4 comments about Codebreaker.

1. Katherine Myers is a sign language interpreter, mother and novelist. She is involved with the deaf community, computers, interpretive theater and photography. Code Breaker is her seventh novel, and qualifies as an adventure spy novel with a few twists. Meg Parrish, who works as a cryptographer for NSA's Central Security Service in Portland, Oregon, has had a major trauma in her life every five years. She is both gifted as a codebreaker and haunted by her tragedies, which makes her a likely target for both government and private groups intent on taking her life after she stumbles on to a series of mysterious codes. Meg works undercover at Signet Corporation, where she is assigned to look for a mathematical vulnerability in the encryption code. So far she has been unable to locate the codes, but then opportunity beckons when Beverly, Willis Dent's, the owner of Signet, secretary, goes home ill. Meg breaks into Dent's computer, but in her haste makes a serious mistake: "She meant to copy the files to the CD, but in her haste accidently clicked on `move' instead of `copy.' In one second the folder was moved out of Dent's computer and into the drive. Meg gasped and realized her mistake. What had she done? At this point there was no time left to stop the process and restore the folder to his computer. The minutes were ticking methodically towards the five o'clock checkout time, much like the timer on a bomb. She had no other choice than to let the information move out of his computer and onto the CD." This mistakes sets Meg up for intensive danger, and the reader is taken on a tour of several states and a range of perplexing labyrinths as Meg seeks refuge, freedom from her past, an escape from her predicament and love. Katherine Myers juxtaposes science with the unknown to come up with a sort of X-Files story that is both believable and unbelievable at the same time. Meg's character is irresistible in her vulnerability and strength, and the plot line is fascinating. Ms. Myers is obviously well acquainted with the deaf community and weaves their subculture into the story to add depth and an interesting slant. Code Breaker is a great book to take to the beach.

   Shelley Glodowski Reviewer




2. Katherine Myers quickly pulls you into the life of Meg Parris, a brilliant cryptographer but emotionally stunted woman. Suddenly, you find yourself wanting to know all about Meg and what will happen to her. Meg finds herself on the run with a private investigator, Ross, after she takes a series of codes during her undercover work as a CSS agent. Meg grapples with her fears and the possibilities of life she's long ignored due to those fears. Meg and Ross discover not only a common connection with a group of youngsters with strange abilities who could be the answers to Meg's mental demons but each other. Myers deftly takes you on an exciting journey across three states and through Meg's internal struggles. It's a trip well worth taking - one that once you've started will keep you hooked until the end.



3. This one reminds me of the genius of Katherine Neville (The Eight [0345366239], A Calculated Risk [0345386825]), who features strong, leading lady protagonists facing mysterious circumstances and using their know-how to fight, unravel, and solve heavy-duty problems of the metaphysical and physical nature. Codebreaker's leading sleuth is Meg Parrish, who excels at breaking codes and becomes entangled in a surreal, high-intensity chase (from/to herself as well as some evil dudes). Great book.



4. A huge disappointment. I don't know how the author or the publisher have the nerve to title the book this way. There wasn't a single instance of more than casual decoding of any code whatsoever. Furthermore it was not very suspenseful.

No comments about Cybercrime (Issues on Trial).

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

5 comments about Black Hat: Misfits, Criminals, and Scammers in the Internet Age.

1. This is a short, but well written, book on the wide variety of nasty things that can harm you when you are on the web; adware, viruses, spam, scams and spyware. There are eight chapters, each covering a different malicious software or activity.
   
   The first three chapters cover the stuff you will encounter the most often; spam, spyware and viruses. These chapters together make up the majority of the book and are the heart of the content.
   
   After that the book goes into scams and then inverts coverage from the malicious stuff done against the average Internet user to covering hacking and fighting the hacking.
   
   This is not a for-dummies book. The content is designed for people of reasonable technical expertise. And the design of the book is a short overview to get you started on securing your computer and yourself on the Internet. This book is an excellent way to get started, but from there you will have to guide yourself or make purchases of books that provide more in-depth coverage of specific topics, like security a Windows box.



2. This is a review on a book called Black Hat, Misfits, Criminals, and Scammers in the Internet Age.
   
   This is a book on computer security. The book talks about how to
   secure your home/office computer from the script kiddies. The book breaks down the different types of security issues that you might be faced with, being online. It covers all types of security from Email to Hacking, (Script Kiddies) to Scams.
   
   
   The book talks about current security issues (Blaster Worm, Melissa, Mydoom). The book is current, it was published this year (June 2004). The content of the book is good for people just starting out in computers (security). It will not be a real useful resource for the experienced user.
   
