Beautiful Security: Leading Security Experts Explain How They Think Review

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(More customer reviews)This collection of essays is a very clearly written introduction to a number of current topics and techniques in computer security. It is not a how-to book, but it includes several case studies and gives you a good idea of what is happening in the field. For the most part the book does not assume prior knowledge in the field, although occasionally a bit of hacker or security jargon is used without being defined.
For me the most interesting chapters were the one with case studies. In this book you will learn how to steal people's credit card numbers at airports (run a cut-rate WiFi access point), how to scan for malicious websites without getting infected (harder than it looks, and a constant battle of measures and countermeasures), and the true history of Pretty Good Privacy, as told by its inventor, Phil Zimmermann (not as lurid as the versions you have probably heard, but still full of twists and turns). You'll learn the going rates for stolen personal and financial information (not that much, so if you're going to steal it, you need to steal a lot) and how to run your own cyber money-laundering network (which seems to be where most of the money and the risk is). Microsoft plays a prominent role in the book, sometimes as hero, sometimes as chump.
The layout and production of the book are very good, and it has a good index (a glossary would have been nice, too). I have a couple of minor gripes: the book is set in itty-bitty type (I measured it at 8 points on 12 point line spacing); and although the book has two editors, the preface is written in the first person singular (apparently by Oram, but this is not stated).
The book's title, "Beautiful Security", was probably modeled on Oram's previous collection Beautiful Code: Leading Programmers Explain How They Think (Theory in Practice (O'Reilly)), but it doesn't really fit the content of this book. Some of the essays mention beauty in the body or the title, but this is usually a token appearance, or is explained as meaning that security should be built in rather than tacked on. The preface states that the purpose of the book is to convince the reader that security is not bureaucratic drudgery but is an exciting career, and I think the book is successful at this.

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Computer and Information Security Handbook (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Security) Review

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(More customer reviews)Wow! This is the most comprehensive book on information security out there! I keep it handy in my office at all times and have bought copies for all my employees, who refer to it on a near-daily basis. This really is a must-have for anyone in the industry to keep on top of the latest state-of-play for infosec. 5 stars!!

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This book presents information on how to analyze risks to your networks and the steps needed to select and deploy the appropriate countermeasures to reduce your exposure to physical and network threats. It also imparts the skills and knowledge needed to identify and counter some fundamental security risks and requirements, inlcuding Internet security threats and measures (audit trails IP sniffing/spoofing etc.) and how to implement security policies and procedures.

In addition, this book also covers security and network design with respect to particular vulnerabilities and threats. It also covers risk assessment and mitigation and auditing and testing of security systems.

From this book, the reader will also learn about applying the standards and technologies required to build secure VPNs, configure client software and server operating systems, IPsec-enabled routers, firewalls and SSL clients.

Chapter coverage includes identifying vulnerabilities and implementing appropriate countermeasures to prevent and mitigate threats to mission-critical processes. Techniques are explored for creating a business continuity plan (BCP) and the methodology for building an infrastructure that supports its effective implementation.

A public key infrastructure (PKI) is an increasingly critical component for ensuring confidentiality, integrity and authentication in an enterprise. This comprehensive book will provide essential knowledge and skills needed to select, design and deploy a PKI to secure existing and future applications.

This book will include discussion of vulnerability scanners to detect security weaknesses and prevention techniques, as well as allowing access to key services while maintaining systems security.

Chapters contributed by leaders in the field cover theory and practice of computer security technology, allowing the reader to develop a new level of technical expertise.
This book's comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of security issues facilitates learning and allows the reader to remain current and fully informed from multiple viewpoints.
Presents methods of analysis and problem-solving techniques, enhancing the readers grasp of the material and ability to implement practical solutions.

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Electronic Surveillance And Wireless Network Hacking: Protecting Your Privacy in a Wired and Wi-Fi World Review

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(More customer reviews)I felt that this book was a complete waste of my money, and I became of the opnion that the writers lacks even the slightest grasp on the subject on which he writes and it is clear that they they lack any kind of formal technical training on WiFi Network security, or for that matter on electronics in general. This book doesn't even raise itself to being worthy of being read by a script kiddy, and it just endless drivel. All the reader gains from this book is material he would have downloaded for free on hundreds of websites ten years back. The material in the book is a solid ten years out of date, either the authors got stuck in a time warp, or spent a little too much time of the Federal Witness Protection Program. In the case of this book the infromation is watered down to increase the page count. Much like much of other M.L. Shannon's works the material is not unique or original, and is just drivel and of no value.

