Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking


Christopher Hadnagy - 2010
    Mitnick claims that this socialengineering tactic was the single-most effective method in hisarsenal. This indispensable book examines a variety of maneuversthat are aimed at deceiving unsuspecting victims, while it alsoaddresses ways to prevent social engineering threats.Examines social engineering, the science of influencing atarget to perform a desired task or divulge informationArms you with invaluable information about the many methods oftrickery that hackers use in order to gather information with theintent of executing identity theft, fraud, or gaining computersystem accessReveals vital steps for preventing social engineeringthreatsSocial Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking does itspart to prepare you against nefarious hackers--now you can doyour part by putting to good use the critical information withinits pages.

Linux Basics for Hackers: Getting Started with Networking, Scripting, and Security in Kali


OccupyTheWeb - 2018
    Topics include Linux command line basics, filesystems, networking, BASH basics, package management, logging, and the Linux kernel and drivers.If you're getting started along the exciting path of hacking, cybersecurity, and pentesting, Linux Basics for Hackers is an excellent first step. Using Kali Linux, an advanced penetration testing distribution of Linux, you'll learn the basics of using the Linux operating system and acquire the tools and techniques you'll need to take control of a Linux environment.First, you'll learn how to install Kali on a virtual machine and get an introduction to basic Linux concepts. Next, you'll tackle broader Linux topics like manipulating text, controlling file and directory permissions, and managing user environment variables. You'll then focus in on foundational hacking concepts like security and anonymity and learn scripting skills with bash and Python. Practical tutorials and exercises throughout will reinforce and test your skills as you learn how to: - Cover your tracks by changing your network information and manipulating the rsyslog logging utility - Write a tool to scan for network connections, and connect and listen to wireless networks - Keep your internet activity stealthy using Tor, proxy servers, VPNs, and encrypted email - Write a bash script to scan open ports for potential targets - Use and abuse services like MySQL, Apache web server, and OpenSSH - Build your own hacking tools, such as a remote video spy camera and a password crackerHacking is complex, and there is no single way in. Why not start at the beginning with Linux Basics for Hackers?

Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon


Kim Zetter - 2014
    The cause of their failure was a complete mystery.Five months later, a seemingly unrelated event occurred. A computer security firm in Belarus was called in to troubleshoot some computers in Iran that were caught in a reboot loop—crashing and rebooting repeatedly. At first, technicians with the firm believed the malicious code they found on the machines was a simple, routine piece of malware. But as they and other experts around the world investigated, they discovered a virus of unparalleled complexity and mysterious provenance and intent. They had, they soon learned, stumbled upon the world’s first digital weapon.Stuxnet, as it came to be known, was unlike any other virus or worm built before: It was the first attack that reached beyond the computers it targeted to physically destroy the equipment those computers controlled. It was an ingenious attack, jointly engineered by the United States and Israel, that worked exactly as planned, until the rebooting machines gave it all away. And the discovery of Stuxnet was just the beginning: Once the digital weapon was uncovered and deciphered, it provided clues to other tools lurking in the wild. Soon, security experts found and exposed not one but three highly sophisticated digital spy tools that came from the same labs that created Stuxnet. The discoveries gave the world its first look at the scope and sophistication of nation-state surveillance and warfare in the digital age.Kim Zetter, a senior reporter at Wired, has covered hackers and computer security since 1999 and is one of the top journalists in the world on this beat. She was among the first reporters to cover Stuxnet after its discovery and has authored many of the most comprehensive articles about it. In COUNTDOWN TO ZERO DAY: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World’s First Digital Weapon, Zetter expands on this work to show how the code was designed and unleashed and how its use opened a Pandora’s Box, ushering in an age of digital warfare in which any country’s infrastructure—power grids, nuclear plants, oil pipelines, dams—is vulnerable to the same kind of attack with potentially devastating results. A sophisticated digital strike on portions of the power grid, for example, could plunge half the U.S. into darkness for weeks or longer, having a domino effect on all other critical infrastructures dependent on electricity.

