TITLE: Which background is more suitable to study "Cryptography"
QUESTION [5 upvotes]: I am a student of Pure Mathematics and also interested in programming .I have learnt C++,SAGE .
Recently I have started learning "Cryptography" .But there are many definitions involved here like polynomial time algorithm,time complexity etc.
My question is it all right for a student in Pure Mathematics to study Cryptography or as time progresses I will eventually fall out of place and lose interest in this subject.
Is Cryptography more suitable for computer science graduates or it does not matter which background a student is from to study this?
Please share your thoughts here as i am still in my early days and may help to change the subject if necessary before it is too late

REPLY [4 votes]: Much of cryptography today works on grounds of abstract algebra (and number theory). Clearly to show that some encryption technique has a corresponding decryption one requires proof, that is math. But that is just a small part of cryptography. The recent most talked about problems with cryptographic systems have been programming errors, disregard of the theory and existing practical experiences, blatant misuse of the theory or of the programs, and other "human", not "technical" or "theoretical" problems.
I'd suggest you take a peek at the classic "Security Engineering" by Anderson (the link is to the free full set of PDFs for the chapters, I liked it so much I bought it on paper...), it shows a much wider scenery (one I find much more relevant in actual practice).