3 comments about Wireless Crime and Forensic Investigation.

1. The writing and information are ok, but the book doesn't seem to have a defined audience in mind. If (like me) you're interested and entering the computer forensics field with almost no wireless knowledge, the book lacks the kind of details necessary to make it a useful reference (or learning) manual. It does provide a kind of "baby step" towards understanding wireless technology, but after finishing the book the step seemed way too small for the price. The book does not have specific forensics information at all. I will say that it is well written and easily understood. It *might* be useful for a lead investigator trying to understand the kinds of information forensics can provide in a wireless environment.
   
   This book seems written more as an "executive summary" to convince people with little or no knowledge that vulnerabilities exist...but again without providing sufficient specifics for a DIY fix.
   
   I think the problem is that the book tries to cover too many areas (PDA's, cell phones, wireless LANs) in too short a format. And not to sound too cheap, I have to say again it is significantly overpriced for the information within.



2. I am just now getting into forensics or thinking of it and found this book helpful. It was nice to know that forensics was not tied to just old school technology and new things like wireless really had an impact. I really enjoyed the futures chapter it made me think from entering the field what I could expect and how I should change my focuses. Excellent read, very well written and a friendly text... It was a little expensive at first sight! But honestly worth it in the end.



3. This book was an excellent edition to my forensic library and knowledge. I respect the author for tackling such a broad topic as wireless and feel the overall scope view was helpful. I have done a lot of cellular forensics and this was great to see some of the practices I have been taught and do put into print. I would recommend this book to those looking to get started in this area and learn what is possible.

1 comments about Private Investigation in the Computer Age: Using Computers to Revolutionize Your Work and Maximize Your Profits.

1. I considered myself a mid-range computer user and still found lots of great info in this book. My business has already streamlined and improved. I'm already saving a good 2-8 hours a week using the info I've learned so far. It's a keeper and invaluable reference for any PI or anyone in LE. My local PD has a copy.

5 comments about Crackproof Your Software: Protect Your Software Against Crackers (With CD-ROM).

1. I enjoyed reading Crackproof your software, and actually read through it in one sitting. I found that too many of the actual code samples were limited to windows 9x only. Given the Oct 2002 publishing date (more than a year after the release of XP) I would have expected (and appreciated) more XP centric code samples. It also would have perhaps been better if the tricks and tips were seperately described for each OS. I'd recommend this to anyone looking to keep their software off the 0-day warez boards.



2. It's great that there's a book like this out to begin with, but I was disappointed to see the focus only on Windows applications and mostly on how to use existing tools to harden your software. It doesn't really cover as much as I would have liked to have seen on how to actually implement crack-resistant software. Much of the book's contents are FAQ-like and refer only to currently available tools (a very current practical approach versus a broader theoretical academic approach). If the exact problem you're trying to solve is explicitly addressed in this book, you're golden - if not, you're completely out of luck with regards to the book's information.



3. Before I read this book I knew very little about cracking software. After reading this book I still know very little. I agree with the author when he says that to protect yourself, you need a good understanding of what you're up against. It also helps when you apply a protection method if you can check it against something. The book falls way short of teaching you ways to crack software.
   
   However, I gave this book a good rating because I think it does a good job of giving the reader an overview of methods he can use against crackers. It covers disassembly detection, registration protection, use of dongles, CD copy protection, and compressing and encoding executables. It also provides a CD with several freeware/shareware programs you can use to protect your software. Keep in mind that the book deals exclusively with the Windows operating system.



4. As fast as developers and vendors can pump out new software the crackers of the world break the protection schemes. Rather than paying a fair price for the software many people visit underground cracker sites and warez FTP sites to download illegally cracked versions of software.
   
   This theft has a financial impact on the vendors and developers. Large companies like Microsoft lose tens of millions of dollars in revenue to pirated and illegally distributed software each year. Not that they are in the market of not making money, but losing $30 or $50 million is more or less a drop in the bucket to Microsoft and something they can absorb as the cost of doing business and simply write it off on their taxes. Joe Programmer sitting in his basement writing code 18 hours a day to create a fantastic new shareware program however might miss the money a little more.
   
   If you are a freelance software developer or even a small software company this book may be just what you're looking for. Crackproof Your Software: Protect Your Software Against Crackers gives you the inside scoop on the techniques and tools used by crackers to break into your software.
   
   Pavol Cerven helps the reader to understand the common errors developers make that make it easier for crackers to break in and shows a number of tips and hints to help the reader learn how to write crackproof code including how to thwart attempts to debug or disassemble the code.
   
   I highly recommend this book for software developers.
   
   (...)



5. i bought this book thinking it will teach me the techniques used in cracking so that i can apply it in my development.
   
   well, from that angle this book is a total disappointment. it doesn't even have a section that discusses the basic techniques, zilch!
   
   one thing it does tell you is the methods used by various tools but the discussion is too cursory.
   
   not worth buying this book. if you want to learn crackproofing or cracking, might as well scour the internet especially learning from the hacker sites.
   
   i also wrote to the author. he never replied.