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The average person with little or no knowledge of electronics can use this manual to protect himself from unlawful spying.It is also the ultimate guide to Wi-Fi or wireless networking.You'll learn about the latest methods of electronic surveillance and countersurveillance - what the pros use, how to detect a wiretap and how to find a listening device.You'll also get an expert's advice on safe Internet use - everything from installing firewalls to foiling hackers; surfing without giving away your identity; and using data encryption, privacy applications and more.

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WarDriving: Drive, Detect, Defend, A Guide to Wireless Security Review

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(More customer reviews)The short review of this book is that if you're interested enough in the subject to buy this book, then you're unlikely to find anything - and I mean ANYTHING - new in this book.
It takes two seperate chapters: one on installing the Windows utility Netstumbler (with pages and pages of screen shots, when a simple "click on the icon" would do), and one on using - not "advanced options" or anything, just using - Netstumbler. Similarly, three whole chapters are dedicated to the excruciating details of installation and use of the Linux tool Kismet, but again, nothing which couldn't be found in the README files or on the website which hosts the utility. They have a chapter on how to convert Kismet and Netstumbler logfiles to maps: if you already know about Stumbverter, WiGLE, and DiGLE (or can use Google), there's nothing new here. The authors pine on for a chapter about the wardrives that they've organized. If you've ever listened to your grandparents talk about the war, it's a lot like that. Then, they have a chapter on WiFi "attacks" - if you know how to manually set your SSID and MAC, and if you've ever even heard of Airsnort, you probably won't need this nontechnical, sub-script-kiddie, Windows screen-shot-laden chapter.
If you're interested in war driving, or if you're interested in Wi-Fi security, then you're probably already conversant with the tools covered in this book. There is no real technical depth, as this book is written to a "manager's level" of technical competence. ("Click OK to continue.") Their chapter on Wi-Fi network defense essentially boils down to "change default SSID" and "use WEP"; there's a couple of pages on VPN, firewalls, and using authentication, but again, nothing to justify the purchase price of this book.

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Essential Computer Security: Everyone's Guide to Email, Internet, and Wireless Security Review

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(More customer reviews)One of the first things to know about this book is that it doesn't try to be a complete reference for computer security, and it keeps it focus very well. It doesn't try to be a computer security book for the top 5% of the technically inclined, either. Instead, it tries to be a computer security book for the masses and covers topics that they'll need to know to keep their computer safe. The book outline why this is important to the average user: your own data will be kept safe and your computer will be kept problem free, and your computer wont be a problem source for everyone else.
The book does a decent job of laying out what it will cover and mostly picks topics that matter most, require the least amount of extra effort to make it happen. The book isn't just for one situation, either, and it covers some home network setups which include wireless routers and such. Overall, it seems to have picked its territory well.
It covers this territory in an OK fashion, which is to say that it gives an adequate treatment to the important topics but leaves a few spots uncovered. I'm pleased that it covers some basic WinXP stuff, like how to secure your accounts and such.
The chapter on passwords was OK, and about what I expected. Obviously these are important, as bots that perform brute force attacks to get in are as popular as ever. The chapter on patching is OK, but seems incomplete. It should have done a better job of covering Windows Update a little more thoroughly (it felt like it stopped short of this important feature) and a bit more on how to use built-in vendor supplied "I have an update available" stuff that is increasingly popular.
Part II is what's probably unique about this book, and gives some of the best meat around for this level of a book. It covers home networking safety (ie keeping the neighbor kid from using your WIFI and keeping your computers safe and usable behind a DSL firewall), email security (both your account credentials and attachment security), and spyware, adware, and general web-browser security. I would have liked to have seen the book advocate (with great reasons) Firefox over IE and Windows Defender in addition to AdAware and Hijack This.
Part 3 is about maintenance and backups, and it's decent. It slips into Linux advocacy in Chapter 12, which we could have done without.
The appendices are good, well reasoned and well executed. The case study and the basics covered complement the book well.
Overall the book does a decent job, and targets the kind of person who would like to know enough to participate in some popular forums and contribute, so they have some technical skills that they're growing. It wont do so well with people who are not very technically inclined, and that's not unsurprising.

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