business. Clearly, SET is not a magic bullet against fraud, but the authors show why the future of electronic commerce is bright.