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High-Tech Crimes Revealed
The book is a collection of high-tech investigations performed by Branigan in cooperation with the police force and sometimes the Feds. Generally Branigan would be involved in forensic research of the evidence and be on the scene as the "computer expert" that cops would refer to when dealing with cybercrime.
Twelve chapters take us through some of the high-tech crimes that the Western world faces today. An attack on the telephone network (unauthorized access to the switches), backdoors left at the former employer, hacking into university networks and the well-publicized identity theft are all covered in the book. Branigan brings up anecdotal evidence from his own career, describes some of his cases in great detail, and provides advice for practitioners in the forensics field.
The author is a Linux/Unix/BSD guru, and he shares his methods for retrieving telltale data from the equipment that the criminals leave behind. He also talks about the generic problems that law enforcement faces when investigating a high-tech crime - how do you obtain a warrant, what's a proper way to conduct searches, how do you work with the confiscated computer so that all the data is left intact?
However, don't expect some secrets to pop-up in regards to data collection - Branigan uses commonly available Linux tools like grep for searching the suspect's hard drive for needed data. More often that not, the investigator, it turns out, depends on his experience, not the book knowledge - one has to recognize the network sniffer log when they see it, and be capable of recognizing the tools freely downloadable from security sites.
Thus it's not surprising that there are some chapters in the book dedicated purely to the author's experience in the field. He describes working with the hackers who have been arrested, discusses how rootkits are spread around, discusses the motivation behind the network attacks (it's not always money, to say the least), describes the structure of a hacking ring and their potential revenues and also talks about ways to unravel the networks. His motto? No crime is too small, and sometimes things so little as missing the rent can lead to more discoveries and tie-ins into bigger crimes.
If you're thinking about becoming a security consultant, a law enforcement officer or just a sysadmin with better than average knowledge of security, this book is an interesting read. It's not a textbook, nor it is technical by nature. It reads more like a detective story, except the stories are real, the culprits are real and so are the victims. One can read the book on two levels - as a forensics tutorial (however, don't expect extended technical tutorials and tools overview) or as an autobiography of a cop, who had to deal with high-tech crimes all his life. If you liked Art of Deception or Hacking: The Art of Exploitation , this title would be a perfect complement.
Chapter 3, If Only He Had Paid the Rent, is available online from Addison-Wesley.
Alex enjoys reading programming, technology and business tech books in his spare time. He also keeps a list of free books available on the Internet for tech readers on a budget. You can purchase High-Tech Crimes Revealed from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, carefully read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
I'm sure he doesn't give the farm away, but like most people he isn't averse to sharing something. People tend to enjoy talking about themselves. And when there are book royalties involved, the flood gates open.
As for learning from your mistakes, sometimes it's a mistake - and sometimes it's simply impossible. You leave a trace behind you on the internet, on your network, and on your computer. It's hilarious to me how many low-tech criminals get caught for crimes they thought were untraceable. A deer in headlights (or whatever your favorite cliche is).
Generally speaking, when someone cracks your system and steals data or fucks things up, it tends to be for "malicious" reasons, this is how it works. And, as to this business of "white hats" breaking into my system to "teach" me something, really, I think I'll pass, unless I've hired them to do so.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
Investigative work has VERY little to do with proprietary methods, for a couple of reasons:
1) Every investigation, especially when dealing with computer crime, is going to be different. There aren't really any super-secret methods that ANYone who does normal work in the field (networking, programming, sysadmining) wouldn't already know.
2) Most investigative work has to hew to legal standards for evidence, even if the issue probably isn't going to court, because it MIGHT go to court. Meaning that all of your methods as an investigator have to meet standards for scientific evidence, which requires (among other things) that those methods be widely accepted in the field and peer reviewed. It's hard to keep things secret when they have to be peer reviewed to be useful at all.
3) Good investigators get that way through experience, not training. I've met people with significantly less pure technical skill than I have who can make me look like a fool on the investigative front. The difference is that these kinds of people have years or decades of experiential learning, closed cases, and lessons learned behind them. Skill and method is important, but it's far from being the whole story. And besides, you can always learn new skills by picking up a book/taking a class and then applying them, but you can only get experience from time and getting your ass kicked repeatedly.
(As I've noted elsewhere, I ought to disclose that I work for Steve, so take as you will.)
The computer crimes this guy talks about seem to be mainly the identity theft type. But when people inside companies skim off rounding errors, create phony accounts, that type of thing (e.g. Office Space), I have read that the crime itself usually goes undetected. They get caught when they do stupid things like associating with bookies and drug dealers, getting involved in some unrelated investigation where their mysterious wealth gets noticed.
There was one guy at Microsoft who made a couple $million selling software that he ordered internally for his department. His mistake was that he put up a website full of photos showing off his lavish house and collection of cars and expensive motorcycles. If the idiot had just kept his big mouth shut and retired he probably would have gotten away with it.
This might help with stolen CC's but that's not what identity theft is.
:)
If I apply for and receive a brand new CC in your name, you'll never know what my PIN will be
actually it will be 1234. OK?
Say it right: "Nuc-le-ah Powah".