The Tao of Network Security Monitoring: Beyond Intrusion Detection


Richard Bejtlich - 2004
    This book reducesthe investigative workload of computer security incident response teams(CSIRT) by posturing organizations for incident response success.Firewalls can fail. Intrusion-detection systems can be bypassed. Networkmonitors can be overloaded. These are the alarming but true facts aboutnetwork security. In fact, too often, security administrators' tools can serve asgateways into the very networks they are defending.Now, a novel approach to network monitoring seeks to overcome theselimitations by providing dynamic information about the vulnerability of allparts of a network. Called network security monitoring (NSM), it draws on acombination of auditing, vulnerability assessment, intrusion detection andprevention, and incident response for the most comprehensive approach tonetwork security yet. By focusing on case studies and the application of opensourcetools, the author helps readers gain hands-on knowledge of how tobetter defend networks and how to mitigate damage from security incidents.

CISSP Study Guide


Eric Conrad - 2010
    The exam is designed to ensure that someone who is handling computer security in a company has a standardized body of knowledge. The book is composed of 10 domains of the Common Body of Knowledge. In each section, it defines each domain. It also provides tips on how to prepare for the exam and take the exam. It also contains CISSP practice quizzes to test ones knowledge. The first domain provides information about risk analysis and mitigation. It also discusses security governance. The second domain discusses different techniques for access control, which is the basis for all the security disciplines. The third domain explains the concepts behind cryptography, which is a secure way of communicating that is understood only by certain recipients. Domain 5 discusses security system design, which is fundamental for operating the system and software security components. Domain 6 is a critical domain in the Common Body of Knowledge, the Business Continuity Planning, and Disaster Recovery Planning. It is the final control against extreme events such as injury, loss of life, or failure of an organization. Domains 7, 8, and 9 discuss telecommunications and network security, application development security, and the operations domain, respectively. Domain 10 focuses on the major legal systems that provide a framework in determining the laws about information system.

Stealing the Network: How to Own a Shadow


Johnny Long - 2007
    Stealing the Network: How to Own a Shadow is the final book in Syngress ground breaking, best-selling, Stealing the Network series. As with previous title, How to Own a Shadow is a fictional story that demonstrates accurate, highly detailed scenarios of computer intrusions and counter-strikes. In How to Own a Thief, Knuth, the master-mind, shadowy figure from previous books, is tracked across the world and the Web by cyber adversaries with skill to match his own. Readers will be amazed at how Knuth, Law Enforcement, and Organized crime twist and torque everything from game stations, printers and fax machines to service provider class switches and routers steal, deceive, and obfuscate. From physical security to open source information gathering, Stealing the Network: How to Own a Shadow will entertain and educate the reader on every page. The book s companion Web site will also provide special, behind-the-scenes details and hacks for the reader to join in the chase for Knuth. . The final book in the Stealing the Network series will be a must read for the 50,000 readers worldwide of the first three titles . The companion Web site to the book will provide challenging scenarios from the book to allow the reader to track down Knuth . Law enforcement and security professionals will gain practical, technical knowledge for apprehending the most supplicated cyber-adversaries

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

The Fifth Domain: Defending Our Country, Our Companies, and Ourselves in the Age of Cyber Threats


Richard A. Clarke - 2019
     America's next major war is likely to be provoked by a cyber attack. From well-covered stories like the Stuxnet virus, which helped slow Iran's nuclear program, to lesser-known tales like EternalBlue, the 2017 cyber battle that closed hospitals in Britain and froze shipping crates in Germany in midair, we have entered an age in which online threats carry real-world consequences. But we do not have to let autocrats and criminals run amok in the digital realm. We now know a great deal about how to make cyberspace far less dangerous--and about how to defend our security, economy, democracy, and privacy from cyber attack.This is a book about the realm in which nobody should ever want to fight a war: The Fifth Domain, the Pentagon's term for cyberspace. Our guides are two of America's top cybersecurity experts, seasoned practitioners who are as familiar with the White House Situation Room as they are with Fortune 500 boardrooms. Richard A. Clarke and Robert K. Knake offer a vivid, engrossing tour of the often unfamiliar terrain of cyberspace, introducing us to the scientists, executives, and public servants who have learned through hard experience how government agencies and private firms can fend off cyber threats.Clarke and Knake take us inside quantum-computing labs racing to develop cyber superweapons; bring us into the boardrooms of the many firms that have been hacked and the few that have not; and walk us through the corridors of the U.S. intelligence community with officials working to defend America's elections from foreign malice. With a focus on solutions over scaremongering, they make a compelling case for "cyber resilience"--building systems that can resist most attacks, raising the costs on cyber criminals and the autocrats who often lurk behind them, and avoiding the trap of overreaction to digital attacks.Above all, Clarke and Knake show us how to keep The Fifth Domain a humming engine of economic growth and human progress, not give in to those who would turn it into a wasteland of conflict. Backed by decades of high-level experience in the White House and the private sector, this book delivers a riveting, agenda-setting insider look at what works in the struggle to avoid cyberwar.

