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Stealing the Network
I'm leery of books that are written by multiple authors because the writing style always seems to keep me off beat from jumping around, however in this book it works out well since the book is organized as a series of short stories. Each story describes somebody involved in information security -- either somebody trying to access a system, or a person trying to keep the bad guys out.
If you are looking for a step-by-step guide to locking down your computer and network, this is not the book for you. Instead, this book is more to help people who already have at least a basic understanding of information security to see from another perspective. Stealing the Network looks at other reasons why people can break in: everything from being told to go to industry conferences to not collecting access cards when an employee leaves the company. What this book left deepest in my mind is to trust nothing, and assume even less.
After the ten short stories of how hacking is really done, there is a nicely done appendix along with Ryan Russel's "Laws of Security," which finishes this fictionalized book in a very non-fictional way. The laws cover most of the problems with current IT infrastructure, but do not go in-depth with what I believe is the biggest security hole, the user. Many of the stories touch on this fact but that's about the extent of it. I believe this may be because there are not any easy solutions to human behavior. This book says it best with "people are lazy."
At 328 pages (in pretty large text), this is a great easy read, though the book would be better with a lower price tag. However if you work with or around computers and the Internet, this book is very enlightening, if not completely informative.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Contributors
- Forward
- Chapters:
- Hide and Sneak
- The Worm Turns
- Just Another Day at the Office
- h3X's Adventures in Networkland
- The Thief No One Saw
- Flying the Friendly Skies
- dis-card
- Social (In)Security
- BabelNet
- The Art of Tracking
- Appendix - The Laws of Security
Most of the book's authors have websites you can hit for more information; follow these links to find more from Ryan Russell, Tim Mullen (Thor), FX, Dan Kaminsky, Joe Grand, Ken Pfeil, Ido Dubrawsky and Mark Burnett, as well as Jeff Moss (who wrote the forward).
You can purchase Stealing the Network from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Are you taking this chance to whore your balls off?
Oh, come on. That was funny!
Support Israeli punk bands. Man Alive.
I absolutely prefer it when she swallows. My wife isn't generally willing, but your mom...
Yes, well.... Look over there! A shiny thing!
Seriously, yes my website is pathetic. At the time, I had planned to spend some free time doing some research, and post the results there. Instead, I started the vuln-dev mailing list, and my time went there. One of these days, I'll pull thievco.com onto my home network (it's on a $20/mo hosting service) and make a blog thing out of it.
Some time ago the World Wildlife Fund sued Vince McMahon and his wrestling company. Everyone knows the letters "WWF" to be "World Wrestling Federation", not "World Wildlife Fund." Contact the World Wildlife Fund at help@wwfus.org and tell them exactly what you think. Slashdot them relentlessly!
Get the "F" Back!!!
Some time ago the World Wildlife Fund sued Vince McMahon and his wrestling company. Everyone knows the letters "WWF" to be "World Wrestling Federation", not "World Wildlife Fund." Contact the World Wildlife Fund at help@wwfus.org and tell them exactly what you think. Slashdot them relentlessly!
...since Mjollnir for Dummies.
Get the "F" Back!!!
Some time ago the World Wildlife Fund sued Vince McMahon and his wrestling company. Everyone knows the letters "WWF" to be "World Wrestling Federation", not "World Wildlife Fund." Contact the World Wildlife Fund at help@wwfus.org and tell them exactly what you think. Slashdot them relentlessly!
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What are your thoughts on Sammy Sosa getting caught cheating and using a corked bat?
Once upon a time whilst strolling in a park I asked a geek "Do you have a girlfriend?". He responded with a very puzzled look. "A girlfriend?," he mused, "Who is the developer?". I chuckled and told him this was not an open source project. He then became slightly angry and inquired, "Are you trying to insult me? Only the best geeks use open source only! What planet are you living on?!". I reassured him I was well aware of his integrity as a geek (white skin, clumsy, pants that are too short, lack of daily shower, pocket protector etc), and explained, "A girlfriend is a female who to a male (most oftenly a male) has an intimate friendship." He gave me a very confused look. "I have never heard of such a thing.. this.. g-g-irlfriend?" He asked me, sounding very baffled. "I have heard of friends before, those pets other people have. But what is this thing you say.. Grill?". "Girl," I corrected. Then I asked him to sit down on a bench nearby so I could explain it too him, the poor, helpless thing. I told him that for human beings to reproduce, sexual intercourse must occur between a male and a female. "Perhaps you hear the trolls mention a thing called "pussy" on slashdot?". The geek burst into laughter, "Haha, you have been browsing at -1 lately, haven't you? You know that is just troll talk. Those silly trolls never have anything intelligent to say."
My face turned serious. "My dear geek, are you not aware of the female population amongst you? Do you not stare in the street and want to hump a post when you pass by a hot, slim, gorgeous looking chick with a firm bust and well sculpted ass?". The geek immediately began to appear as if he was having a nervous breakdown. His glasses began to fog up and he took them off to wipe them with this linux embroidered shirt, "I think I know what you are talking about. Those things are icky. They have cooties. Get away from me!" I felt offended. "Nonsense, I pleaded! Pussy is a beautiful thing. A sacred thing that you should strive to give pleasure to." The geek would not listen and he began to cry. "STOP IT!! You are EVIL!!" He then, quite geekishly, skipped off down the path.
I walked back to my house feeling rather disheartened. 'Why don't they listen to me' I asked myself? When I got home my girlfriend opened the door. She was wearing short-shorts and a sports bra. She had been doing the thigh master for the past 30 minutes and was sweating. I could see her dark nipples underneath her slightly damp bra. Oh god I could fuck her to the moon and back. I could smell her horniness the second I took my shoes off. I chased her, both of us laughing, to our bedroom [THE FOLLOWING has been censored for the well-being of ghey geeks].... Six hours later, finally satisfied a little, I sat up and noticed that same geek hiding in the trees. He had been watching us the entire time. I swear his penis had to have been the size of a fucking horse cock (not bad for a geek, i might add), and he appeared as if he had gone into a state of shock. I could see cum stains forming near the bulge of his pant zipper. I thought to myself. There is one geek, finally brought into the real world.