Customer Reviews

Crimeware: Understanding New Attacks and Defenses

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Crimeware by Jakobsson and Ramzan sets a new standard for security books. It is both eminently pragmatic and at the same time, a scholarly work. I thought I knew a bit about malware, but I learned tons from the book. I struggled a bit with 16.2 Crimeware-Resistant Authentication and encourage the authors to take another look at that when they do second edition and this book simply must have a second edition. It will also be interesting to see if the taxonomy, chapter 2 takes hold. It would seem like we need a bit more of a classification system than Joanna Rutkowska's type 1 - 3 for our community.

The book gets right down to it, most authors waste the first few chapters with background information. Now to be sure, this is background, but it is pretty deep background. My favorite chapter is 7, botnets, but 6.3 JavaScript is very well done and immediately useful information to know. For a high speed pass, chapter 8 rootkits will get you up to speed, but that needs a whole lot more material to really cover the topic.

As this is an election year, and a crazy one at that, chapter 10 is a must read, it details a number of ways the election could be impacted, I think a bit about evoting machines might make a scary chapter even scarier. As soon as I finish this review, I need to send a note to a friend of mine concerned about click fraud, the authors do a great job on that in chapter 11.

And the best thing, the authors do not just tell you how bad things are, they spend a lot of time talking about defense. And if I can offer a thank you to the fifty or so researchers that helped with the book, thank you very much, the defensive information community is far better off for your efforts. A must own, must read, must read soon if there ever was such a thing. Order it now!

If you are looking for a book to show you what the bad guys are doing with computers to steal data or comprise systems then this is the book for you.

I really enjoyed chapter 7 on Bot Networks. Like most of the other chapters it covers the basics of the topic, then digs deeper into the workings of the subject. And if you really want deep detail the ending sections go into extremely deep details (the book says these sections may only be of interest to security researchers). Some of the ending sections were over my head. But, the ones I did understand opened my eyes to those topics in a different light.

This book will be on my reference shelf for quite sometime due to the detail and range of topics covered.

Crimeware is a collection of chapters collectively written by 40-odd security researchers. Sometimes this approach is a formula for disaster, but here the end result is a solid book that covers a broad number of topics. Because each author or group of authors know their field well, they can delve fairly deeply when necessary, and their material is technically accurate. However, some of the chapters are boring and lifeless. This book blocked my reading queue for about 4 months, which is a sign I found the text unappealing. It took a flight from Amsterdam to convince me to finish it! Still, I agree with many of the other reviewers -- Crimeware is an impressive examination of malware, on a variety of fronts.

Chapter 8: Rootkits, by Prashant Pathak, was my favorite. I've read books on rootkits before, by Pathak's chapter presented the subject in a very understandable manner. His methodical and disciplined approach seemed very effective. He explained various approaches and terms, instead of assuming the reader knew what he was discussing already. I recommend reading chapter 8 before tackling other books on rootkits.

Chapter 1: Overview of Crimeware, by Aaron Emigh and Zulfikar Ramzan; Chapter 6: Crimeware in the Browser, by Dan Boneh, et al; and Chapter 7: Bot Networks, by James Hoagland, Zulfikar Ramzan, and Sourabh Satish addressed the core malware topics I would expect to appeal to the sorts of readers who frequent my blog. While several other chapters offered novel research, these three plus the rootkits chapter are probably most helpful to those defending networks.

First off, to be fair I should point out that I am a co-author of one of the chapters (Chapter 5), but I still read the remainder of the book like everyone else, and I don't receive any benefit from sales, so I think the review is fairly objective.

This is the first book to describe the mounting problem of crimeware in a manner that is both accessible to a general readership and helpful to the expert reader. Written by expert contributors in the field of security, it details how cyber crooks are launching attacks on businesses and society, and predicts the trends in Internet security. In contrast to most security books, this book covers not only technical aspects, but also social and legal aspects of security. The book has descriptions of the current and predicted threat pictures, and discussions of meaningful countermeasures, including possible educational campaigns to support other countermeasures. It is a book that is difficult to put down once you have started reading, at the same time as it is likely to remain a useful reference for quite a while.

As has been commented previously, each chapter is more or less self-contained, and so readers can skip to chapters of interest. Further, rather than just considering the technical problems and solutions of online crime, it considers the broader holistic problem of security and crime. I strongly recommend this book to those that want to understand the current and future online threats.

There was a time when viruses and worms were written primarily for the purposes of creating chaos and getting 15 minutes of fame in the malware underworld. Script-kiddies could crank out exploits that spread like wildfire and interrupted computer and network productivity, but with little impact or implication beyond the annoyance factor in most cases.
That time is gone. It has been gone for a while now. Professional criminals and crime syndicates eventually figured out that these same attacks and exploits, if properly crafted, could represent a windfall of ill-gotten cash. Rather than trying to have the greatest impact and notoriety, today's attacks seek to find a balance between compromising as many machines as possible while also staying under the radar and remaining undetected by users or security software.

The authors of Crimeware: Understanding New Attacks and Defenses have put together a comprehensive and thorough guide to current malware- which they call crimeware- and how to defend against it. Rather than go on about the scope of the book, I will just list the chapters and let you judge for yourself.

