Not the best one, but good for the price/size   October 14, 2004

Big Names, Great Book   April 28, 2002

It is not just a good book, it is the best book among high level network security books, and the only that compares with specialized papers. Only quite easier.
I got more than 60 papers on buffer overflows. None compares with the classical 'Smashing The Stack For Fun And Profit' by Aleph One. IMHO, however, the corresponding chapter from this book, does compare and is really easier to understand.
Finally, the 'piece de resistance' of the book, is the chapter about Spoofing. Really enjoyed it, and by the way got surprised reading the innovative (to me) technique to 'Spoof Connectivity Through Asymmetric Firewalls'. Good Job Dan ;-)
As an added bonus, as an owner of this book, you'll find a lot of code files, applications and links...


Original content will satisfy security professionals   March 29, 2002
  8 out of 8 found this review helpful

It's difficult to find original material in most security books. "Hack Proofing Your Network, 2nd Edition" (HPYN2E) breaks that trend. Responding to feedback on the first edition, the authors have made numerous improvements in the second edition. If you're looking for relatively novel content in a security book, read the sections of HPYN2E I discuss next.

HPYN2E shines in many respects. The "laws of security" in chapter 2 are accurate and enlightening. Chapter 4 helps teach secure programming techniques by comparing insecure and secure code snippets. Chapter 4 also demonstrates debugging and disassembling code, usually not seen in security texts. Chapter 8 probably contains the most advanced coverage of buffer overflows I've read in a book. By actually showing and explaining stack traces, the authors share a level of detail sufficient to satisfy all but the most elite coders. Chapters on "diffing" (5) and format strings (9) are robust. Hardware hacking, thoroughly described in chapter 14, is fascinating. The author cared enough to include numerous clear photographs of disassembled equipment, and mentioned many helpful external web references.

While these great chapters comprise more than half of HPYN2E, the remainder is not exceptional. I was not happy with the rambling, wordy chapters on spoofing (12) and tunneling (13). Spare us the quotes from Dante's "Divine Comedy"! Still, this material is easily skimmed.

Because HPYN2E is written more from an intruder's point of view, the title doesn't seem to reflect the material. The book isn't exactly a "how to hack" manual, but it expertly illuminates many facets of compromising information resources.


Better than the rest!   March 14, 2002
  2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I have the first edition of this book also, and I was really glad to see the second edition come out. There are some great hacking books out now, but I really think these ones are the best. I found in depth coverage on a lot of stuff you just can't find any place else. Some very cool info. on administering hosts locked behind a firewall and tips for making a "poor man's VPN". I also like that a lot of big names wrote the book, and their personalities really come through. A lot of tech. books can be a little dry even if they are well written. This one is actually entertaining also.


5+ Stars are Deserved on this one!   March 12, 2002
  6 out of 6 found this review helpful

I picked this book up about a week ago, and have been reading it ever since- I'm reading slow because it's *really* packed with info. There is tremendous coverage on everything from Buffer Overflow, Format Strings, Tunneling, etc. I've spent a ton of time reading Chapter 12 on Spoofing- extremely well-done! There's coverage here of such things as:
* Spoofing SSL by using web graphics to simulate the appearance of an SSL encrypted connection. After all, the user doesn't know what's on the wire, only what's on the screen.
* Routing packets in userspace using libnet and libpcap- a step by step tutorial
* Establishing a TCP connection between two firewalled and NATted hosts by setting a low time-to-live on a connection request and having some broker on the internet spoof a connection response.
This book is an absolute must to own...