Customer Reviews

Cyber Crime Fighters: Tales from the Trenches

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I purchased this book because I am doing research on cyber crime to try to define a model that would help estimate the size of the "cyber crime industry". Anyone having spent any reasonable amount of time on this topic knows that current estimates range from an unjustifiable $100 million to an unjustifiable $1 trillion (I used to take Finjan seriously). Please understand that my level of awareness in the cyber crime space is relatively high.

By the title, I expected this book to focus on the activities of organized cyber crime and how law enforcement deals with it. However, upon reading, I quickly realized that there is a fundamental difference in the logic of the discussion of the book and the title of the book, at least I far as I would like to address it.

The overall tone of the book seems to be the use of technology by "deviant" men to abuse women and children. While I concur that 100% of the cases cited in the book are repulsive and the perpetrators should be castrated, I must say that I found the argument to be a bit more emotional than technical, which, by the title, is what I was expecting.

Notwithstanding the generally well-documented case studies, I detect a tinge of "revenge" in the writing, as if the authors had themselves been victims of some unfortunate on-line mishchief a bit closer to the heart than what they share in the book.

That said, please do not misunderstand me. This book is a well-written documentary of many people that have been criminally assaulted by delinquents that have leveraged technology to execute their crimes. Let there be no mistake: the crimes and criminals are real. However, I do not think "cyber crime" is the appropriate label for every instance in which someone uses technology to committ a crime.

"Cyber crime" is a term that should be used for crimes committed on-line. If I use a search engine to find your address and then I rob your house, this is not a cyber crime. This book considers this a cyber crime, and 90% of the book focuses on this tpye of "cyber" crime...crime that uses "cyber" technology as an enabler.

After this criticism that could be considered harsh, let me point out the srtrong points of this book. It is a clear, rationale account of how deviant people use technology to advance their malicious activities. There are some seriously delusional people that are unfortunately savvy in a techological sense. Advanced technology helps these people make their nastiness more efficient. The cases discussed are serious, many of the outcomes are tragic, and the people writing them are clearly passionate about reducing the risk of the potential victims of the crimes disucssed. For this I commend their effort, and I hope that they are very successful.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is being abused on-line, and I believe that the authors would intervene at a personal level to help you. I do not, however, recommend this book to anyone looking for a reference body for law enforcement acitivities in cyber crime.

Assuming the authors find my point of view misaligned, I would very much like to continue this discussion off-line. I personally guarantee that I will follow-up on any response given to my evaluation of this book. I publish and take responsibility for my reviews under my own name.

The old adage of 'don't trust a book by its cover' comes to mind on this one. As a computer security professional and forensic hobbyist myself, I was thinking this book may provide some in-depth information on crimes and investigative techniques you won't find on the evening news (or SANS newsbites). What I found though, was more appropriate for my 65 year old mother or other computer neophyte that needs some basic information to avoid being victimized. Instead of teaching us how to investigate/solve cyber crime, the core theme was how to avoid it. There were some times where I thought if my Mom did read this book, she would never use the internet. If I were to rename the book, it would be "The Internet is the Wild, Wild West - Here's Some Ammo". The topics were mostly generic in nature and I didn't feel like I was getting any privileged or unique information that I couldn't get from other sources.

So clearly, my expectations were not in line with the book, but I don't want to fault the authors. I realize my disappointment is entirely my fault for mis-interpreting the title. If I had read the "Message from the Authors", I may have been alerted that this is more of an "Internet Safety 101" course. If you are looking for such book, than by all means I recommend this book. If you are a computer security professional however, you may found this to just be a re-fresher with little added value.

As a security professional, I was greatly looking forward to some in depth stories of cyber crime, but was highly disappointed by the content of the book. There was no feeling that the authors had any first hand experience actually working with cyber crime - in fact, most of the information was simple recaps of online events that could be found on MSNBC or CNN - no additional details or insights, and certainly no first hand knowledge.

The book is egregiously self-righteous, emitting words of wisdom like, "Flirting online can have serious consequences." Wow. Really?

To be fair, I think the book would be a good read for NON-security professionals and parents, who would likely find the information useful and entertaining (and likely somewhat frightening). For someone who is truly studying internet defense and online security, I strongly feel the book is a waste of time and money.

This book is a real contribution to the war against those who would exploit our children. Any parent with concerns about the pitfalls of the Internet will find this book helpful. The authors' backgrounds in law enforcement make this a compelling story, "from the trenches."

A caveat, before I start. If I had kids, I might be more agreeable to the viewpoint this book espouses. The running theme of "protect your kids" and "be a responsible parent" is admirable and applicable to parents who have children capable of using a computer. From that standpoint, the book performs admirably.

I expected a more technical book on current internet crime. I expected stories about Mitnick and L0pht, of Anonymous and 2600. I did not expect "The Parents' guide to understanding the Internet." Much of my disasatisfaction stems from this.

As a young IT worker who squarely falls into the Libertarian side of things, I was also dismayed by the sheer amount of calls for laws, regulations and what I consider to be government oppression. The drug discussion is particularly annoying, with the authors taking on a sickening 'holier-than-thou' attitude which appears to be disturbingly prevalent among some law enforcement communities.

If you have kids, are planning on having kids or have a horribly naive view of the internet with your exposure limited to the Disney website, this book can be an eye opener to you. The subject matter is for the most part very accurate and what little technical content graces the pages of this book is sound. The title and cover art is horribly misleading. If you buy this book with the understanding that it's more of a guide for parents, you'll come away with some interesting info.

As a parent with minimal knowledge about the Internet, I was amazed at what this book offered. It was informative and interesting. I couldn't put it down. Anyone who has a computer, expecially if you have kids, must read this book!!! Excellent book - I loved the way the points were illustrated with real crime cases.