1.Overview of Crimeware
2.A taxonomy of Coding Errors
3.Crimeware and Peer-to-Peer Networks
4.Crimeware in Small Devices
5.Crimeware in Firmware
6.Crimeware in the Browser
7.Bot Networks
8.Rootkits
9.Virtual Worlds and Fraud
10.Cyberware and Politics
11.Online Advertising Fraud
12.Crimeware Business Models
13.The Educational Aspect of Security
14.Surreptitious Code and the Law
15.Crimeware and Trusted Computing
16.Technical Defense Techniques
17.The Future of Crimeware

This book is not just another compendium of malware and defensive countermeasures. This book provides that, but goes beyond that to educate the reader and provide tremendous insight about how and why crimeware works.

Five stars to Jakobsson & Ramzan for a most useful guide to understanding the underbelly of the internet. The strength exhibited by this book lies within the all-star lineup of contributors and the thorough dissection of the numerous forms of crimeware. Their book is a must read for anyone who has responsibility or an interest in protecting Personal Identifying Information (PII), Private Consumer Information (PCI) or Intellectual Property (IP).

As a self-described technological Neanderthal, I encountered only a few portions of the book which caused me to enter the world of "technological overload," anyone with a modicum of information technology understanding will have no problem cruising through the chapters and fully comprehending the various data points. The highpoint of each being the *countermeasures* presented at the end of each chapter.

Some items which I would like to highlight, as they resonated with me:
o Whether you are fully familiar or a nascent understanding of crimeware and its many manifestations, Chapter 1 alone provides a concise overview. This introduction gets your mind in swing, and puts you in the zone, if you have only time to read one chapter - this is it. You'll finish with a working knowledge and familiarity of crimeware.
o Crimeware's business model hit the sweet-spot. The explanation is clear. The monetization requirement of the perpetrators is accurate, and from my own perspective (i.e., that of one who invests heavily in the "why" side of these discussions), the content provides meaningful grist for future discussions.
o Education as a means to thwart crimeware makes imminent sense. Again the points advanced are spot-on, as the audience receiving *Security Training* must be exposed to the "why" before you try and project the "what" or the "do" upon them. I would add, that messaging, regardless of vehicle, be it cartoons, video, hoardings or print media, should be aligned to project the positive actions of a given scenario. The rationale being, individuals align with positive behaviors and outcomes and disassociate with a negative exemplar.
o The endnotes are in reality an extraordinary extensive bibliography on the topic of crimeware, which alone is worthy of review.
In sum, Jakobsson/Ramzan have it right - crimeware is here, and it is here to stay. Perhaps if we collectively work together we may be able to hold back those investing in the development of crimeware. This collaborative guide is a great stepping-stone to the next level of trust and engagement.

Christopher Burgess
Co-Author: Secrets Stolen, Fortunes Lost: Protecting Intellectual Property in the 21st Century (Syngress, March 2008).

This book is a must read of all serious cyber professionals. I had a hard time putting it down once I started to read it. It flows nicely.

Attackers usually choose the most vulnerable points as their targets. Thus, every computer user should be aware of the common tricks used by attackers. Crimeware investigate the attacks and defenses of malware from a variety of angles. It is the most complete book to introduce malware and the corresponding anti-measures. The first author, Markus Jakobsson, is one of the best researchers I know in cyber-security.

Crimeware
Understanding New Attacks and Defenses
Author : Markus Jakobsson, Zjlfikar Ramzan
Publisher: Symantec Press
Reviewed by: Michael Cooter

Pros: Covers wide variety of topics that would be of great interest the security researcher .
Cons: While covering Attacks in depth, I felt the defensive techniques very theoretical and not practical enough.

Chapter List: Chapter 1 "Overview of Crimeware", Chapter 2 "A taxonomy of Coding Errors", Chapter 3 "Crimeware and Peer-to-Peer Networks", Chapter 4 "Crimeware in Small Devices", Chapter 5 "Crimeware in Firmware", Chapter 6 "Crimeware in the Browser", Chapter 7 "Bot Networks", Chapter 8 "Rootkits", Chapter 9 "Virtual Worlds and Fraud", Chapter 10 "Cybeware and Politics", Chapter 11 "Online Advertising Fraud", Chapter 12 "Crimeware Business Models", Chapter 13 "The Educational Aspect of Security", Chapter 14 "Surreptitious Code and the Law" Chapter 15 "Crimeware and Trusted Computing", Chapter 15 "Crimeware and Trusted computing" Chapter 16 Technical Defense Techniques, Chapter 17 "The Futrue of Crimeware"

Book Review:
"Crimeware Understanding New Attacks and Defenses" is a new book from Symantec Press that covers the latest techniques in which malware(crimeware) is being used to infect, propogate and take over computer network, firmware, and systems.

The book is comprised 17 chapters that cover not only the latest in malware but also includes topics that are not covered any many other sources such as Transaction Generators, drive by pharming, and malware spread via wireless routers vs. the internet as an attack vector.

While each chapter is really a self contained entity independent of any other chapter, I read this book cover to cover in less than 3 days. I found the new topics (new to me anyways) such as Transaction Generators, how criminals profit from malware, and the threat of a Wifi Malware epidemic, kept me hooked as if I were reading a techno thriller.

The only reason why I would not give this excellent book a 5 star rating was I felt the chapter on new Defenses was lacking. While it outlined a new way of thinking in defense to counter these new threats, the same attention to detail of that the authors gave to the attack side of the coin, I felt was not given to defense. I found the defensive chapter to be far more theoretical than practical.




Summary:

"Crimeware Understanding New Attacks and Defenses" is an excellent read, and belongs on the bookshelf of any IT professional who has a responsibility or even an interest in latest in information security.