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 The Delinquent Girl.

5 comments about The Fugitive Game: Online with Kevin Mitnick.

1. Face it, whether you're a white hat or a black hat - hacking is hacking. Alas, the term "ethical hacker" is merely a way for those breaking the law to rationalize their behavior. Littman did a great job of exposing this great debate in the book. In the field of information security, Mitnick is known to all of us as the king of social engineering. Let's be completely honest (even Mitnick and Littman exposed this in the book)... Kevin is not good at hacking but rather at exploiting the human factor. That is - humans are the weakest link in this whole information security thing - not the systems themselves. You want to design a secure system? - educate your users, administrators, managers and executives on how to be wise and vigilant and adhere to a sound security policy.
   
   Thank you to Mr. Littman for showing us the many sides of Mitnick's life. I look forward to reading about Poulsen next in "The Watchman".



2. This is the best book I read about Kevin Mitnick's exploits, time on the run, and eventual arrest. It reads like a thriller, is true to it's subject material, and is informative too. If you want to know the story behind one of the country's most noted computer hackers, this is the book to read. (Until of course he publishes his memoirs :-)).



3. Well, maybe it's because I always wanted to live the new economy revolution that happened there in that time and I always wanted to be "connected" even if I was too young and my parents could not understand my point. I'm a bit "obsessed" by this story and not just because there's still something to be clarified, but because the scenario and the period where these events are based mean something in the Internet history. I've red the books, the documents, the reports, the old post messages and nearly everything that is available on the net, and I can say that definitely this book add something more to all of that. I like the author's perspective as well because he wants to understand what's really behind. Of course, as the author's himself said, the book is based mainly on dialogues and interviews with all the people involved in the story, but at the end I hoped there was the chance to extract more details about who really attacked Shimo and why Kevin was handling Shimo's files. I got the feeling that all the phone calls reported were at the end too dispersive and distant from the real secrets of the story. But I believe the author did that to point out what was really behind Kevin's way of behaving, and what really was his point of view, and the book is really successfull in that. Probably what left me a bit disappointed is that I hoped at the very end the author could ask Kevin something more to get more light on all the story after his capture, but probably just my expectations were too high.



4. I saw the movie "Track Down" with Skeet Ulrich and that intrigued me enough to want to read this book.
   
   I really enjoyed this book and found it very informative and fair to the subjects, since it is a true story.
   
   highly recommend if you are interested in computers and those that hack, just from the vicarious thrill, as well as how to protect yourself online!



5. The same author wrote "The Watchman" which is about Kevin Poulsen. I loved that book and this book.
   
   It's good to read a more reliable story on Mitnick than what came from garbage that John Markoff wrote. You actually get to hear the stories the way Mitnick explains them. He trusted Littman (the author) enough during his hiding time to call him and talk to him for hours at a time and explain what he's done, what he didn't do and his life on the run. You also get to see snippets of how corrupt John Markoff sounds during this entire thing and I don't think Littman even meant to do that.
   
   I do like "The Watchman" a bit better... at times reading the long conversations between Mitnick and Littman can get a bit repetitive or boring... However, most of the time it's very interesting.
   
   I'd suggest reading "The Watchman" first and then reading this book, as you'll notice a whole bunch of tie-in's from the characters in that book and how they relate to Mitnick. I found that fascinating how everyone was linked in one way or another...

No comments about Confronting Cyber-Bullying: What Schools Need to Know to Control Misconduct and Avoid Legal Consequences.

5 comments about Crimes of Persuasion: Schemes, scams, frauds..

1. A must-read. The author describes in details many different types of scams through which people get defrauded. The book is also fun to read because it shows how the scammers use people's psychological traits (like greed, insecurity, or even loneliness) to get them to part with their money. It's very interesting and you can actually see analogous strategies being played out in TV commercials or even in your daily interactions with people who try to get things from you. I feel much more prepared to deal with life after reading this.



2. I bought this book after looking at the table of contents and seeing the plothera of cons that can be done to people and businesses. I wanted to use the book as a comparative to ethical marketing. Well guess what? You can argue that the con man and the businessman uses the same tatics!!!! Indeed, in this book there are some straight cons that are blankety illegal, but, others really aren't so cut and dry. Some methods that marketers use and "get away" with you can find on informocials past and present. Some of the biggest names and best selling products and services in history have been used by marketers using some of the methods in this book. I think the blur between whats legal and illegal can be a matter of what the government and law enforcement choose to do with a company.
   