Tribe of Hackers: Cybersecurity Advice from the Best Hackers in the World


Marcus J. Carey - 2019
    Tribe of Hackers wants to change that. We asked for industry, career, and personal advice from 70 cybersecurity luminaries who are ready to break down barriers and shatter ceilings. It's about time.This book can be a catalyst for change for anyone, from beginners trying to enter the industry, to practitioners looking to start their own firms. What tips do the founders of Dragos, Inc. and Duo Security have on starting a company? Do you need a college degree or certification to be a cybersecurity professional? What is the biggest bang-for-the-buck action your organization can take to improve its cybersecurity posture? What "life hacks" to real hackers use to make their own lives easier? What resources can women in cybersecurity utilize to maximize their potential?All proceeds from the book will go towards: Bunker Labs, Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Rainforest Partnership, and Start-Up! Kid's Club.We can't wait to show you the most epic cybersecurity thought leadership collaborative effort, ever.(Source: Amazon.com)

Threat Modeling: Designing for Security


Adam Shostack - 2014
    Dobbs Jolt Award Finalist since Bruce Schneier's Secrets and Lies and Applied Cryptography!Adam Shostack is responsible for security development lifecycle threat modeling at Microsoft and is one of a handful of threat modeling experts in the world. Now, he is sharing his considerable expertise into this unique book. With pages of specific actionable advice, he details how to build better security into the design of systems, software, or services from the outset. You'll explore various threat modeling approaches, find out how to test your designs against threats, and learn effective ways to address threats that have been validated at Microsoft and other top companies.Systems security managers, you'll find tools and a framework for structured thinking about what can go wrong. Software developers, you'll appreciate the jargon-free and accessible introduction to this essential skill. Security professionals, you'll learn to discern changing threats and discover the easiest ways to adopt a structured approach to threat modeling.Provides a unique how-to for security and software developers who need to design secure products and systems and test their designs Explains how to threat model and explores various threat modeling approaches, such as asset-centric, attacker-centric and software-centric Provides effective approaches and techniques that have been proven at Microsoft and elsewhere Offers actionable how-to advice not tied to any specific software, operating system, or programming language Authored by a Microsoft professional who is one of the most prominent threat modeling experts in the world As more software is delivered on the Internet or operates on Internet-connected devices, the design of secure software is absolutely critical. Make sure you're ready with Threat Modeling: Designing for Security.

Dreaming in Code: Two Dozen Programmers, Three Years, 4,732 Bugs, and One Quest for Transcendent Software


Scott Rosenberg - 2007
    Along the way, we encounter black holes, turtles, snakes, dragons, axe-sharpening, and yak-shaving—and take a guided tour through the theories and methods, both brilliant and misguided, that litter the history of software development, from the famous ‘mythical man-month’ to Extreme Programming. Not just for technophiles but for anyone captivated by the drama of invention, Dreaming in Code offers a window into both the information age and the workings of the human mind.

Web Hacking 101


Peter Yaworski
    With few exceptions, existing books are overly technical, only dedicate a single chapter to website vulnerabilities or don't include any real world examples. This book is different.Using publicly disclosed vulnerabilities, Web Hacking 101 explains common web vulnerabilities and will show you how to start finding vulnerabilities and collecting bounties. With over 30 examples, the book covers topics like:HTML InjectionCross site scripting (XSS)Cross site request forgery (CSRF)Open RedirectsRemote Code Execution (RCE)Application Logicand more...Each example includes a classification of the attack, a report link, the bounty paid, easy to understand description and key takeaways. After reading this book, your eyes will be opened to the wide array of vulnerabilities that exist and you'll likely never look at a website or API the same way.

