Showing posts with label computer security. Show all posts
Showing posts with label computer security. Show all posts

Terror on the Internet: The New Arena, the New Challenges Review

Terror on the Internet: The New Arena, the New Challenges
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Terror on the Internet: The New Arena, the New Challenges ReviewWeimann's book is a good antidote to those oft-hysterical screeds on cyberterrorism. These might proclaim that nefarious scoundrels could launch attacks across the Internet, to disable power plants or chemical refineries. While not impossible, the technical obstacles are vast. Such fears are really warmed-over Y2K hysteria, transferred to terrorism after the Y2K bust and the events of September 2001.
Instead, Weimann points to more prosaic uses of the Internet by terrorists. [Sorry to disappoint some potential readers.] These mundanities involve communication between cell members, propaganda and fund raising. The first two are shown to be far easier than in the pre-Web era. Anonymous email accounts and an increasingly deep global reach of cybercafes and other Internet access points give what can be effectively anonymous communication. This reach of the Internet is true in developed countries and in the major cities of developing countries. Terrorists can operate in both, as is already known.
The use of a website to spread a terrorist message, to enemies and supporters, is also amply documented in the book. Far safer and more effective to those groups than having a smarmy member pass out flyers in bad neighbourhoods.
One conclusion is that for purely pragmatic reasons, terrorists have little incentive to attack the Internet itself. It's simply too useful to them.Terror on the Internet: The New Arena, the New Challenges Overview

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CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, Fifth Edition Review

CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, Fifth Edition
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CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, Fifth Edition ReviewThere is no simple formula to prepare for the CISSP certification, and no single resource which can guarantee success on the certification exam since every applicant's background is unique. However, this book (fifth edition) was my only resource in preparing for the exam and I passed on my first attempt (April 24, 2010).
I spent 60+ hours in preparation for the exam... that's 60+ hours of DEDICATED individual study using this book and CD, not 60+ hours spent web surfing during lunch hours or commercial breaks. My recent background is in middle management, with 20 years experience in network architecture and data security, so I already had a firm technical foundation for the test areas dealing with protocols and encryption variations. I also have an MS in Computer Science. Nonetheless, the exam was so broad, with topics covering general principles and concepts, that I could have prepared twice as long and still left the exam with questions about the outcome.
My personal opinion is that formal classroom instruction, through one of the many organizations offering CISSP preparation courses, is a worthwhile companion to Shon Harris' book. A study group is also a good idea. You will not obtain CISSP certification if you take the exam without preparation. This book (fifth edition) was sufficient, but not 100% comprehensive, to prepare me for passing the CISSP test.
Note: Some reviewers do not appreciate Shon's frequent analogies and humor. Most of her analogies helped me internalize the complex topics, but that's my personal learning style. The efforts at humor were generally awful, but every once in a while she was subtle and brilliant enough to make me laugh out loud. Working through Shon's unique writing style was not a problem for me... I actually found it refreshing.CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, Fifth Edition Overview

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Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World. Review

Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World.
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Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World. ReviewI first read about Bruce Schneier in an eye-opening article by Charles Mann in the September, 2002 issue of The Atlantic Monthly. It seems that you don't have to make the false choice everyone is agonizing over between security and liberty. You can have both.
Schneier's book expands on the ideas in the article. Although Schneier is a technology fan and it is his livelihood, he realizes that sometimes a live security guard can provide better security than cutting-edge (but still fallible) face-recognition scanners, for instance. He explains why national ID cards are not a good idea, and how iris-scanners can be fooled.
These are ideas for security on a large scale, for airports, nuclear and other power plants, and government websites. For security on an individual or small business scale, try Art of the Steal by Frank Abagnale. But even if you don't run a government, Beyond Fear is a fascinating read about how your government is making choices (and how they SHOULD be making choices about your security and about your rights.Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World. Overview

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Security Engineering: A Guide to Building Dependable Distributed Systems Review

