Since SSL is the backbone of the internet, (now technically called TLS), what are some good books I should read up on to understand all aspects of it.
I suppose I'll need to learn some math, some PKI books, crypto, and Sysadmin books as well. Since that isn't a complete list I'm interested in hearing what you think is wise to learn as well.
wikipedia
there are excellent pages on SSL/TLS and most other crypto topics. as the tech changes, these pages will change with them.
I have always liked Kaufman, Perlman, Speciner's book Network Security. It contains quite a bit more than just SSL/TLS but the sections there on SSL and PKI are really quite good.
I hope this isn't taken as spam, but since you specifically asked about books on SSL/TLS - my recent book, "Implementing SSL/TLS using cryptography and PKI" is targeted specifically at programmers with no specific background in crypto math or PKI who want a complete understanding of SSL/TLS, including cryptography and certificates. The first half covers the cryptography algorithms that TLS relies on, and the second half describes the protocol and its implementation in detail.
There are only a handful of other books on SSL - Eric Rescorla's is probably the best, but fairly out-of-date, and Rolf Oppliger's is good (and much more recent), but both are higher level, and assume that the reader has a strong background in cryptography and PKI.
