How Vulnerable is Your Security?

Detection can sometimes be a tricky proposition at best, with new threats worming their way onto a system before antivirus updates are released to detect it. What happens when these as yet undiscovered viruses disable the antivirus protection on the system? While specific software had been targeted in the past, a wide scale assault against a variety of vendors began in July 2001, when the ApBot worm was discovered targeting a large number of antivirus software, Trojan detectors, and even firewall products. In October of the same year, W32/Toal emerged, attempting to terminate antivirus processes in memory. In December 2001, two new worms were discovered that seemed to have the same goal. The Goner worm first tried to delete certain files related to the security software and, if that failed, used a WININIT.INI file to delete them on the next system startup. A week later, the Gokar worm emerged, again attempting to shutdown the realtime components of popular antivirus programs.

Book Review: Implementing Biometric Security

Biometric technology is gaining in popularity. Rather than dealing with passwords that can be cracked or stolen, biometric authentication relies on unique physical characteristics such as fingerprint, retina or voice patterns. Implementing Biometric Security covers most of the biometric technologies out there. The strengths and weaknesses of each are discussed and the authors help you to weed through the technologies to determine if biometrics are right for you and, if so, which technology or technologies might suit you best. If you are thinking about implementing biometric security I highly recommend you review this book first to gain a solid understanding of the options available to you and how to best implement them in your network.

Tony Bradley, CISSP-ISSAP's Internet / Network Security Blog

Top Picks for Security Books There are a lot of book reviews under the Book Reviews Subject, but they are just a long list in order from most recent to oldest. I wanted to categorize the books somehow by topic to make it easier for you to find the book you need about the specific network security topic you are interested in. What I came up with are the following Top Picks which break down my favorite books in a number of different network and computer security categories: Top Hacker Technique and Defense Security Books Top Home User / General Security Books Top Encryption / Cryptography Books Top Security Certification Prep Books Top Linux / Unix Security Books Top Wireless Network Security Books Top Forensic & Incident Response Books

A Guide to Forensic Testimony

There are many books on computer forensics investigations and incident response, but you won't find too many that tell you what you need to know to take the results of those forensic investigations and make it stand up in court. A Guide to Forensic Testimony (The Art and Practice of Presenting Testimony as an Expert Technical Witness) is an excellent book on this subject. Fred Chris Smith and Rebecca Gurley Bace share their knowledge and experience of the legal system and what it takes to make your computer forensic evidence stand up in court and what you need to do to sell yourself as an expert witness and stand up to cross-examination. The book covers a lot of legal technicalities as well as ethical and professional issues.

Computer Forensics

This book is a couple years old now, but the fundamentals remain essentially the same. Kruse and Heiser are seasoned experts in computer forensics and incident response and they have managed to boil down years of knowledge and experience into a format that is easy to read and understand. While security experts may not learn anything new from this book, those entering the field will find it invaluable. It is comprehensive and detailed while remaining easy to read. The foundation provided by reading and understanding this book can be used to move forward into more technical areas. Computer Forensics is not fluff by any means though and could easily be kept nearby as a handy reference for a computer forensic investigation.

Mea Culpa or Tu Culpa?

Mea culpa is Latin for "my fault". The more contemporary slang translation might be "my bad". The bottom line is that in saying these words you accept personal responsibility for your part in the problem.

Interview With Ed Skoudis

Read the interview questions and answers below to find out more about this respected security expert- how he got started, what he thinks of information security today and where he sees things moving toward in the future.

Hacking The XBox

Hacking The XBox has become somewhat of a "martyr for the cause" of good hacking and reverse engineering in the face of the abuse and mis-application of the United States DMCA law. Companies continue to use fear tactics and threaten legal action against legitimate security researchers. Hacking The XBox is a great book - even without the DMCA hype. It walks you through the tools and techniques needed to hack electronic hardware- specifically the Microsoft XBox video game console. It has a broader appeal than that though with chapters regarding the legal and ethical issues surrounding reverse engineering and security research. I recommend this book even to those who don't want to hack an Xbox. It is an interesting and informative read.

How Secure Is Your Wireless Network?

Wireless networks are popping up everywhere. They are hot for home users and for corporations. They are springing up in coffee shops and book stores. But, anyone can intercept those airwaves so you need to be sure that you know how to secure your wireless network and protect your network and your computers from prying eyes. How Secure Is Your Wireless Network? provides detailed coverage of the available wireless protocols and the pitfalls of each (like interference with common household devices such as cordless phones and baby monitors). This book is a very good resource, but may be a little too technical for the non-computer gurus. Barken does a good job of explaining most of the concepts and steps in relatively plain English though.

Hack Proofing Your Wireless Network

Hack Proofing Your Wireless Network is an invaluable resource for implementing or administering a wireless network. War Driving (searching for random insecure wireless networks) is happening all over. To keep your personal and confidential information private and to keep prying eyes from surfing your wireless network or hujacking your bandwidth you need to make sure you do everything you can to secure your wireless network. The case studies, Security Alerts, FAQ's and other features of this book all help to provide a comprehensive, must-read book on wireless network security. If you are new to the concept this book is written in a way that you will understand. Even if you know this stuff, this book should be kept close as a reference.