* Cryptography is the most effective way to achieve data security and is crucial for e-commerce activities such as online shopping, stock trading, and banking * This is valuable for introducing the basics of encryption covers everything from the terminology used in the field to specific technologies to the pros and cons of different implementations * Discusses specific technologies that incorporate cryptography in their design, such as authentication methods, wireless encryption, e-commerce, and smart cards * Based entirely on real world issues and situations, a material which provides instructions for the technology already available that readers can put to work immediately * Expert author Chey Cobb is retired from the NRO, where he held a Top Secret security clearance, instructed employees of the CIA and NSA on computer security and help develop computer security policies used by the entire U.S.