3 comments about 100% Internet Credit Card Fraud Protected.

1. I've read a digital version of this book and all I can say is that it's great. Maybe it is too expensive for a book, but I had one single order exceeding $3000 that turned out to be fraudulent. If only I could get this book before I shipped the merchandize. It helps. I cannot say if it is possible to competely eliminate credit card fraud (the author says that in theory it is impossible, but in practice you can do it), but in the last two months I haven't received charge-backs. And I don't think that those orders that I canceled were legitimate. I just want to thank Vesper for this excellent book. And keep going.



2. This book answers the question, "What is the best way to protect from credit card fraud online?" The author found how swindlers penetrate different anti-fraud systems, both manual and automatic. Then he collected, filtered and studied tons of data on these "penetration methods" and determined the best way to protect from them. While the book is based on very in-depth research, it does not read like a research report. The author has done an excellent job at bridging the gap between first rate research and a mass market audience.
   Strengths: The author's writing is very interesting and easy to read. The book is a quick read and many readers will finish it within a weekend. While based on lots of research, the book does not read like a boring textbook. The author's conclusions are delivered simply and concisely.

   Weaknesses: Minor but: It may be hard for novice online sellers to fully understand this book.

   Who should read this book: All managers, executives, and leaders of any type of organization that accept credit cards online, as well as those others interested in credit card fraud.

   Also consider: Nothing. This is the only helpful book on this topic.




3. Despite being (allegedly) written - in part at least - by a professional card fraud gang, the book offers only very basic information on both the way card fraudsters operate, and how they can be stopped.
   
   The book is OK for a small merchant, with little credit card experience or knowledge. However, it is a waste of time for anyone with a reasonable understanding of the topic.
   
   It is also ridiculously over priced. Although having 53 pages, please note that:
   - a number of pages are either completely blank, or alternatively, contain only one small paragraph
   - The book is of relatively small dimensions
   - The font is quite large
   
   If you gather from this that you don't a lot for your money, you are 100% correct.

5 comments about The Hacker Diaries : Confessions of Teenage Hackers.

1. This book will change your view of what you thought of the typical teenage hacker. This book has 8 stories about teenage hackers as the title shows. The chapters on average are 20 to 25 pages long so the author does not have very long to go into deep detail of each hacker or group of hackers he delves into there family lifes some but does not have long to go for their hacks and exploits .
   
   Some of the characters are as follow
   
   1) Genocide who grew up in a shack in alaska with no electricity telephone or running water.
   
   2) Theres joe magee and noid who where complete opposites but curiosity in the familys new vcr would start their interest into computers. A intersting story from the book about joe and the family vcr was when he was 10 he had a problem with insomnia and late night eating because of it. So one night withsuch problem he goes down stairs to make a pb&j sandwich and when he thinks he is going to get busted he shoves the sandwich into the vcr and a sure mess came about with the heat melting the jelly.
   
   3) Theres prometheus and explotion with promethius being a self-proclaimed satan worshiper living to deface christian and religous websites.
   
   One of two out of this group that really amazed me was 15 year old anna moore who had computer friendly parents at age 4 she could read at a 3rd grade level she also was the first female hacker to win the ethical hacking contest at the annual defcon hacker convention in vegas.
   
   The other one that was really amazing is h.d. moore who started hacking at age 13 who got a job working for the air force before he was 18. He developed on his own alot of programs that are uaed today and even gave a big presentation at a convention at the age of 17.
   
   I said at the start that this book would change your veiw of hackers in that they are not the teenagers that tv and moives portray or what most of us probably think of they are the kid next door the star quarterback and such not as alot the evil names they choose as shockvalue and that most of these kids go on to productive lives seeing that hacking has become something other than what they veiwed it as away to share info and despies those who made money from it to now the feeling that the most modern day hackers are only concern with damaging and destroying websites. This book is a little hard to get threw if you are a computer novice as far as the terminology.



2. This book is one of a few that provides insight into hackers, security personnel, and cybercrime investigators through first-person interviews. It reads much like a magazine article or investigative newspaper report.
   
   The title implies that we will get a very personal glimpse of hackers, as if reading their diaries. That is not the case. We only get what the hacker is willing to say to the interviewer, so there is a level of info we don't get to see.
   
   As a computer geek myself, I expected more techinical information, but the author saw need to explain what things like "telnet" means. If you are not a technical person, you will be able to read this book without being left in the dark on anything. But geeks like me will be left wondering more about specific techniques and tools used, while bored at the basic information provided.
   
   I don't have a lot of time or patience, so the fact that I read this book cover-to-cover without giving up on it means it has some value, though it leaves something to be desired. It is not a book that will change your life or give you a deep insight, but it is an interesting read.