   This book was an eye opener and I thought that there is no way I could be conned, but, I see as the author pointed out that anyone can be conned, including the author with all his knowledge.
   My only caveat is that a consumer can read this book and may think that everything is a con because the con man and legitimate companies are so much alike. The real difference is what is deemed as value by consumers, lawyers, gov't and all who choose to be involved.
   My only other complaint is that I was left wanting more details!! Things such as the economics of the con and cost analysis of hiring and building the company of each con and a whole lot of other specifics which probably would've catapult this book to 1000 pages!



3. This book gives a great over view of con artists and their work. It offers a much needed balance given the media's tendency to glorify con artists and the crimes they commit. The focus on the victims is a wonderful aspect of this work.
   
   Although they are psychopathic and antisocial, they are not loners. Con artists have many relationships and I have been most interested in their family relationships. I highly recommend this book to people who are the family members of convicted and suspected con artists. This book will help you come to grips with the real person behind the con and it is not pretty!
   
   The author (Henderson) does a great service as he points out that con artists cannot work without accomplices. Often people become unsuspecting accomplices when they endorse a con artist or his/her business.



4. ----------------------------------------------------------
   "Imagine then, a worthless item covered in gold dust so fine that while appearing lustrous, a simple puff of wind or breath reveals its true value." p.5
   ----------------------------------------------------------
   
   I own the first edition (2000). I believe Les both wrote and published it himself. There is so much raw data here, I think an editor would have provided some measure of control. That's one explanation for the book being over 600 pages long. Another culprit is the large font size. I suppose one justification for that might have been the anticipated readership, i.e., senior citizens who might be scam targets (and who I suppose have bad eyesight!).
   
   Still, the author is to be commended for tracking down these scam artists. If the book is not as attractive as one from a major publishing house, so be it. The message is still valid, and the cost of purchasing "Crimes of Persuasion" must surely pale in comparison to the potential for lost life savings.
   
   After all, it is easier than ever to get scammed and we must always remain vigilant. Is an offer too good to be true? Then it probably is. While not advocating paranoia, I believe a healthy degree of skepticism will prevent criminals from taking your money easily. As well, there is a responsibility to keep an eye on our elderly relatives who are, it must be said, ripe for the picking. Many older people have a trust and respect for their fellow citizens which can be exploited. They also may be unable to fact check or do due diligence online.
   
   ----------------------------------------------------------
   "Offenders routinely include an element of urgency in their pitches, stressing that the prize, investment, or other item being offered will not be available unless you send the required funds quickly." p.13
   ----------------------------------------------------------
   
   This book covers many variations of scams, some popular, some less encountered. Pyramid schemes, Ponzi schemes, chain letters, Nigerian 4-1-9 ("The manufacture of impressive stamps and letterhead is now supported by a huge infrastructure funded by the huge success of this industry." p.522), lottery and sweepstakes, medical billing, money clubs, affinity fraud, and much, much more. Even other ways of separating yourself from your money, such as boiler room telemarketing, or face-to-face street scams like the pigeon drop.
   
   Ever received a series of calls (or newsletters) accurately predicting market trends or even specific stock movement? Here's the magic behind the curtain:
   ----------------------------------------------------------
   "The scammer began with a calling list of 200 people. In the first call, he told 100 that the price would go up and the other 100 were told it would go down. When it went up, he made a second call to the 100 who had been given the "correct forecast." Of these, 50 were told the next price move would be up and 50 were told it would be down. The end result: Once the predicted price decline occurred, he had a list of 50 persons eager to invest." p.90
   ----------------------------------------------------------
   
   In addition to the concerns I mentioned at the outset, only five pages of "Solutions" at the very end of the book seemed light. The pagination as it relates to the Table of Contents was also askew. Hopefully the 2nd edition (2003) remedies these issues, and is more readable. I'm guessing so at least on the latter point, since it is listed at a slimmed down 436 pages.
   
   Once you are prepared with the knowledge and insight to repel scammers, you can watch late-night Get Rich Quick informercials just for the fun of it.
   