The Basics of Digital Forensics: The Primer for Getting Started in Digital Forensics


John Sammons - 2011
    This book teaches you how to conduct examinations by explaining what digital forensics is, the methodologies used, key technical concepts and the tools needed to perform examinations. Details on digital forensics for computers, networks, cell phones, GPS, the cloud, and Internet are discussed. Readers will also learn how to collect evidence, document the scene, and recover deleted data. This is the only resource your students need to get a jump-start into digital forensics investigations.This book is organized into 11 chapters. After an introduction to the basics of digital forensics, the book proceeds with a discussion of key technical concepts. Succeeding chapters cover labs and tools; collecting evidence; Windows system artifacts; anti-forensics; Internet and email; network forensics; and mobile device forensics. The book concludes by outlining challenges and concerns associated with digital forensics. PowerPoint lecture slides are also available.This book will be a valuable resource for entry-level digital forensics professionals as well as those in complimentary fields including law enforcement, legal, and general information security.

Defensive Security Handbook: Best Practices for Securing Infrastructure


Lee Brotherston - 2017
    For companies obliged to improvise, this pragmatic guide provides a security-101 handbook with steps, tools, processes, and ideas to help you drive maximum-security improvement at little or no cost.Each chapter in this book provides step-by-step instructions for dealing with a specific issue, including breaches and disasters, compliance, network infrastructure and password management, vulnerability scanning, and penetration testing, among others. Network engineers, system administrators, and security professionals will learn tools and techniques to help improve security in sensible, manageable chunks.Learn fundamentals of starting or redesigning an InfoSec programCreate a base set of policies, standards, and proceduresPlan and design incident response, disaster recovery, compliance, and physical securityBolster Microsoft and Unix systems, network infrastructure, and password managementUse segmentation practices and designs to compartmentalize your networkExplore automated process and tools for vulnerability managementSecurely develop code to reduce exploitable errorsUnderstand basic penetration testing concepts through purple teamingDelve into IDS, IPS, SOC, logging, and monitoring

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.

Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust that Society Needs to Thrive


Bruce Schneier - 2012
    We don't do a chemical analysis on food we eat.Trust and cooperation are the first problems we had to solve before we could become a social species. In the 21st century, they have become the most important problems we need to solve — again. Our global society has become so large and complex that our traditional trust mechanisms no longer work.Bruce Schneier, world-renowned for his level-headed thinking on security and technology, tackles this complex subject head-on. Society can't function without trust, and yet must function even when people are untrustworthy.Liars and Outliers reaches across academic disciplines to develop an understanding of trust, cooperation, and social stability. From the subtle social cues we use to recognize trustworthy people to the laws that punish the noncompliant, from the way our brains reward our honesty to the bank vaults that keep out the dishonest, keeping people cooperative is a delicate balance of rewards and punishments. It's a series of evolutionary tricks, social pressures, legal mechanisms, and physical barriers.In the absence of personal relationships, we have no choice but to substitute security for trust, compliance for trustworthiness. This progression has enabled society to scale to unprecedented complexity, but has also permitted massive global failures.At the same time, too much cooperation is bad. Without some level of rule-breaking, innovation and social progress become impossible. Society stagnates.Today's problems require new thinking, and Liars and Outliers provides that. It is essential that we learn to think clearly about trust. Our future depends on it.

Zero Day: The Threat In Cyberspace


Robert O'Harrow Jr. - 2013
    For more than a year, Washington Post reporter Robert O'Harrow has explored the threats proliferating in our digital universe. This eBook is a compilation of that reporting. With chapters built around real people, including hackers, security researchers and corporate executives, this book will help regular people, lawmakers and businesses better understand the mind-bending challenge of keeping the internet safe from hackers and security breaches -- and all out war.