Security Engineering: A Guide to Building Dependable Distributed Systems
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Security Engineering: A Guide to Building Dependable Distributed Systems ReviewFor the typical busy security professional, reading a 900-page tome cover to cover represents an investment of time that may be difficult to justify. Frankly, security books that are worth the effort are few and far between. Security Engineering is one such book, for several reasons.
First, Ross Anderson's vast knowledge, experience and insight on the subject are well known, and his reputation as one of the top security experts in the world is well deserved. No doubt a reflection of this, his book covers a very broad range of security topics, the discussions ranging from high-level policy issues, all the way down to details of smartcard hacking and the mathematics of cryptography. The topics are well researched and described at a level of detail useful to the non-specialist. Concise summaries and occasional nuggets of insight indicate an in-depth understanding of the subject matter. The book is well written, easy to follow, and devoid of the vagueness and platitudes so typical of much of the security literature.
Second, the book exposes the sheer difficulty of engineering secure systems in the face of the many forces at play in a typical product development lifecycle. Through many case studies of success and failure, the author illustrates the numerous pitfalls that may befall even a well-intentioned design. Lessons learned from deploying products in the real world include the negative impact of perverse economic incentives, the importance of designing security features for maximum usability, and the need to look at a security problem from many different angles in a holistic manner. The book is a treasure trove of wisdom for the aspiring security engineer.
Lastly, the book brings together insight from many diverse areas of research. Disciplines ranging from economics, psychology, sociology, criminology, banking and bookkeeping, safety research, electronic warfare, to politics are all mined for ideas and results that could yield a better understanding of - and novel approaches to - difficult security problems. It is perhaps in this aspect that the book will prove to be most influential. Since the first edition was published in 2001, security economics, security usability, and security psychology have emerged as fertile areas of research.
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Stealing the Network: The Complete Series Collector's Edition, Final Chapter, and DVD Review

Stealing the Network: The Complete Series Collector's Edition, Final Chapter, and DVD
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Stealing the Network: The Complete Series Collector's Edition, Final Chapter, and DVD ReviewI have just finished a marathon session of reading "Stealing the Network: The Complete Series Collector's Edition" and I have a very conditional review of it: It's a must-have if you don't already own the previous editions of these guilty pleasures. If you are already a fan, however, prepare to be let-down by the compilation.
The stories of the Stealing the Network series entertain in the same way that "war stories" from fellow hackers and security professionals often keeps a more intimate audience's interest: by mixing intriguing situations with juicy technical detail that can serve as a useful take-away. No one will accuse these books of containing fine literature, but that's not really the point. The stories are well written enough to keep you wanting to know what will happen next, while the technical information is as accurate as you're likely to see in fiction. Segments involving hacking are written and illustrated with enough attention to detail and length to serve as introductory educational tutorials for the topics (including web application hacking, reverse engineering, and wireless security). Most of these scenarios are believable as parts of larger-scale operations.
The first book of the series consists of independent short-stories based around characters of the authors' creation. The other three books in the compilation tell an over-arching story of a larger "operation", which involves many characters and their independent stories. The second book, "How to Own a Continent", is probably my favorite, along with the first ("How to Own a Box"), for keeping things simple, technical, and focusing on the individual stories. The third book, "How to Own an Identity" suffers from having worse editing then the rest of the series, and may lose some readers' interest. The fourth book ("How to Own a Shadow") reads a lot better, and wraps the overall story up well, however it focuses only on a relative handful of the series' characters.
As a compilation, this Collector's Edition leaves much to be desired. While the original description for this edition described the books contained within as being "author-annotated", this is not the case. The individual books are reproduced exactly as they were in their original editions, with no additional commentary from the authors, and with all the same problems as the originals. For example, screenshots in the first chapter of the first book are the same illegible black squares that were in the original edition of the book published 7 years ago. The annotations along with other features described in the original description (emails, photographs) that would provide a lot of interesting background material, would have made this compilation a must-buy.
The extra content that you are receiving is a brief new forward by Jeff Moss, and a "Final Chapter" by Ryan Russell. The new chapter is about 20 pages long, and gives the story-line a proper ending. I won't ruin anything about it, but I will say that I enjoyed it. Syngress has promised in the description of the book to make this content available separately in electronic form in six months.
The included DVD is described on the back-cover copy as being "full" of behind-the-scenes stories. In reality, you will only find 20 minutes of interviews with a few of the authors. I enjoyed these interviews, however, much like the print companion, I felt like more should have been done. Also beware that there are problems with the audio on the DVD. When played on my MacBook, there was noticeable crackling/popping in the audio of the DVD. The same noise was present, but less noticeable when played through a stand-alone DVD player through a television.
To summarize, I like the books, and find them as entertaining as I did when they were originally published, and I like the new hardcover binding. I do think that it is unfortunate that the "Stealing the Network: The Complete Series Collector's Edition" does not meet its potential to be more than the sum of its parts. There seems to have been intent at some point to add value to the set, but it wound up simply being a rough concatenation of the individual books.
If you haven't read these books, then I very much recommend picking up this set. It's 1,000 pages of interesting stories and technical material. If you already have the previous editions of the Stealing the Network Series, however, you might find it hard to justify paying for them again.Stealing the Network: The Complete Series Collector's Edition, Final Chapter, and DVD Overview

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