   ----------------------------------------------------------
   "The unnaturally happy and enthusiastic audience is paid to applaud and look dumbfounded as each new feature is revealed." p.482
   ----------------------------------------------------------
   
   Further reading might include License to Steal and The Big Con:
   
   License to Steal : The Secret World of Wall Street and the Systematic Plundering of the American Investor
   
   The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man



5. If you are interested in protecting yourself from different types of "once in a life type opportunities", then read this book. There are several good books on this comprehensive topics. I found this one an easy read. It covers all of the major (and their variations) frauds/schemes you are likely to encounter. I have take many proactive steps are reading this book to protect my identity and myself.

5 comments about Charade.

1. Story is about a very obese young man faced with societies rejections, lack of love, his struggle to confront his situation, and the pitfalls along the way. His few "friends" add to his difficulties until fate and a kindly "loner" set him on a corrective course. Book grabs you from the very beginning and is hard to put down. Highly recommended for adults young and old, of both sexes.



2. I enjoyed Morris' 3-mystery "Cat" series and decided to try another book by him.
   I quickly became involved with Ollie, the main character and his troubles as a fat man in a world that values thinness. The pivotal event in his life was poignant and horrifying. The clear parallels with "The Count of Monte Cristo" made the story even more intriguing and it was fun to watch the transformation of Ollie from a sweet introvert into a vengeful charmer. An exciting and satisfying conclusion ended this enjoyable book.
   Apparently, Gilbert Morris is a prolific author in many, many genres. I'd like to read more of this kind from him.



3. This reminds me of one of my favorite books, The Count of Monte Cristo. The protagonist is duped in a scheme and plots revenge. You'll have to read this page-turner to find out if he goes through with it or not.



4. CHARADE
   
   By Gilbert Morris
   
   Review by Laura V. Hilton
   
   Price $12.99
   
   
   
   
   Ollie Benson is a computer video repairman who loves to invent computer programs in his spare time. At the urging of a friend, he sends his latest program in to a company and, to his surprise, they want to buy it! Suddenly, Ollie is rich beyond belief and everyone wants to be his friend. Even as they are repulsed by his obesity, they are drawn by his wealth.
   
   
   
   Ollie is an innocent and not sure how to take his new-found popularity. He watches people and, if they seem repulsed by his hideous appearance, he stays away. But his agent, Dane, convinces him that he must move to California, and there Ollie finds love. Or so it seems.
   
   
   
   When the two people Ollie most trusts betray him, Ollie develops and carries out the most elaborate plan for revenge. It is truly spectacular, and leaves no room for error. Can Ollie carry it off? Or is it possible something or Someone will change his mind?
   
   
   
   I didn't want to like CHARADE. It just didn't sound like a very good book: an obese, computer geek hero suddenly thrust into the world of the rich and famous. Still, I picked it up and couldn't put it down. I read CHARADE through in one sitting. Ollie is real. He's lovable. He's the guy next door.
   
   
   
   I figured out where the story was going early on, but even so, it wasn't disappointing. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, especially once Ollie learned to stop reacting to other people's opinions and focus instead on his own individuality. That is when it really became interesting. Fantastic book. My only complaints were that some of the events seemed unrealistic and that the Californians Ollie came into contact with seemed very fascinated with all things Confederate. $12.99. 304 pages.



5. I bought this book because it was labeled as Christian suspense. It started out great, but I was soon disappointed. The characters weren't very believable, and there were several errors (his explanation of receiving a large amount of cash in a briefcase within two hours simply by making a phone call and giving the secret number to his account is inane). Other things were not explained at all. I was able to suspend disbelief about his social naivete, but other things just didn't make sense.
   
   As Ollie gets further along in his search for revenge, he seems to believe that if people are wealthy they are living empty, if not immoral, lives... and certainly there are many who do. However, money itself is not evil, it's the love of money that is. (In fact, anything that is put before God.) For all Ollie knew, there may have been many wealthy Christians living in that community who were doing godly things with their money, but he was judging them by how he felt personally. This viewpoint didn't seem to change, even when he realized it wasn't up to him to judge others.
   
   Another thing that bothers me is his (seeming) belief that animals and the earth's ecology are more important than humans... certainly, that is the Sierra Club's viewpoint. For Mr. Morris to be pushing this secular organization as worthy is offputting.
   
   The underlying theme was forgiveness, and he delivered it fairly well. However, forgiveness is unilateral, and doesn't mean that the person who is being forgiven should not be punished for his illegal deeds in this world. Lying to the police so that a person can evade justice is wrong, no matter how good the intentions.
   
   On the whole, I'll give this 3 stars because I did want to read to the end to find out what happened.

3 comments about Information Warfare Principles and Operations (Artech House Computer Science Library).

