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Help & Additional Info April 2002 • Vol.8 Issue 4 Page(s) 139 in print issue |
From The Read-Only File Books About Privacy & Security | ||
 Much has been written about security and privacy, both in general and as the topic relates to computers. A quick perusal of any bookstore (online or otherwise) shows you those writings range from very straightforward and factual to decidedly slanted and politically charged. Well, after all, it is quite a politically charged issue. We're going to concentrate on the former type of book and attempt to avoid the latter; if it's polemics you're after, this isn't the place to look. (This is a computer magazine, right?) Still, it's a serious issue, and we (like you) wish to treat it seriously. So here are some of our favorite books on the topic. "Secrets & Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World," by Bruce Schneier (John Wiley & Sons; ISBN: 0471253111; $29.99) Even though it doesn't deal much with the nuts and bolts of such things as biometrics, firewalls, worms, and the like, we'll start off with this one. Why? Because it may just be the best book ever written about computers and security. The author is a security expert and (surprisingly, perhaps) an excellent writer. The book gives you the background you need if you'd like to understand why we have so many security-related issues in the computing world, and it proposes the adoption of certain strategies to mitigate those issues. Not overly technical, and a great read. "Hacking Exposed: Network Security Secrets & Solutions, Third Edition," by Stuart McClure, Joel Scambray, and George Kurtz (McGraw-Hill; ISBN: 0072193816; $49.99) This one is quite technical, and it discusses many of the tools and techniques used by crackers to compromise various applications and OSes (operating systems). In spite of its technical nature, it's a straightforward read, assuming you have some background as a network administrator. One of our favorite things about this book is that if the authors feel an application or OS is poorly designed, they're not afraid to say so. "Counter Hack: A Step-by-Step Guide to Computer Attacks and Effective Defenses," by Ed Skoudis (Prentice Hall PTR; ISBN: 0130332739; $49.99) This is a great overall resource for those of us who are not network administrator-types. If you need a clear-cut account of how crackers work and the vulnerabilities they exploit (and a very readable explanation of how to protect your system), this is the book for you. "Malicious Mobile Code: Virus Protection for Windows (O'Reilly Computer Security)," by Roger A. Grimes (O'Reilly & Associates; ISBN: 156592682X; $39.95) You can never go wrong with an O'Reilly book, as long as you have the technical background to understand it. In this particular case, the book is not so technical that casual users won't benefit from it. Grimes presents a catalog of viruses, worms, Trojans, and black-hat techniques that bad guys use to compromise systems. Most importantly, the book effectively explains (in readable English) how to defend against those techniques. "Web Security, Privacy & Commerce," by Simson Garfinkel, Gene Spafford, and Debby Russell (O'Reilly & Associates; ISBN: 0596000456; $44.95) Another O'Reilly book, which means that you can count on it being accurate, informative, and readable. And in this case, you also get a lot of good, solid info about Internet-related security issues, from browser vulnerabilities to privacy, and from digital certificates to e-commerce issues. Highly recommended. "Privacy on the Line," by Whitfield Diffie and Susan Landau (MIT Press; ISBN: 0262541009; $18.95) In spite of the fact that this book comes to us from MIT Press, it's not a dense, overly technical tome. Instead, it turns out to be a very readable (but detailed) explanation of the tools needed to ensure privacy and an overview of why we need those tools in the first place. The authors spend much of the book explaining various aspects of cryptography, which stands to reason, because Diffie was one of the original developers of public key encryption. "Protect Your Digital Privacy: Survival Skills for the Information Age," by Glee Harrah Cady and Pat McGregor (Que; ISBN: 0789726041; $29.99) This is a fascinating and well-written book. Aimed at a nontechnical audience, it covers a myriad of privacy risks and offers reasonable, no-nonsense solutions in an easy-to-read format. "Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet," by Katie Hafner and Matthew Lyon (Touchstone Books; ISBN: 0684832674; $29) Our final recommendation is not really a security book at all. Instead, it's the fascinating and well-told story of how the Internet came to be born. So why do we recommend it here? Because if you understand how the Internet came to be, you'll understand why the technology that underlies it brings with it unavoidable security issues. As one of our writers says in this issue, "We depend on the Internet for instant communication, but the Internet was not originally designed with privacy in mind; it was, after all, invented as a way to share information, not to conceal it."  For More Information. These are just a few of our favorite books about computer-related security issues. Reading any one of them will no doubt whet your appetite for even more. And if you'd like to check out some Web-based resources, take a look at "Our Picks To Click" in this issue.  |
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