   This book covers a lot of topics, but 90% if the information is designed for the novice user. If you have any computer experience at all, this book is good, but a little basic. I liked the book for some of the information it provided, but a lot of it was not new. Most of the security web sites that talk about security will cover this same information.
   
   The author talks about Windows and Linux for the Operating Systems used in the book. Since Mac (OS X) is also a viable operating system,I wish they would have covered it as well. Since it is Unix based.
   
   The book is very readable. It is a very easy read, I was able to
   read the entire book in a few days. There are some examples in
   the book. I liked most of them, but some (few) had really dark screens. It was not to bad. I wish that he would have lighten them up some. So there where kind of hard to see.
   It did help having some of the illuastrations to see the point
   that was being made. I wish they would have given a few more.
   
   The book does not come with any software, or any code samples.
   I think that it would have been helpful to have a CD in
   the book.
   
   The book does give a lot of information on the fact that all the
   information you see on TV and in the movies is just not true.
   You can not use your computer to play a game of "Nuclear War" on
   your computer. As is shown in "War Games" (1983)
   
   In Chapter 1 is about the guys and gals that have been caught
   hacking different types of machines. It also gives a basic
   over view of what you can expect by having a computer on the
   Internet. That the best (Only) way to keep your computer safe
   is to cut the cord. I agree that it is safer to not go on the net, but if you want to stay current, or talk to others you need to be on the net. I wish that they would have covered the different types of devices (Router, Firewalls, Switchs) that can be used to help prevent attachs.
   
   When you get to Chapter 2 the book will cover what is happening
   with SPAM. He goes over a lot of different items on SPAM. He
   tells you that you can not do anything about SPAM. Then he
   talks about "The Solution" which he covers what a "Whitelist"
   and a "Blacklist" are. He covers the way a Bayesian filter works.
   This is one of the ways to protect your machine that he goes into
   a lot of detail. He does cover the what kind of messages
   look like that are SPAM.
   
   In the next chapter he goes into SPYWARE and what it is
   caused by and what kind of software it is in. He does cover
   the information about "Gator" and what they have done.
   He does cover the how to get rid of it, and what you can
   do to be careful and not get it in the first place. It is good
   information, and if you follow the advise it help keep it
   off your machine.
   
   Each of the chapters cover a different type of security risk.
   I wish that some of the chapters would have covered the secuirty topic in more detail. As I have stated above, the second chapter covers spam. The information that they talk about is good, but it could have been better. One of the things that was lightly touched on was a way to discover if the mail that you are getting
   is really from the sender. This is one of the chapters that I
   was looking really forward to.
   
   One of the other items in the book that could have been covered
   in better detail is the Phising section. They talk about how
   it is done. I would to like to had it covered in more detail.
   With more about the ways to discover it. They talk about how
   a user can determine the if an Email is really fake or not.
   Most novice users will not have the first clue on what needs
   to be done. I wish that it would have been covered in a little
   more detail. One of the other items that I wish had been covered
   is that all of the major Credit Card companies will never ask
   you for this information. It is information that they have on
   file already. I wish that he would have done a little better
   on explaining what was happening.
   
   You can tell he has done his research on what is going on in
   the real Internet. He does a good job at explaining what is happening over all. I wish that the book would have given more detail on what was being covered.



3. While reading this breezy introduction to the unlikely but inevitable cloak and dagger cyber world of hackers and spammers, encryption and "things that go ping in the night," I had a terrible sense of estrangement mixed with fear and loathing simply because I knew and know jack diddly about hacking and how to protect myself against it. So I suppose this book is a start, lesson one in Cyberspace judo.
   
   There are eight chapters, covering such topics as spam and spyware, worms and viruses, scams and counterattacks against the black hats. In one chapter Biggs explores the "Dear Friend," advanced-fee fraud, often referred to as the "Nigerian potentate scam," or simply "419" since it is section #419 in the Nigerian Criminal Code.
   
   You might recognize this con as the outrageous come-on that promises you a nice percentage of some many millions of dollars if you will allow an abused princess (or such) of some African country to use YOUR bank account for a transfer of the millions. (Right!) Of course you'll be asked for a few thousand dollars up front... Biggs writes that "in 2002 over 16,164 Americans, including 74 who reported losses totaling $1.6 million, reported being suckered by 419 scams." (p. 72) Biggs actually found one guy, a Dr. Shahla Ghasemi, who admitted to personally losing $400,000 to the scam. (p. 77) But Biggs also shows how he and some others had a lot of fun by leading these would-be scammers along with encouraging emails and baited bits of information.
   