1. This book presents an information warfare framework that is more aligned to national infrastructure and military systems protection than commercial enterprises. However, the framework and systematic discussion of all of the relevant elements of information warfare can be applied to any environment - commercial, government or military.

   The framework itself is sound and is the foundation of any infowar readiness posture. The book emphasizes a readiness posture that is defensive in nature, and the approach set forth addresses both strategic and tactical defense considerations.

   There are a three of interesting viewpoints provides, which is consistent with the systems engineering approach taken: (1) hierarchy of strategic components. These are presented topdown with defense and deterrence paths as follows: Policy, Strategy and Operational levels and Operational Influence Relationships. (2) A strategic process that encompasses development of strategy, threat analysis and assessment of effectiveness. (3) Operational model, comprised of perceptual, information and physical layers.

   Issues such as MEII (Minimum Essential Information Infrastructure deployment and modes of operations are cogently discussed along with associated tactical responses (surveillance, mode control, auditing/forensic analysis and reporting). The conceptual and process framework is augmented by a solid discussion of security technologies that are still in the large as accurate and valid today as when the book was written in 1998.

   What I especially like about this book, aside from the systems engineering approach and viewpoints, is the complete coverage of the full spectrum of information warfare, including more subtle issues such as data and knowledge analysis, the cursory examination of offensive operations (seeing the info war from a hostile's viewpoint), and the copious amount of detail provided for each of the topics and subjects associated with infowar.

   This book is an excellent starting point for corporate security organs that have matured to the point where infowar defensive measures can be effectively addressed. Although infowar is an element of information security, the mindset for defense requires a vastly more mature security program than normal network and system security practices because the threats may not be strictly technical in nature. This book will prepare you for the realities of infowar and give you insights about how it can be incorporated into your security posture.




2. Starts out a little dry, but it's the necessary building blocks for the rest of the book. This is a great end-to-end description of the science of IW. Good buy!



3. Good Book - a little hard to grasp if you have no experience in the field but brings together all the information.

5 comments about Computer Forensics: Principles and Practices.

1. This books gives some decent insite into the world of computer forensics if you have never touched on the subject before, but you certainly will not come away with the ability to perform computer forensics on your friends old hard drive. Leave that to the experts...
   
   Helped me to provide my high school students to the introductory world of computer forensics and that was all I needed it to help me with.



2. Best computer forensics book for non-technies. This book explains computer forensics, infosecurity and cyber-risks that managers, lawyers, and Internet users will be glad they knew about.



3. I used this as a textbook for my Forensics course. The contents and material in this book are very organized and accurate. It has all the essential infomation you need to know about the field of Computer Forensics. Several key points were summarized really well and right on targets. Highly recommended for readers.



4. I liked the book. It opened my eyes to a lot of areas I knew nothing about. I can understand previous reviewers who weren't happy with the book. Some material is dated and it isn't an All-In-One text on the subject. But, if you're just starting out, like me, it is a great first read. Also, by actually doing the Projects in the back of each chapter, especially Chapter 7 and 8, you'll get a ton of information on very useful forensic topics and techniques including, software that you can download and use for free, etc...
   
   If some websites for the software don't exist anymore, Google the names and the info on where to get it will come up. If you are into learning forensics, having to find this info shouldn't discourage you, otherwise you're learning the wrong subject.
   
   I had a blast with this book and it really wet my appetite to learn more. What more could you want from an introductory text on any subject.



5. You can't really blame the publishers. By the time a book about computer technology is in print, it's already out of date. This one is no different. A couple of key points seemed to be missing (such as locking down USB devices in the registry and a decent discussion of Linux utilities). Subjects are glossed over, but not discussed in detail. I have other books that are better that are significantly less money.

5 comments about Internet Forensics.

1. This book should be titled, Internet Security for Complete Idiots. If you think it's a good book, it's because you don't know much about Internet security. If you're a security professional and you think it's a good book, find a new career.



2. O'Reilly has had a hard time with their computer security lineup since they started expanding it a few years ago. While they have tried to focus on tight subjects with short volumes (this book at about 220 pages is no exception), these books often wind up being cursory treatments of the subjects, and in some cases downright wrong.
   
   Sadly, Internet Forensics is not an exception to this rule. While I like this book more than some of the other recent O'Reilly security books, that isn't saying much. We've come to expect clear, authoritative books or inspired tricks and tips type martial from O'Reilly's authors, and instead we're given unfocused, incomplete pages.
   
