A.P. Lawrence

Internet Security-Risk Analysis, Strategies and Firewalls

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This is an excellent introduction to Internet security. It is well written, even entertaining, and does a very good overview of the entire subject from the first underground hackers to the current state of the internet. It is a little (just barely) dated, and that shows in coverage of Gopher servers and some other areas, but it is still valuable for at least a few more years.

A CD is included that includes most of the software tools mentioned, but of course that gets out of date almost immediately. Really, the value of this book is that the author (Othmar Kyas) has done a very good job covering his subject. He explains concepts well, and gets into enough detail to be interesting.

Although the jacket cover seems to say otherwise, this book does not deal extensively with the details of what you should do to secure your site. It is rather more of an overview of where the risks come from, and what sorts of tools are available to combat those risks.

I particularly enjoyed some of the illustrations of early hacker newsletters, and I thought the chapters that explained why and how specific protocols can be at risk were very well done. None of this is treated with any depth, but it is a good starting point.