A Bug Hunter's Diary: A Guided Tour Through the Wilds of Software Security


Tobias Klein - 2011
    In this one-of-a-kind account, you'll see how the developers responsible for these flaws patched the bugs—or failed to respond at all. As you follow Klein on his journey, you'll gain deep technical knowledge and insight into how hackers approach difficult problems and experience the true joys (and frustrations) of bug hunting.Along the way you'll learn how to:Use field-tested techniques to find bugs, like identifying and tracing user input data and reverse engineering Exploit vulnerabilities like NULL pointer dereferences, buffer overflows, and type conversion flaws Develop proof of concept code that verifies the security flaw Report bugs to vendors or third party brokersA Bug Hunter's Diary is packed with real-world examples of vulnerable code and the custom programs used to find and test bugs. Whether you're hunting bugs for fun, for profit, or to make the world a safer place, you'll learn valuable new skills by looking over the shoulder of a professional bug hunter in action.

Counter Hack Reloaded: A Step-By-Step Guide to Computer Attacks and Effective Defenses


Edward Skoudis - 2005
    I asked other people and they didn't seem to know how these things work, or at least they couldn't explain them in a way that I could understand. Counter Hack Reloaded is the clearest explanation of these tools I have ever seen. Thank you!" --Stephen Northcutt, CEO, SANS Institute "Ed Skoudis does it again! With this new edition, Ed takes a phenomenal work to the next level! This book is a 'must-have' and a 'must-read' for anyone remotely associated with computers and computer security." --Harlan Carvey, CISSP, author of Windows Forensics and Incident Recovery "Ed Skoudis is a rare individual. He knows the innards of all the various systems, knows all the latest exploits and defenses, and yet is able to explain everything at just the right level. The first edition of Counter Hack was a fascinating read. It's technically intriguing and very clear. . . . A book on vulnerabilities, though, will get out of date, and so we definitely needed this updated and significantly rewritten second edition. This book is a wonderful overview of the field." --From the Foreword by Radia Perlman, series editor, The Radia Perlman Series in Computer Networking and Security; author of Interconnections; and coauthor of Network Security: Private Communications in a Public World "What a great partnership! Ed Skoudis and Tom Liston share an uncanny talent for explaining even the most challenging security concepts in a clear and enjoyable manner. Counter Hack Reloaded is an indispensable resource for those who want to improve their defenses and understand the mechanics of computer attacks." --Lenny Zeltser, coauthor of Malware: Fighting Malicious Code "Ed Skoudis does it again! With this new edition, Ed takes a phenomenal work to the next level! This book is a 'must-have' and a 'must-read' for anyone remotely associated with computers and computer security." --Harlan Carvey, CISSP, author of Windows Forensics and Incident Recovery "In addition to having breadth of knowledge about and probing insights into network security, Ed Skoudis's real strength is in his ability to show complex topics in an understandable form. By the time he's done, what started off as a hopeless conglomeration of acronyms starts to sound comfortable and familiar. This book is your best source for understanding attack strategies, attack tools, and the defenses against both." --William Stearns, network security expert, www.stearns.org "This book is a must-have for anyone in the Internet security game. It covers everything from the basic principles to the fine details of online attack methods and counter-strategies and is very engagingly written." --Warwick Ford, coauthor of Secure Electronic Commerce For years, Counter Hack has been the primary resource for every network/system administrator and security professional who needs a deep, hands-on understanding of hacker attacks and countermeasures. Now, leading network security expert Ed Skoudis, with Tom Liston, has thoroughly updated this best-selling guide, showing how to defeat today's newest, most sophisticated, and most destructive attacks.For this second edition, more than half the content is new and updated, including coverage of the latest hacker techniques for scanning networks, gaining and maintaining access, and preventing detection. The authors walk you through each attack and demystify every tool and tactic. You'll learn exactly how to establish effective defenses, recognize attacks in progress, and respond quickly and effectively in both UNIX/Linux and Windows environments.Important features of this new edition includeAll-new "anatomy-of-an-attack" scenarios and tools An all-new section on wireless hacking: war driving, wireless sniffing attacks, and more Fully updated coverage of reconnaissance tools, including Nmap port scanning and "Google hacking" New coverage of tools for gaining access, including uncovering Windows and Linux vulnerabilities with Metasploit New information on dangerous, hard-to-detect, kernel-mode rootkits