   Biggs also introduces us to some notorious hackers and spammers, "Ebola Monkey Man," Marc Maiffret aka "Chameleon," and Alan Murray Ralsky, "the spam king of Detroit," for example. There are some black and white photos of Web pages and persons, including one of Patrick Kroupa aka "Lord Digital" caught in dark light in front of his lap top, looking for all the world like a cross between Darth Vader and a young Bobby Fischer. (There is an element of glorification in this book that may be off-putting to some.)
   
   There is also something eternally juvenile about the nether world of Internet "hax0rs" and spammers, something gloriously amateurish about their pursuits and values. Why hack? To make a buck, to gain fame, to win the heart of the prom queen? No. Because it's fun and because it's there? Yes, oh, yes. Why spam? Well, in the case of spam, if somehow the monetary reward could be removed, that is, if somehow people would NOT reply to spammers and their scams, then spam would gurgle to a trickle.
   
   In other words, the nefarious world of black hats and white hats, phreaks and crackers, acne-sprouting adolescents in trailer parks and spam king millionaires in Cancun is an all too human world doing what humans do best. That is, trying to rip each other off while puffing out their chests.
   
   John Biggs draws a distinction between amateurs (e.g., "script kiddies" and "punks"), and the pros who go after Citibank and other places where the money is. Script kiddies create nothing "but are just stupid enough to be dangerous" (p. 125) while the pros can, if they like, toss their black hats and don white ones and become hired guns who hack for the establishment.
   
   He also makes a distinction between "free as in freedom" and "free as in free beer"--a very nice distinction new to these ears. There is freedom of expression, and there are free things worth having. Be sure you know which is which. I should also note that Biggs's mantra throughout is "open source, open source, open source." (As opposed, I imagine, to "Microsoft rox, dude!")
   
   Personally I think somebody like Gilbert and Sullivan ought to make a comic opera of the whole scene with dance numbers and catchy tunes. The Net is in a sense a soap opera in which you can play a part. All it needs is a musical score.
   
   Like many books that have their birth on or about the Internet, Black Hat is full of flashy terminology and tortured syntax, missing words and choppy organization characteristic of quick and easy netstyle communications, featuring not fully professional editing. Nonetheless this book is definitely worth reading if you are, like me, pretty much an amateur Cyberian. A more engaging and professionally accomplished (but more narrowly focused) intro to this world is Spam Kings (2005) by Brian McWilliams, which I also recommend.



4. Black Hat is an excellent, enjoyable read that tells the computer layman just about everything he needs to know about the dangers of online computing. If you've ever used a computer, you'll already be familiar with some of the topics discussed here - spam, viruses, online scams, etc. John Biggs takes you much further into these dire subjects, however, and I can almost guarantee that you will learn something you didn't already know - which is especially good, in that it can translate into better computer security for you. This isn't just a "what they are, what you can do" kind of book, though, as Biggs also takes you some way into the hacker community and lets you take a gander at the kind of mindset that drives all these script kiddies and outright criminals making our online experiences much less enjoyable than they could and should be. Hackers weren't always the spawn of Satan, and you will find a measure of respect in these pages for the hacker purist community, but that reflects the feelings of many computer experts. Your original hacker did it for the challenge, and I daresay software designers learned a great deal from these intellectually-oriented hackers - and what they learned has been incorporated into tighter, more secure software than we would have seen otherwise. There is a difference between these guys and the unscrupulous minds working their scripting magic to bring down networks or steal your personal data. The book ends on a positive note, as Biggs talks about the White Hats out there working silently to offset the dangers posed by today's Black Hats.
   
   The book opens with an illuminating look at spam and some of the Spam Kings making money off what they consider to be a legal business method. This is the best overview of spam I've ever read; it gets a little technical in places, but it's a truly informative read. From there, Biggs is off to spyware and adware, those increasingly pernicious programs that install themselves silently on your hard drive, bombard you with unsolicited pop-up ads and slow down your system's performance speed significantly. I take care of the public computers in a university library, and these malicious programs are a constant thorn in my side. As many precautions as you take and as many sites as you block, these things just multiply like rabbits and keep coming at you thanks to users who have no qualms about clicking on anything and everything they see online. If you are an online user of any kind, you really need to know all you can about protecting your computer from spyware and adware, and the author tells you all about it in this book. Lest we forget viruses, these are also covered in some detail.
   
   Call me crazy, but I actually enjoy getting ye olde "Nigerian" scam emails; they are a constant source of amusement, and you have to wonder if anyone actually takes these things seriously. They do, and they come out much poorer for their mistake. Biggs tells you all about the most popular scams in perpetual online existence - including phishing, which is becoming increasingly sophisticated these days. Music companies will surely be pleased by Biggs' chapter on the pirating of movies, music, and the like. File-sharing and peer-to-peer networking have spread like wildfire across the Internet, and you had better know what's what unless you want to wake up one day to find the FBI knocking at your door. The book closes with chapters on the many different types of hackers and the White Hats working to protect you from the bad guys' exploits. Biggs really gives you a good idea about where these guys are coming from.
   
