Book Review - Extreme Exploits by Victor Oppleman, Oliver Friedrichs, Brett Watson
Category Book Reviews
Regardless of how many steps you take to secure your organizational computing environment, there's always some new exploit waiting to nail you. The best you can do is to understand your network and stay on top of the technology. Extreme Exploits - Advanced Defenses Against Hardcore Hacks by Victor Oppleman, Oliver Friedrichs, and Brett Watson can help you in that pursuit, especially in the networking realm...
Contents:
Part 1 - Core Internet Infrastructure for Security Professionals: Internet Infrastructure for Security Professionals; ISP Security Practices - Separating Fact from Fiction; Securing the Domain Name System
Part 2 - Defending Your Perimeter and Critical Internet Infrastructure: Reliable Connectivity; Securing the Perimeter; Redefining the DMZ - Securing Critical Systems; Intrusion Detection and Prevention; E-mail Gateways, Filtering, and Redundancy; Data Leaks - Exploiting Egress; Sinkholes and Backscatter; Securing Wireless Networks
Part 3 - Network Vulnerability Assessments: Vulnerability and Patch Management; A Winning Methodology for Vulnerability Assessments; Performing the Assessment - Part 1, Performing the Assessment - Part 2
Part 4 - Designing Countermeasures for Tomorrow's Threats: Exploiting Digital Forensics; Viruses, Worms, Trojans, and Other Malicious Code; Exploiting Software
Index
The authors of this book are real gurus when it comes to networking technology. I worked with Brett Watson at a prior place of employment, and I can attest to the fact that he really knows his trade. In the first part of this book, they go into networking and security probably deeper than any other book I've had the opportunity to review. To get the most out of the material, it helps to be firmly grounded in networking technology. If you're not a network administrator or if you're just starting out, you'll probably struggle to keep up. Parts 2 and 3 are also valuable sections. Part 2 continues the in-depth analysis of how best to protect your network from attack, along with software recommendations to implement your security plans. And if you aren't already using a formal methodology to continuously review your network security, Part 3 will help you set up the necessary framework to implement a solid security review. Part 4 probably is the weakest part of the book, in that most of the material is available from multiple other sources, and doesn't necessarily fit into the "extreme exploits" flavor of the rest of the book. It's good information, to be sure... Just not all that unique or special if you've read more than one other security book.
One feature at the end of each chapter stood out and works well... It's a "Checklist for Developing Defenses" along with a recommended reading list. Using the checklist allows you to make sure you understood what each chapter was getting at, as well as giving you a roadmap for implementing security in the particular area that was just discussed. And if a particular chapter was really applicable to your organization, the follow-up reading can help you get even deeper into the material. Good practical technique for helping the reader move from theory to application...
If you have the basics of network security down, it's time to pick up a copy of this book. While you may have to work at understanding the material, it will pay off in a system network that is much more secure than most...
Regardless of how many steps you take to secure your organizational computing environment, there's always some new exploit waiting to nail you. The best you can do is to understand your network and stay on top of the technology. Extreme Exploits - Advanced Defenses Against Hardcore Hacks by Victor Oppleman, Oliver Friedrichs, and Brett Watson can help you in that pursuit, especially in the networking realm...
Contents:
Part 1 - Core Internet Infrastructure for Security Professionals: Internet Infrastructure for Security Professionals; ISP Security Practices - Separating Fact from Fiction; Securing the Domain Name System
Part 2 - Defending Your Perimeter and Critical Internet Infrastructure: Reliable Connectivity; Securing the Perimeter; Redefining the DMZ - Securing Critical Systems; Intrusion Detection and Prevention; E-mail Gateways, Filtering, and Redundancy; Data Leaks - Exploiting Egress; Sinkholes and Backscatter; Securing Wireless Networks
Part 3 - Network Vulnerability Assessments: Vulnerability and Patch Management; A Winning Methodology for Vulnerability Assessments; Performing the Assessment - Part 1, Performing the Assessment - Part 2
Part 4 - Designing Countermeasures for Tomorrow's Threats: Exploiting Digital Forensics; Viruses, Worms, Trojans, and Other Malicious Code; Exploiting Software
Index
The authors of this book are real gurus when it comes to networking technology. I worked with Brett Watson at a prior place of employment, and I can attest to the fact that he really knows his trade. In the first part of this book, they go into networking and security probably deeper than any other book I've had the opportunity to review. To get the most out of the material, it helps to be firmly grounded in networking technology. If you're not a network administrator or if you're just starting out, you'll probably struggle to keep up. Parts 2 and 3 are also valuable sections. Part 2 continues the in-depth analysis of how best to protect your network from attack, along with software recommendations to implement your security plans. And if you aren't already using a formal methodology to continuously review your network security, Part 3 will help you set up the necessary framework to implement a solid security review. Part 4 probably is the weakest part of the book, in that most of the material is available from multiple other sources, and doesn't necessarily fit into the "extreme exploits" flavor of the rest of the book. It's good information, to be sure... Just not all that unique or special if you've read more than one other security book.
One feature at the end of each chapter stood out and works well... It's a "Checklist for Developing Defenses" along with a recommended reading list. Using the checklist allows you to make sure you understood what each chapter was getting at, as well as giving you a roadmap for implementing security in the particular area that was just discussed. And if a particular chapter was really applicable to your organization, the follow-up reading can help you get even deeper into the material. Good practical technique for helping the reader move from theory to application...
If you have the basics of network security down, it's time to pick up a copy of this book. While you may have to work at understanding the material, it will pay off in a system network that is much more secure than most...
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