The Pentester BluePrint: Starting a Career as an Ethical Hacker


Phillip L. Wylie - 2020
    Accomplished pentester and author Phillip L. Wylie and cybersecurity researcher Kim Crawley walk you through the basic and advanced topics necessary to understand how to make a career out of finding vulnerabilities in systems, networks, and applications.You'll learn about the role of a penetration tester, what a pentest involves, and the prerequisite knowledge you'll need to start the educational journey of becoming a pentester. Discover how to develop a plan by assessing your current skillset and finding a starting place to begin growing your knowledge and skills. Finally, find out how to become employed as a pentester by using social media, networking strategies, and community involvement.Perfect for IT workers and entry-level information security professionals, The Pentester BluePrint also belongs on the bookshelves of anyone seeking to transition to the exciting and in-demand field of penetration testing.Written in a highly approachable and accessible style, The Pentester BluePrint avoids unnecessarily technical lingo in favor of concrete advice and practical strategies to help you get your start in pentesting. This book will teach you:The foundations of pentesting, including basic IT skills like operating systems, networking, and security systems The development of hacking skills and a hacker mindset Where to find educational options, including college and university classes, security training providers, volunteer work, and self-study Which certifications and degrees are most useful for gaining employment as a pentester How to get experience in the pentesting field, including labs, CTFs, and bug bounties

Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War


Fred Kaplan - 2016
    The general said it was. This set in motion the first presidential directive on computer security.The first use of cyber techniques in battle occurred in George H.W. Bush's Kuwait invasion in 1991 to disable Saddam's military communications. One year later, the NSA Director watched Sneakers, in which one of the characters says wars will soon be decided not by bullets or bombs but by information. The NSA and the Pentagon have been rowing over control of cyber weapons ever since.From the 1994 (aborted) US invasion of Haiti, when the plan was to neutralize Haitian air-defenses by making all the telephones in Haiti busy at the same time, to Obama's Defense Department 2015 report on cyber policy that spells out the lead role played by our offensive operation, Fred Kaplan tells the story of the NSA and the Pentagon as they explore, exploit, fight, and defend the US. Dark Territory reveals all the details, including the 1998 incident when someone hacked into major US military commands and it wasn't Iraq, but two teenagers from California; how Israeli jets bomb a nuclear reactor in Syria in 2007 by hacking into Syrian air-defense radar system; the time in 2014 when North Korea hacks Sony's networks to pressure the studio to cancel a major Hollywood blockbuster; and many more. Dark Territory is the most urgent and controversial topic in national defense policy.

Site Reliability Engineering: How Google Runs Production Systems


Betsy Beyer - 2016
    So, why does conventional wisdom insist that software engineers focus primarily on the design and development of large-scale computing systems?In this collection of essays and articles, key members of Google's Site Reliability Team explain how and why their commitment to the entire lifecycle has enabled the company to successfully build, deploy, monitor, and maintain some of the largest software systems in the world. You'll learn the principles and practices that enable Google engineers to make systems more scalable, reliable, and efficient--lessons directly applicable to your organization.This book is divided into four sections: Introduction--Learn what site reliability engineering is and why it differs from conventional IT industry practicesPrinciples--Examine the patterns, behaviors, and areas of concern that influence the work of a site reliability engineer (SRE)Practices--Understand the theory and practice of an SRE's day-to-day work: building and operating large distributed computing systemsManagement--Explore Google's best practices for training, communication, and meetings that your organization can use

