Customer Reviews

The Best Damn Cybercrime and Digital Forensics Book Period

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This book has a lot of good info in it, but the editing was spotty at best, and all too often downright terrible.

Also, the first page of the book says that when you register it, you can "access our solutions@syngress.com Web pages. There you may find an assortmnet of valueadded features such as free e-books related to the topic of this book."

Maybe what they mean by, "...you may find..." is that you MIGHT find those things. In this case, I found no such thing.

While I wouldn't say the book was a waste of money or time, some of the editing was so bad I feel compelled to provide specific examples:

1) p. 260:

It says "Psychical Memory" where it should say "Physical Memory"

-OK, the laugh I got thereby made this mistake more enjoyable than irritating.

2) p. 377:

"It will read image files created with ICS, SafeBack, and forensic software "forensic software" as meant? and uncompressed images created with Ghost..."

-Looks like somebody's interim notes were left in the document, or...?

3) P. 378:

Exercise 4.3 is mentioned, but I could not find an Exercise 4.3 in that chapter.

4) p. 509:

"The boot directory contains a static foals knitted by the boot loader."

-What in the world are "foals knitted"? Baby horses created by a needleworker? Did they mean "files needed"? Was somebody typing this from a recording made by an author with a strong southern accent, or what?

5) p. 509:

"The etc directory contains consideration files which are local to the machine. Certain larger packages such as X11 have their own subdirectories with consideration files under /etc."

-I've never heard of "consideration" files, and they are mentioned TWICE! Presumably they mean "configuration" files, or...?

In view of the foregoing, I would have to say the book does not live up to its chest-thumping title. It's only mediocre, and so has no just cause to crow like that, claiming superiority over all of the other CF books.

Immediately after a crime takes place, police secure and cordon off the location. Even those not in law enforcement recognize the need to secure a crime scene to preserve the integrity of the forensic evidence. When it comes to digital forensics, many professionals do not have the same level of expertise in securing their own digital infrastructure.

This book, with the not-so-humble title of Best Damn Cybercrime and Forensics Book Period, is indeed a very good starting point to gain that requisite level of digital forensic knowledge. The book shows the reader just about everything he or she needs to know about the entire process of electronic discovery and digital forensics.

The book's 20 chapters cover the entire spectrum of the forensic process. The first several provide a high-level overview. Chapter six offers a thorough review of forensic software and hardware solutions. Additional chapters contain valuable details on investigations and analysis software, such as Windows and Linux, and routers and other technologies. The book concludes with chapters on BlackBerry devices and MP3 file issues.

The work shines in that it provides various insights from 19 different authors, all of whom have significant real-world experience. The downside is one of consistency--always a problem with collaborative works such as this--the fact that there are multiple authors generally means that some chapters are better written than others, and that is the case here.

While the book's title flirts with hubris (there are indeed better cybercrime and forensics books), it is nonetheless a valuable introduction and resource. Anyone looking to get a comprehensive overview of digital forensics will find this a rewarding read.