Comments on: Hackers Beware: The Ultimate Guide to Network Security

By: SimsJS

SimsJS — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:01:53 +0000

Although this book is useful to both beginners and security administrators, it is written so beginners can get a great understanding of what hacking is about and how to protect against it. The examples are thorough and provide step-by-step screen shots as to what happens during a certain exploit. It also tells the counter measures for each attack therefore enabling you to combat such an attack.

This book is a definate “must read” for anyone currently involved in or who wants to be involved in computer/network security.
Rating: 4 / 5

By: Marco De Vivo

Marco De Vivo — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:55:14 +0000

There are four main kinds of computer security books:

1) Books containing large enumerations of known vulnerabilities and attacks.
2) Books covering the theoretical related aspects.
3) Books on computer forensic areas.
4) Some kind of hybrids of two or more of the above.

'Hackers Beware' is a well balanced hybrid of 1) and 2) categories.
I think of it as a sort of Hacking Exposed (the book) enriched with theoretical background and detailed explanations.

In the plus side, this book offers:

- Well structured by kind of attacks and by kind of Operating Systems.
- Well written chapters on Fundamentals of Unix and NT.
- The author, a recognized specialist and SANS' high rated instructor.
- Full of well documented analysis of relevant exploits.
- Discussions (although short) about 'Rootkits', 'Buffer Overflows' and 'Covering the Tracks'.
- Chapter 17, 'Other Types of Attack', specially for the PGP ADK Exploit presentation.

In the minus side:

- As a book relaying on 'current' exploits, it could easily be short-lived. If future additional editions are scheduled (a la Hacking Exposed)...OK, else ...Beware!

- Chapter 18, can be found (updated) in the Internet. Chapters 19 and 20 are just fillers.

I use this book mainly as a reference book for my (undergraduate) students. Rating: 4 / 5

By: Todd Hawley

Todd Hawley — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:33:19 +0000

I am not a system admin nor do I play one on TV. However being a computer professional, I have an interest in the topic of network security, and how crackers and “script kiddies” infiltrate network systems. This book offers a wealth of network security information that even “novices” like myself can easily follow. And in some of the examples Cole discusses, it’s almost scary to discover how easy it is for someone with even a little bit of knowledge to infiltrate a computer network. Cole’s book while dauntingly large contains a wealth of information that any security professional should know about. One of my sys admin friends was commenting to me that books like Cole’s allow the “script kiddies” to learn about exploits without doing any of the work that a “black hat (cracker)” or “white hat (hacker)” might do to exploit a system. However big a risk that may possibly be, I still feel it’s best for any security professional to be informed about all the various types of exploits they may deal with. And with a book of this size, there are obviously lots of them to discuss.

Cole discusses exploits against Linux, UNIX, Windows, and Windows NT and the myriad of programs (password crackers, network sniffers, back door programs, etc.) designed to break into other people’s systems. Each program is described in full and what it does. Cole also offers suggestions and solutions in various chapters to keep unauthorized users from accessing various systems.

While you will never be 100% safe from an “attack,” Cole’s book offers ways to keep your system from being attacked or ensure that the chances of it actually happening remain remote, or the “damage” from such attacks stays minimal.
Rating: 5 / 5

By: Ben Rothke

Ben Rothke — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:11:59 +0000

While Hackers Beware may not be the `Ultimate Guide to Network Security’ in my opinion, it still is nonetheless an excellent book on how networks attacks are performed.

The book details how attackers gain access into different type of operating systems and hardware platforms. More importantly, Cole describes countermeasures to use to defend against the various types of attacks and exploits he describes.

Overall, an excellent reference for anyone needing to understand how hacking works and how to defend against them.
Rating: 5 / 5

By: Richard Bejtlich

Richard Bejtlich — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:10:26 +0000

I am a senior engineer for network security operations. I have attended Eric Cole’s excellent SANS classes and consider him a professional acquaintance. “Hackers Beware” is a welcome contribution to the security community. Although some of the material is redundant, you’re bound to gain new insights on network intrusions by reading this book.

The message of “Hackers Beware” is clear: prevention is preferred, but detection is mandatory. To discover intrusions, one must understand the tools and tactics of the adversary. To this end, “Hackers Beware” devotes chapters to information gathering, spoofing, session hijacking, denial of service, buffer overflows, password security, access preservation, and log cleaning. Some of the material in these chapters is based on the “practicum” required of SANS students.

My favorite section, without doubt, was chapter 17: “Other Types of Attacks.” It features many valuable essays by SANS students on BIND NXT exploitation, cookie-based overflows, SNMP enumeration, and other topics.

Publishing student material has its drawbacks, however. “Hackers Beware” is repetitive, a sin given the book’s page count (778). Why include yet another explanation of buffer overflows in chapter 14, for example, when a whole chapter (7) already discusses them? (Actually, Brent Hughes’ work in chapter 14 is more enlightening!) Furthermore, the “fundamentals” of UNIX and NT chapters are much less informative compared to Ed Skoudis’ chapters in “Counter Hack.”

I also recommend New Riders help the author overcome his addiction to “three phrase sentences,” such as “Now the Internet is very popular, and everyone is using Linux because it is powerful and inexpensive, so the number of people beating on the system is very high.” (p. 480.)

Future editions should reduce the number of vulnerabilities described in favor of more thorough explanations of sample exploits. For example, a virtual reprint of cDc’s advisory on a NetMeeting weakness teaches me very little; providing background on the coding, system calls, and principles of this exploit is more useful. I would also pare the student-based material down to the essential core, removing generic material discussed elsewhere.

I’d almost buy “Hackers Beware” for chapter 17 alone, so I’m sure security professionals will find many reasons to enjoy this book.

(Disclaimer: I received a free review copy from the publisher.)
Rating: 4 / 5