Advanced Penetration Testing: Hacking the World's Most Secure Networks


Wil Allsopp - 2017
    Featuring techniques not taught in any certification prep or covered by common defensive scanners, this book integrates social engineering, programming, and vulnerability exploits into a multidisciplinary approach for targeting and compromising high security environments. From discovering and creating attack vectors, and moving unseen through a target enterprise, to establishing command and exfiltrating data--even from organizations without a direct Internet connection--this guide contains the crucial techniques that provide a more accurate picture of your system's defense. Custom coding examples use VBA, Windows Scripting Host, C, Java, JavaScript, Flash, and more, with coverage of standard library applications and the use of scanning tools to bypass common defensive measures.Typical penetration testing consists of low-level hackers attacking a system with a list of known vulnerabilities, and defenders preventing those hacks using an equally well-known list of defensive scans. The professional hackers and nation states on the forefront of today's threats operate at a much more complex level--and this book shows you how to defend your high security network.Use targeted social engineering pretexts to create the initial compromise Leave a command and control structure in place for long-term access Escalate privilege and breach networks, operating systems, and trust structures Infiltrate further using harvested credentials while expanding control Today's threats are organized, professionally-run, and very much for-profit. Financial institutions, health care organizations, law enforcement, government agencies, and other high-value targets need to harden their IT infrastructure and human capital against targeted advanced attacks from motivated professionals. Advanced Penetration Testing goes beyond Kali linux and Metasploit and to provide you advanced pen testing for high security networks.

Practical Packet Analysis: Using Wireshark to Solve Real-World Network Problems


Chris Sanders - 2007
    But how do you interpret those packets once you've captured them? And how can those packets help you to better understand what's going on under the hood of your network? Practical Packet Analysis shows how to use Wireshark to capture and then analyze packets as you take an indepth look at real-world packet analysis and network troubleshooting. The way the pros do it.Wireshark (derived from the Ethereal project), has become the world's most popular network sniffing application. But while Wireshark comes with documentation, there's not a whole lot of information to show you how to use it in real-world scenarios. Practical Packet Analysis shows you how to:Use packet analysis to tackle common network problems, such as loss of connectivity, slow networks, malware infections, and more Build customized capture and display filters Tap into live network communication Graph traffic patterns to visualize the data flowing across your network Use advanced Wireshark features to understand confusing packets Build statistics and reports to help you better explain technical network information to non-technical usersBecause net-centric computing requires a deep understanding of network communication at the packet level, Practical Packet Analysis is a must have for any network technician, administrator, or engineer troubleshooting network problems of any kind.

Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What Everyone Needs to Know(r)


P.W. Singer - 2013
    Today, our entire modern way of life, from communication to commerce to conflict, fundamentally depends on the Internet. And the cybersecurity issues that result challenge literally everyone: politicians wrestling with everything from cybercrime to online freedom; generals protecting the nation from new forms of attack, while planning new cyberwars; business executives defending firms from once unimaginable threats, and looking to make money off of them; lawyers and ethicists building new frameworks for right and wrong. Most of all, cybersecurity issues affect us as individuals. We face new questions in everything from our rights and responsibilities as citizens of both the online and real world to simply how to protect ourselves and our families from a new type of danger. And yet, there is perhaps no issue that has grown so important, so quickly, and that touches so many, that remains so poorly understood.In Cybersecurity and CyberWar: What Everyone Needs to Know�, New York Times best-selling author P. W. Singer and noted cyber expert Allan Friedman team up to provide the kind of easy-to-read, yet deeply informative resource book that has been missing on this crucial issue of 21st century life. Written in a lively, accessible style, filled with engaging stories and illustrative anecdotes, the book is structured around the key question areas of cyberspace and its security: how it all works, why it all matters, and what can we do? Along the way, they take readers on a tour of the important (and entertaining) issues and characters of cybersecurity, from the "Anonymous" hacker group and the Stuxnet computer virus to the new cyber units of the Chinese and U.S. militaries. Cybersecurity and CyberWar: What Everyone Needs to Know� is the definitive account on the subject for us all, which comes not a moment too soon.What Everyone Needs to Know� is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press.