Customer Reviews

Introduction to Internet Security: From Basics to Beyond (Prima Online)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It covers security technology and privacy law, also how consumers can use free security software to protect their business secrets.

The book discussed warnings by cyber rights advocates about the threat of Big Brother government and corporations.

This book is easy to read, filled with interesting background, and filled with helpful diagrams.

I read it two times. The first to get a grasp of the rather complex technologies. The second, to get an appreciation for the culture surrounding hackers, viruses, and the industry that seeks to stop them.

It helped me get a promotion, and I'm not computer literate. Two thumbs up!

Della Sanchez

Excellent Primer on Encryption, also digital signatures.

Easy to read, with lots of charts and illustrations.

The information on PGP was particularly helpfull.

You must be prepared to be disillusioned, because the incredible number of threats identified in this book are vast; from viruses, to hackers to Big Brother, etc.

What the book does well, is provide the basic definitions of the technologies employed to both violate us and protect us. It was entertaining, considering the subject matter affects all of our online privacy and security.

I rate it highly for my students.

Olive Dean Teacher, Atlanta

Interesting Discussion on Privacy and Security

I liked the following: the book raises points of great interest to business, since secrets could not be protected if corrupt companies and governments captured them, and sold them to the highest bidder.

The book also provides information about employee rights with respect to e-mail on the job. It also talked about how a software company was penalized when they damaged an installation that was late on its bill.

The book also gives a short history of PGP, the encyrption program that helped educate everybody.

Good book for those who want a nice overview of electronic security threats and security technology.

It is very easy to read, written by somebody who seems to have a great deal of experience and understanding of the big picture. It reminded me of a book entitled, "Information Warfare" (can't remember author).

Excellent disussion of the potential for government and largecompanies to become Big Brothers.

The author gives the example of agovernment agent who sees valuable corporate data. He asks the question, "who could resist the urge to sell valuable secrets for money?"

Its kind of a profound question, one that the J Edgers can't answer. With "page 28" torn out of every report with government doing the investigations -- its not likely that any victim of Big Brother espionage would know who stoled their secrets.

I highly recommend this book to all who have been violated on AOL. The author talks about the harm that actually comes to victims of hacking and e-mail violation.

I rate it an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10.

The book goes beyond the Internet, also discussing other forms of electronic violations and defenses.

This book also raises many interesting points dealing with privacy, security and freedom of speech. The points make for good debating points for students and advocates of the 1st, 4th and even the 6th Amendment.

I like the book's coverage of the Telecomm Reform Act of 1996.

Fun reading -- not your typical techno-bore. Easy to read, with many interesting stories from the world of hackers, phreaks and crackers.

Most network security books only deal with the Internet, but "Introduction to Internet Security" discusses other threats that might be hurt the Internet user. Such as video surveillance of monitors and printers.

He also discusses the topic of encryption strength, and explains why longer encryption keys are harder to break. Of course, SSL is covered, along with other technologies.

This is also the only book that documents the case of Phil Zimmerman and PGP, and the problem of law enforcement having access to corporate secrets.

I would recommend this book to anybody -- especially those who are beginners. Most terms are explained clearly, with lots of helpful diagrams and charts. There is also a glossary at the end of the book.

This is one of the only books that discusses the program "AOHell" that tormented many users during the mid-90s.

The program allowed hackers to pretend to be AOL officials, solicit funds, knock users off line, and even violate their e-mail boxes.

I know somebody who's e-mail was violated on AOL, and the online service didn't know much about it. They should have probably read the book.

This book also tells the story about how the U.S. government is attempting to outlaw our ability to use strong encryption, and how the treat of bad law forces consumers to keep on top of this issue. There is some analysis, and discussion of the history of government and large businesses. The conclusion reached by the author and any reasonable person: unless you equip yourself with defenses, there is no security or privacy online.

I heard the author on the radio recently, and he talked about how Congress seems to be now siding with high-tech industry (which is pro-encryption), but that our "friends" in trench-coats are still trying to keep American citizens from protecting their businesses and private affairs.

Good book. I would strongly recommend it to anybody who believes in NOT questioning authority. When you are done with this book, you go well beyond the "questioning" level.

Good overview of security threats to PCs, and Internet. For every threat, the author provides information about solutions (often free software).

The chapters dealing with encyrption and how to use programs like PGP were helpful to me. The charts and illustrations made some of the more difficult concepts easy to understand.

There was also valuable information on recent legislation dealing with privacy and security on the Internet. I was amazed at how law-makers are passing laws that compromise our privacy and security.

In this book, the author indicates that e-mail violations take place all the time.

After reading this book, I decided to take action, and went out and purchased an anti-virus program. Some of my friends don't believe that hackers are a serious threat, but I do. When I first joined AOL years ago, I got several e-mail messages that had virus infections in the attachments. AOL didn't really explain how I could protect myself, and I recently checked and found that they aren't giving away free virus protection like they used to.

When you read about all the threats that are out there -- it makes you realize that everybody online is a potential target of hackers. I'm not waiting for the next virus to take my business out.

Netbla@aol.com Boston, Mass