Security Warrior

Security Warrior

by Cyrus Peikari and Anton Chuvakin

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Book Description
When it comes to network security, many users and administrators are running scared, and justifiably so. The sophistication of attacks against computer systems increases with each new Internet worm.

What's the worst an attacker can do to you? You'd better find out, right? That's what Security Warrior teaches you. Based on the principle that the only way to defend yourself is to understand your attacker in depth, Security Warrior reveals how your systems can be attacked. Covering everything from reverse engineering to SQL attacks, and including topics like social engineering, antiforensics, and common attacks against UNIX and Windows systems, this book teaches you to know your enemy and how to be prepared to do battle.

Security Warrior places particular emphasis on reverse engineering. RE is a fundamental skill for the administrator, who must be aware of all kinds of malware that can be installed on his machines -- trojaned binaries, "spyware" that looks innocuous but that sends private data back to its creator, and more. This is the only book to discuss reverse engineering for Linux or Windows CE. It's also the only book that shows you how SQL injection works, enabling you to inspect your database and web applications for vulnerability.

Security Warrior is the most comprehensive and up-to-date book covering the art of computer war: attacks against computer systems and their defenses. It's often scary, and never comforting. If you're on the front lines, defending your site against attackers, you need this book. On your shelf--and in your hands.

Quote:

Security Warrior is, indeed, a dangerous book. Not so much for the specific tools and techniques it presents, as all of them can be found on the Internet, but because the book collects all this information in one convenient, easy-to-read volume. With a subtitle of “Know Your Enemy”, this book provides a powerful compilation of attacks against software, networks and individual systems.

Given that hundreds of security books are out there, I was a bit skeptical this one would live up to its claim of being so different. However, as soon as you enter the first section, “Software Cracking”, you know you are in for a different ride. After a quick refresher on assembly language, this section covers how to reverse engineer software in Windows, Linux and Windows CE, with the focus on how to crack malware such as viruses or spyware. I personally found this section a bit slow-going, but I did learn a good bit from it. I especially found the text on overflow attacks quite relevant, given the large number of such attacks around today.

For me, the book really hit its stride in the second section, “Network Stalking”. After a brief review of basic TCP/IP attacks and tools, the text dives into active and passive reconnaissance, OS fingerprinting and hiding an attack. Chapter 7, on social engineering, seems a bit out of place in this section, but it is an interesting read nonetheless. In later sections, I enjoyed the well-written chapters on hardening UNIX/Linux systems and UNIX/Linux attacks, which include information about breaking out of chroot jails that I hadn't seen in other security books.

My only minor complaint about the book is the editing is a little uneven. Most sections are well done, but in a few cases there are references to topics that “would be covered later” but never are. In another case, I felt there was unnecessary duplication of information. Overall, I found this book to be a strong text with a refreshingly different spin on computer/network security. If you are responsible for system or network security, Security Warrior is definitely worth reading. [/b]

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