A couple of cryptoids from PC Mag, 9-12-95: [Review excerpts] *Network Security, Private Communication in a Public World*, review by O. Ryan Tabibian The book is grouped into three parts: "Cryptography,' "Authentication," and "Electronic Mail." There is also a "Leftover" section, which covers security with popular network operating systems such as Microsoft Windows NT and NetWare. Most books fail to cover the difficult subject of cryptography effectively. *Network Security*, however, clearly describes the different cryptography methods -- such as secret key, hashing, and public-key cryptography -- as well as a variety of other technologies, including Diffie-Hellman and RSA. The second section, "Authentication," deals with how a system or persons you are communicating with can verify your identity. Verification schemes range from simple passwords to complex digital signatures. The authors do a remarkable job of describing and analyzing the variety of authentication methods. Since the majority of your access to the outside world is through e-mail, your messages are probably most vulnerable. The book covers some of the popular e-mail security schemes, such as public key and privacyenhanced mail. A brief overview of X.400 is also included. Overall this is perhaps the most comprehensive, yet easiest-to-understand book covering network security available. Network Security, Private Communication in a Public World, by Charlie Kaufman, Radia Perlman, and Mike Speciner, $46.00. Prentice Hall PTR, 800-947- 7700; ISBN: 0-13-061466-1. ----------- [Then, Bill Machrone muses on the utility of an electronic business cards. Excerpts:] Some of my correspondents want a magnetic stripe on the business card, pretty much like the one on your credit cards. Others want a bar code. Assuming that you don't use the back of your card for an alternative language, you've got several square inches back there, plenty of room for data. What will we use it for? The database stuff is the easy and obvious part. Since the computer industry and IS departments are likely to be the earliest adopters, it would be a simple matter to standardize on a format that the reader spits out for easy importation into just about anything. If the software and I/O devices are cheap enough, the rest of the world will come along -- and benefit. Authentication is a potentially huge application. In some South American countries, fraudulent representation is common. Crooks collect business cards from legitimate businesspeople and then misrepresent themselves to perpetrate a variety of scams. As a result, businesspeople commonly tear a corner of their card as they hand it to you. You don't trust a card that wasn't torn in front of you. A more elegant solution lies in a new Kodak technology that can encode your likeness in as little as 500 bytes, readable by your PDA, notebook, or desktop machines. You could also include a machine-readable version of your public encryption key, making it easy for people to send you secure communications. ----------