How to Measure Anything in Cybersecurity Risk


Douglas W. Hubbard - 2016
    In his bestselling book How to Measure Anything, author Douglas W. Hubbard opened the business world's eyes to the critical need for better measurement. This book expands upon that premise and draws from The Failure of Risk Management to sound the alarm in the cybersecurity realm. Some of the field's premier risk management approaches actually create more risk than they mitigate, and questionable methods have been duplicated across industries and embedded in the products accepted as gospel. This book sheds light on these blatant risks, and provides alternate techniques that can help improve your current situation. You'll also learn which approaches are too risky to save, and are actually more damaging than a total lack of any security.Dangerous risk management methods abound; there is no industry more critically in need of solutions than cybersecurity. This book provides solutions where they exist, and advises when to change tracks entirely.Discover the shortcomings of cybersecurity's best practices Learn which risk management approaches actually create risk Improve your current practices with practical alterations Learn which methods are beyond saving, and worse than doing nothing Insightful and enlightening, this book will inspire a closer examination of your company's own risk management practices in the context of cybersecurity. The end goal is airtight data protection, so finding cracks in the vault is a positive thing--as long as you get there before the bad guys do. How to Measure Anything in Cybersecurity Risk is your guide to more robust protection through better quantitative processes, approaches, and techniques.

File System Forensic Analysis


Brian Carrier - 2005
    Now, security expert Brian Carrier has written the definitive reference for everyone who wants to understand and be able to testify about how file system analysis is performed. Carrier begins with an overview of investigation and computer foundations and then gives an authoritative, comprehensive, and illustrated overview of contemporary volume and file systems: Crucial information for discovering hidden evidence, recovering deleted data, and validating your tools. Along the way, he describes data structures, analyzes example disk images, provides advanced investigation scenarios, and uses today's most valuable open source file system analysis tools--including tools he personally developed. Coverage includes Preserving the digital crime scene and duplicating hard disks for dead analysis Identifying hidden data on a disk's Host Protected Area (HPA) Reading source data: Direct versus BIOS access, dead versus live acquisition, error handling, and more Analyzing DOS, Apple, and GPT partitions; BSD disk labels; and Sun Volume Table of Contents using key concepts, data structures, and specific techniques Analyzing the contents of multiple disk volumes, such as RAID and disk spanning Analyzing FAT, NTFS, Ext2, Ext3, UFS1, and UFS2 file systems using key concepts, data structures, and specific techniques Finding evidence: File metadata, recovery of deleted files, data hiding locations, and more Using The Sleuth Kit (TSK), Autopsy Forensic Browser, and related open source tools When it comes to file system analysis, no other book offers this much detail or expertise. Whether you're a digital forensics specialist, incident response team member, law enforcement officer, corporate security specialist, or auditor, this book will become an indispensable resource for forensic investigations, no matter what analysis tools you use.

The Mindset


Ace Bowers - 2019
    He was forced to choose which path he was going to take: continue the cycle of family poverty or break it. The Mindset is an inspirational memoir of Ace Bowers’ personal transformation from janitor to millionaire. Bowers began his journey uneducated, overweight, addicted to cigarettes, in debt, and depressed. Revealing the skeletons in his closet for the first time set the scene for how he got to the point of cleaning a motel for $6 an hour. Bowers’ detailed accounts of his turbulent and traumatizing childhood illustrated what it is like growing up in a poor, alcoholic, and abusive family. The metamorphosis began as soon as he changed his mindset. Within five years, Bowers was able to completely turn his life around, going from trash to technology. This memoir illuminates step by step his unconventional path to wealth, health, and happiness.

Security in Computing


Charles P. Pfleeger - 1988
    In this newFourth Edition, Charles P. Pfleeger and Shari Lawrence Pfleeger have thoroughly updated their classic guide to reflect today's newest technologies, standards, and trends. The authors first introduce the core concepts and vocabulary of computer security, including cryptography. Next, they systematically identify and assess threats now facing programs, operating systems, databases, and networks. For each threat, they offer best-practice responses. Security in Computing, Fourth Edition, goes beyond technology, covering crucial management issues you face in protecting infrastructure and information. This edition contains an all-new chapter on the economics of cybersecurity, and making the business case for security investments. Another new chapter addresses privacy--from data mining to identity theft, to RFID and e-voting. New coverage also includes Programming mistakes that compromise security: man-in-the-middle, timing, and privilege escalation Web application threats and vulnerabilities Networks of compromised systems: bots, botnets, and drones Rootkits--including the notorious Sony XCP Wi-Fi network security challenges, standards, and techniques New malicious code attacks, including false interfaces and keystroke loggers Improving code quality: software engineering, testing, and liability approaches Biometric authentication: capabilities and limitations Using Advanced Encryption System (AES) more effectively Balancing efficiency and piracy control in music and other digital content Defending against new cryptanalytic attacks against RSA, DES, and SHA Responding to the emergence of organized attacker groups pursuing profit 0132390779B0721200 Every day, the news media giv

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