   To be fair, the topic of Internet Forensics is broad, not very well focused, and no one has written a good book on the subject. It's coming into the foreground, especially in this past year, as threat analysis has become popular. This is a new, wide open field, covering a broad range of malware, spam, phishing, and malicious website analysis coupled to tracking the origin and leading to takedown of the materials. However, this book doesn't really do a good job of much of that. And, at the end of 2006, some of the material feels positively quaint (even though it came out in late 2005). Although the author has defined his target audience in the introduction (infosec professionals, and software developers and IT operations people), I don't think they're well served with this offering.
   
   Chapter 1, an introduction to the book, is short and scattershot. Nothing promised in the preface is really delivered (no overview of spam, phishing, or other threats). Instead, it's just some writing with little focus. This tone carries throughout the book. Chapter 2 covers the basics of IP addressing (what the heck?! if you don't assume your readership knows this, they're in the wrong place), and then talks about DNS lookups with dig and whois. The people reading this should know how to use these tools already, where are the suggested requirements for the reader? Sadly, no tips on disambiguating whois results (p 22) are given, not an unexpected finding in this book. And we start with the inefficient Perl scripts, too. All in all, we're not off to a good start.
   
   Chapter 3 covers email, and sadly we waste time on the basics of email headers, and then go into making very good use of them. The coverage here is inconsistent and again, unfocused. By the time you finish chapter three with "is it really spam?", you're left wondering what the heck the author wanted you to learn. Chapter 4 is slightly better, focusing on on URL obfuscation. Sadly, none of the techniques given really hold up all that well any more. Again, we start with some basics and try and get somewhere, but along the way we're distracted and we've never really gotten a good sense of what's the objective.
   
   Chapter 5 on websites tries to cover some ground, but again, it's too unfocused. We talk about mirroring a site (why "wget -r" isn't listed, which is a common way of getting a malicious phishing site or directory, I don't know) and we even talk about SQL injection, but I don't know what the author is really after. It feels like random observations thrown in with no overall goals. Chapter 6 talks about web servers, and we talk about headers and redirection, and then delve into Netcraft stats (why?) and honestly I'm not clear what was useful here. This felt more like introductory material than anything useful. If the readers are infosec professionals, they should know what a web server header looks like and how to properly fingerprint the server.
   
   Chapter 7 is the complement to that, and talks about your browser. Again, some useful info, but it's incomplete. No real discussions about why you want to alter things other than some basic concepts. Chapter 8 talks about file contents, and there's some interesting basics on examining Word docs (track changes, strings, etc) but aside from some basics, there's not much great there. Sadly, no discussions on how to un-redact a PDF are given, just that it's been a problem.
   
   Chapter 9, which is a nice departure from solid technical materials, comes up short. It's incomplete and disappointing. Chapter 10 talks about pattern detection and signature creation, but again, this could have been beefier.
   
   Chapter 11, "case studies", is OK, but some better treatment to tie the lessons learned (or hopefully imparted) would have been nice. Finally, Chapter 12, "taking action", isn't very useful. No real great info or insight is here, and if you think that you'll be calling police departments about every phishing site, you're in for a sad wake up call -- there's just no way you can do that. One of the comments made in this chapter, specifically wanting to see a community response, tells me that the author (Jones) isn't well connected to the community that actually does track and respond to these threats.
   
   Internet Forensics is a poor attempt at this broad subject. While I appreciate the scope of what the author is trying to do, the execution is weak and suffers from a lack of focus or discipline. A book twice this size covering a fraction of the material, well executed, would have been a better offering. If you feel you must get this book, make sure you get it at a steep discount.



3. For me, this is an excellent book! Like Mr. Herrington, I would not recommend it for everybody. But, if you have a technical background,
   like myself, and are intensely interested in the dynamics of the internet, then this book will complement your existing knowledge in more than one area. It is well-written, pithy and truly lives up to its title.
   Thank you, Mr. Jones



4. Internet Forensics
   By Robert Jones
   October 2005
   Pages: 238
   ISBN 10: 0-596-10006-X | ISBN 13: 9780596100063
   
   Very nice. This book covers various interconnected internet security issues including email forensics, the inner workings of SMTP, spam, phishing, hacked spam-bot servers, proxy servers, anonymous surfing, and DNS. This is a relatively easy read considering the topics and the book is generally written in such a way as to tie all the topics together into a cohesive analysis. This was helpful since real-world situation never involve only one of these technologies but instead require a progression. The book discusses both theory and practical application.
   