   I deal with many of the problems detailed here on a daily basis, and I learned some really good and useful things from this book. Thus, I would heartily recommend Black Hat to computer novices. If you spend any time online, you really need to learn how to protect your data and identity, and Black Hat provides a great deal of helpful information in a very engaging manner.



5. If you know nothing about computers or have no common sense read this book. If not, do not it's a waste a time. You are better off just googling case studies of internet scamming cases.

No comments about The Power of One (Rina Martin Mysteries).

No comments about Complete Manual of White Collar Crime: Detection and Prevention.

3 comments about Preventing Identity Theft in Your Business : How to Protect Your Business, Customers, and Employees.

1. The main problem with this book is that the author has an 18-year background in industrial and organizational psychology - not particularly relevant to an issue that is primarily IT connected! Thus, her focus within the book includes a good deal of employee testing - for intelligence, interpersonal skills, etc., and then a very bland, unnecessarily broad, textbook approach to reducing exposure.
   
   Collins claims that most identities are stolen from businesses by a few dishonest employees - not via "dumpster-divers" or online hackers. Perhaps. She also VERY BRIEFLY covers phishing (Internet and telephone), gobus payroll checks, and outsourcing payroll processing, as well as inherent difficulties in pursuing identify theft - involvement of numerous jurisdictions, shortages of investigative staff.
   
   Topic is very important - however, it would be much better addressed through a reformed practitioner who has kept up to date.



2. Based on research conducted at Michigan State University, this step-by-step, practitioner's guide shows you how to implement an identity-theft protection program. Author Judith M. Collins includes useful background information about the types and frequency of identity thefts and identity crimes. She emphasizes the steps your company can take to prevent and remediate identity theft. She also provides a chapter on "best practices" for customers and advises companies to include these best practices in their marketing materials. If your company is serious about dealing with identity theft, we recommend this book as an extremely useful guide.



3. Notes taken while studying for CPE credits by fcpas.org
   
   copyrighted 2005
   
   p2 Eye opener several sections detailing facts on why identity theft may never be completely eradicated.
   
   p50 The author offers a "Seal of Information Security" upon a business completion of the exercises included in Part II & Part III of the book.
   
   Additionally, this book includes an email address and telephone number for the ID Theft Crime & Research Lab to assist with questions.
   
   The book offers some recruitment techniques as far as employee selection which in most cases include assessments tests. There is an emphasis integrating employee feedback and reward systems.
   
   Chp 19 includes a footprint on how to set up web site security assessments for customers and employees.
   
   Chp 23 reveals the background for the HIPAA database and the types of information gathered and the "accessibility given to hundreds of organizations that also have access to the database."
   
   Overall, this book is a 5 but I gave it a 4 since after stopping on Chapter 19 there are approx 135 hours of "building blocks" tasks that must be performed to maximize the benefits of protecting a customer from identity theft. This is not an obstacle but IMHO the expectations would be that the building blocks would have to be done on a continuous basis while performing the normal business tasks. I think this could be mitigated in a large organization but in a small one this could be a barrier.

1 comments about Viruses and Spam (Cyber Citizenship and Cyber Safety).

1. It is a disturbing sign of our times that this book exists, aimed at the 9-12 year old reader. In carefully simple language, it explains the perils of viruses and spam. Computers are now so commonly used by kids in that age range that they are likely to encounter these things.
   
   The intent is to educate them, and diminish the dangers. Given that viruses can propagate through email attachments and by various peer to peer networks. So it is not just email that can act as a vector of malware.

No comments about Downloading Music (Issues That Concern You).

2 comments about Risk Revolution: The Threat Facing America and Technology's Promise for a Safer Tomorrow.

1. If you want to know more about the post-9/11 world in which we live in today and the kinds of threats that endanger our very way of life, then you must read this book. If you care about balancing your personal privacy with our national security, then you must read this book. And if you want to know how technology can mitigate these risks, then read this book. The subject matter deals with issues surrounding safety, security and privacy, but not in a "duct-tape and plastic" sort of way. This book offers a new way of thinking about our national security as well as our personal security concerns. And the fact that it is written with passion and conviction by the CEO of a data analysis company only adds to the intrigue of this book. It's a real eye-opener!



2. This book will make you think, even if you don't really want to. When the newspapers are filled with fear mongering from the left about a loss of civil liberties, Smith makes a good case as to why if we don't do something to take advantage of new technologies, we'll lose the very rights the left claim to be protecting.
   
   Anytime you can get Steve Brill, Orin Hatch and the privacy lobby all on the same page...you're doing something right.