Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 224 pages
- Published by: Prentice Hall; Bk&CD-Rom edition December 16, 1996
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 013243718X
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0132437189
-
Book Dimensions:
9.2 x 7 x 0.8 inches
- Weighs: 15.5 ounces
Ben Rothke, Senior Associate with Coopers & Lybrand Consulting, Computer Security ALERT, May 1997, No. 170
Halting the Hacker lives up to it's billing as a "practical guide." It is a ledger of how to set up and secure a Unix-based network. It details numerous approaches and techniques that hackers use to gain system access, privileges and control of a system. Its key benefit is that it clearly and quickly details numerous countermeasures (both reactive and proactive) that one can take to stop most hackers.
For example, tips on dealing with "doctored logs."
The system manager may be able to tell that the logs have been altered but not be able to tell what information has been altered or removed. If the system's auditing allows for auditing of events to a specific file, you should audit all activities that pertain to log files. If you are using syslog to save the log files to another machine, the connection to that machine should be audited.
The book comes with a CD-ROM library of
software tools to detect and eliminate security problems. At under 200 pages, it is readable in a few hours and one can put numerous solutions to immediate use.
InterexPress, February 1997, Vol. 17, No. 2
Halting the Hacker, A Practical Guide to Computer Security (CD-ROM included) by Donald L. Pipkin, a technical consultant for Hewlett-Packard specializing in security issues.
This well-organized book, packed with information for those responsible for the security of a UNIX system, includes a comprehensive "Information Archive" on security and hacker- related topics and an appendix of printed and online periodicals. It outlines how hacker transform minor oversights into major security breaches, how they cover their tracks while leaving "back doors" into the systems, and how to detect break-ins--and what to do next.
Reader Reviews
This review is from: Halting the Hacker: A Practical Guide to Computer Security (2nd Edition) (HP Professional Series) (Paperback)
This isn't a heavily technical book. Unlike many of the other security books I've reviewed, this isn't full of tcpdump traces and the like. It is, however, a really excellent overview of security that can introduce a system administrator or a general manager to the subject. There are actually a very few pages that deal with things like disabling unused services, but that's just 14 pages from a 337 page work, and those are really more illustrative than specific. Instead, this covers the who, the how and the why of hackers, the legal climate, and includes examples of actual incidents. Perhaps a good indication of the target audience is the Glossary, which includes definitions for "back door", "client/server", "Kerberos", "newsgroup" and "Trojan horse". If you are looking for programmer level information, this isn't what you want. On the other hand, this is much more technical and focused than something you might read in Newsweek or your Sunday newspaper. Recommended for business owners and managers who need to understand computer security even though others may actually implement it, or as a base introduction for technical people with no previous exposure.
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