   I found the information helpful and would like to see the next edition cover each topic with more depth. Also I would like to see more variation of the email topics. For example, a section on Outlook/Exchange specific emails, IMAP protocol emails, etc. could be useful. There were some sections that would benefit from more examples as well. For instance, a section on how to dissect Microsoft Outlook formatted emails using Cygwin or Linux would have been a nice edition.
   
   I definitely recommend it and enjoyed studying the contents.
   
   Summary:
   
   - Very good advice for both professional in the computer security field, hobbyist, and those concerned with personal computer security.
   - Focus is on practical advice and examples



5. I disagree with the opinion that only people who know nothing about security would get anything out of this book. I am network infrastructure engineer for routers and switches, have past experience with Microsoft OS's, and have a security+ certification. I am NOT a security expert or computer forensics specialist but I have some security knowledge and I really enjoyed this book.
   
   You won't become a security expert reading this book but It's an interesting and educational read for someone with some technical background who would like a surface level introductory. For me, this was a pleasure/entertainment read and I wasn't looking to use it as the basis for a career as a security expert.
   
   I do like that the author provides real examples that you can try out yourself to explore further.

5 comments about The Watchman: The Twisted Life and Crimes of Serial Hacker Kevin Poulsen.

1. If you like true crime stories, this one is for you. I wont try and debate the truth of the book, (it's a controversial subject)because I dont know the truth. But I know this is a good story, even if there are a few fabrications here and there.
   
   I am a computer geek at heart, so I especially loved this book. But even my non-technical girlfriend loved it, it's a great story.
   
   The storytelling in this book is magnificent, you really get a feel for his personality right off the bat, and the story is filled with excitement and suspense, and pardon the cliche, is impossible to put down. The first time I picked up the book, I sat and read it to the end, despite my best efforts to walk away from it.
   
   The imagery is great, and you start to feel a closeness and sympathy for Kevin, and you forget at the time he was a criminal. You hope he doesn't get caught, and cringe when he does. You watch him do well, and slip, like an addict who can't take control, and you start to feel an understanding of what it was like for him.
   
   Overall, I would say from a technical standpoint, it's a great read. From a true crime perspective, great read as well. Good all around book that's entertaining from start to finish.



2. Jonathan Littman's The Watchman is well written and engaged me enough to read it in one sitting. I wanted for some time to learn more about Kevin Poulsen having heard about some of the exploits attributed to him. This story accomplishes that in a compelling way and manages to be pertinent years later. This is required reading for anyone wishing to know the darker side of the hacker sub-culture, about Kevin Poulsen, Ron Austin or Justin Petersen and some of their creative mischief and crimes.



3. I had Kevin for dinner on 1 July 1999. It seems he was about to marry my wife's first cousin, who--at the time--was an attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Neither was I impressed by Kevin's putative depth of knowledge, nor did he indicate that this book bore the least relationship to his exploits. I was just disappointed all around. I believe my wife made her Polynesian meatballs.



4. Computer security is not only part of my job, but a bit of a hobby of mine, so I love reading books like this. This book was fun to read and I read it in pretty much one night. This is a rare feat for me... I barely ever read books in one night, much less a few nights. So that should tell you how much fun the book was to read.
   
   The reason for 4 stars instead of 5? 1) It only comes in a hard cover instead of a paper back? At least, I couldn't find a paper back anywhere! 2) It's obvious (and Poulsen has commented on this) that the author has made up some things that Kevin said or did. However, this is obviously to keep the book interesting and make for a better read... So, don't take everything that the author says to heart, but the underlying story is still pretty much what happened from what I understand and have found to be true, anyway.
   
   Great read, thrilling, exciting and fun. If you like stories about computers, security and hackers.



5. I'm a huge fan of hacker and true crime stories, and although I'd certainly heard of Kevin Poulsen, had no idea his capers were as vast and varied until reading this book! It's obvious from the opening pages that Poulsen's understanding of how the telephone network operated was simply profound. Coupled with his imagination and penchant for adventure, this true story reads like anything but. And wait until you read how he handles being outed on "America's Most Wanted"!
   
   Highly recommended. If you're looking for other great books on the topic, check out "Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier", and "The Hacker Crackdown: Law And Disorder On The Electronic Frontier".