Network Security with OpenSSL: Cryptography for Secure Communications

John Viega, Matt Messier, Pravir Chandra

O'Reilly Media, Inc., Feb 9, 2009 - Computers - 386 pages

Most applications these days are at least somewhat network aware, but how do you protect those applications against common network security threats? Many developers are turning to OpenSSL, an open source version of SSL/TLS, which is the most widely used protocol for secure network communications.

The OpenSSL library is seeing widespread adoption for web sites that require cryptographic functions to protect a broad range of sensitive information, such as credit card numbers and other financial transactions. The library is the only free, full-featured SSL implementation for C and C++, and it can be used programmatically or from the command line to secure most TCP-based network protocols.

Network Security with OpenSSL enables developers to use this protocol much more effectively. Traditionally, getting something simple done in OpenSSL could easily take weeks. This concise book gives you the guidance you need to avoid pitfalls, while allowing you to take advantage of the library?s advanced features. And, instead of bogging you down in the technical details of how SSL works under the hood, this book provides only the information that is necessary to use OpenSSL safely and effectively. In step-by-step fashion, the book details the challenges in securing network communications, and shows you how to use OpenSSL tools to best meet those challenges.

As a system or network administrator, you will benefit from the thorough treatment of the OpenSSL command-line interface, as well as from step-by-step directions for obtaining certificates and setting up your own certification authority. As a developer, you will further benefit from the in-depth discussions and examples of how to use OpenSSL in your own programs. Although OpenSSL is written in C, information on how to use OpenSSL with Perl, Python and PHP is also included.

OpenSSL may well answer your need to protect sensitive data. If that?s the case, Network Security with OpenSSL is the only guide available on the subject.

About the author

John is CTO of the SaaS Business Unit at McAfee, his second stint at McAfee. Previously, he was their Chief Security Architect, after which he founded and served as CEO of Stonewall Software, which focused on making anti-virus technology faster, better and cheaper. John was also the founder of Secure Software (now part of Fortify). John is author of many security books, including Building Secure Software (Addison-Wesley), Network Security with OpenSSL (O'Reilly), and the forthcoming Myths of Security (O'Reilly). He is responsible for numerous software security tools and is the original author of Mailman, the GNU mailing list manager. He has done extensive standards work in the IEEE and IETF and co-invented GCM, a cryptographic algorithm that NIST has standardized. John is also an active advisor to several security companies, including Fortify and Bit9. He holds a MS and BA from the University of Virginia.

Matt Messier, Director of Engineering at Secure Software, is a security authority who has been programming for nearly two decades. Besides coauthoring Network Security with OpenSSL, Matt coauthored the Safe C String Library, RATS, and EGADS, an Entropy Gathering and Distribution System used for securely seeding pseudo-random number generators. Prior to joining Secure Software, Matt worked for IBM and Lotus, on source and assembly level debugging techniques, and operating system concepts.

Pravir Chandra, Research Scientist at Secure Software Solutions, is an expert in language-level security. Most recently, he co-authored the DARPA-funded "catscan" tool for static security analysis of C source code. Pravir holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Case Western Reserve University, and wants you to know that Cleveland rocks!

Bibliographic information

• Title: Network Security with OpenSSL: Cryptography for Secure Communications
• Authors: John Viega, Matt Messier, Pravir Chandra
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2009
• ISBN: 0596551975, 9780596551971
• Length: 386 pages
• Subjects: Computers / Security / General