3. This book is horrible. Hackers are the people who commit crimes using computer, Hackers are people who are expert programmers. A better book would be "Hacker: Heroes of the Computer Revolution".



4. This is one of the only books that directly talks about teenage hackers and one that tries to change the people's and the media's perception about a hacker. It does not, however, do a great job of conveying this message at least that is what I thought. The preface starts as a restatement of the well know Hacker's Manefesto authored by Mentor a decade ago. The book will not appeal to the technical audience, since it is mostly a novel. One issue that I really found serious in the book was that the message is contradicted. Although the book wants to convey the message that hacking is bad and people who practice it are normal teenagers who might be cutting your grass; the choice of characters was no where normal. The characters which are mostly from divorced parents, living with no water in their house, picking fights, getting arrested, and getting expelled from school; hardly the norm for the average teenager IMHO. A couple of technical inaccuracies were also spotted between the text and there a huge gap in the time line described between the day the hacker fiddled with his first computer and the day he started to break computers. Other than that issue the book is a good read although it does really appeal to my technological taste.



5. I can recognize Dan Verton really did a lot of researching for writing this book but, despite all of it, it's a bad book. Excepting HD Moore I never saw any of those hackers interviewed. The tales are very unintersting. A mom from a friend of mine liked it and probably my mother will.

No comments about Adventures in Criminal Justice Research: Data Analysis for Windows® Using SPSS Versions 11.0, 11.5, or Higher.

1 comments about Cybercrime: The Investigation, Prosecution and Defense of a Computer-Related Crime.

1. I puchased this book based on a reference in another text and was sorely disappointed. It is made up of four chapters and an introduction. The text is heavily footnoted but, fortunately, they appear at the bottom of the page. The chapter on "Defining Cybercrime" is mainly a rehash of code sections with little in the way of explanation or interpretation. By far, the most interesting chapter is chapter 3 on "The Investigation and Prosecution of a Cybercrime" but I don't find that it justifies the purchase of the book. Definitely look elsewhere!

3 comments about Sex.com: One Domain, Two Men, Twelve Years and the Brutal Battle for the Jewel in the Internet's Crown.

1. Forget the lubricious or lascivious, there's little if any of that in Kieren McCarthy's business-thriller/page-turner. Its essential subject matter is on the face of it dry as a bone: trademarks, internet domain names or URLs, intellectual property rights, and the civil legal system that arbitrates on all of the above.
   
   Yet McCarthy makes the topic alive, fraught, fascinating and above all important: to you and me as media users, to would-bet net entrepreneurs, to anyone to whom ideas - and their protection and promotion - is important.
   
   If you were to derive just one lesson from McCarthy, it would be this:
   
   Don't bother staking your claim to ANY I.P. (intellectual property) unless you are prepared to defend it (metaphorically speaking) by blood and the sword.
   
   Personally, I would have been quite unable to withstand the legal, financial and emotional pressure to which the founder of sex.com was subjected when his site was stolen from him and, finally, after years of legal battles, restored.
   
   It is quite likely that, by winning the battle for himself, he fought and won what would have been many a future battle for the rest of us. URLs (including the very one you're looking at now!) are that bit safer from thieves and pirates because of the victory described in this book.
   
   But oh how close, in the dying days of the saga, victory looked like turning to the sourest possible defeat!
   
   Rush to your credit card wallet and buy this book now. Buy two: you're sure to know a net fiend who'll find it instructive and enthralling.



2. This is an exciting and gripping book. I found myself turning pages as fast as when reading other non-fiction thrillers like Marc Bowden's Killing Pablo.
   
   You don't have to be into technology and domain names to enjoy this book. If you're into crime books or law, you'll find this story fascinating.



3. This is a highly readable book about the legal battle between Gary Kremen and Stephen Cohen for ownership of the 'sex.com' domain name.
   
   While the focus is specifically on the battles fought over the sex.com domain name, a number of broader intellectual property and domain name management issues are also covered.
   
   Establishing and enforcing ownership of intellectual property in a virtual world operating largely across (if not outside) territorial boundaries is fascinating. On one level, this is a book about a battle between two intelligent and driven men (and their lawyers) for a lucrative piece of virtual real estate. On another level, it is about 'managing' aspects of the the internet. Or is it?
   
   Gary Kremen has since sold the domain name for some $US 12 million.
   
   Recommended to those interested in real crime as well as those interested in intellectual property issues.
   
   Jennifer Cameron-Smith

1 comments about Woolly Bullies.

1. The music is absolutely bizarre - and much too loud. It drowns out the dialogue at times. Apparently a new soundtrack was added when the series was released on DVD.
   
   The video quality is not very good either, but all in all, it's a fun blast from the past.

No comments about Cyber Crime Investigations: Bridging the Gaps Between Security Professionals, Law Enforcement, and Prosecutors.