Cyber Spying Tracking Your Family's (Sometimes) Secret Online Lives [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Ted Fair (Author), Michael Nordfelt (Author), Sandra Ring (Author), Dr. Eric Cole (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1931836418 | ISBN-13: 978-1931836418 | Publication Date: April 26, 2005 | Edition: 1st

This book shows everyday computer users how to become cyber-sleuths. It takes readers through the many different issues involved in spying on someone online. It begins with an explanation of reasons and ethics, covers the psychology of spying, describes computer and network basics, and takes readers step-by-step through many common online activities, and shows what can be done to compromise them. The book's final section describes personal privacy and counter-spy techniques. By teaching by both theory and example this book empowers readers to take charge of their computers and feel confident they can be aware of the different online activities their families engage in.

Expert authors have worked at Fortune 500 companies, NASA, CIA, NSA and all reside now at Sytex, one of the largest government providers of IT services.

*Targets an area that is not addressed by other books: black hat techniques for computer security at the personal computer level.

*Targets a wide audience: personal computer users, specifically those interested in the online activities of their families.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. Eric Cole is an industry recognized security expert, technology visionary and scientist, with over 15 year's hands-on experience. Dr. Cole currently performs leading edge security consulting and works in research and development to advance the state of the art in information systems security. Dr. Cole has over a decade of experience in information technology, with a focus on perimeter defense, secure network design, vulnerability discovery, penetration testing, and intrusion detection systems. Dr. Cole has a Masters in Computer Science from NYIT, and Ph.D. from Pace University with a concentration in Information Security. Dr. Cole is the author of several books to include Hackers Beware, Hiding in Plain Site, Network Security Bible and Insider Threat. He is also the inventor of over 20 patents and is a researcher, writer, and speaker for SANS Institute and faculty for The SANS Technology Institute, a degree granting institution.

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Syngress Publishing; 1st edition (April 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931836418
• ISBN-13: 978-1931836418
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #555,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Local Network or Local Computer Spying, May 2, 2005

By 

Harold McFarland (Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cyber Spying Tracking Your Family's (Sometimes) Secret Online Lives (Paperback)

This is not a book about security and defending yourself from spying but the basics of why one might consider spying on other members of their family. Whether because they suspect infidelity, criminal activity or some other concern there are a lot of reasons why people might want to find out what others are doing on their computer. A very important point made in the beginning of the book is the question of the ethics of spying including the effect it has on the trust of a relationship. The authors also point out that sometimes spying is much less of an ethical consideration. Sometimes it might be part of protecting your children from online predators or other real dangers.

The book covers the basics of spying including creating a plan, getting the right software or hardware to implement the plan and actual implementation. The authors do a good job of pointing out how we leave tracks behind and how to get rid of those tracks as well as how to exploit them.

Written for the novice user it starts at the very beginning with things like how to open the command prompt and running explorer. From there it goes on to look at more basic as well as intermediate level techniques. The authors even include information on some rather advanced software such as ethereal (one of my personal favorites). It does give you a solid understanding of what the different software is capable of doing but really doesn't provide a thorough treatment of any of them. In the case of Ethereal and Snort both have complete books written about how to use them effectively so obviously part of a chapter barely scratches the surface of what can be done.

For the most part it teaches the easier ways of finding out information without using difficult advanced tools. It includes how to access areas where passwords, usernames, etc. are stored as well as directories and files that do not show up in explorer unless you know how to hand-enter the path to them.

Whether you are spying on someone's web browsing, e-mail, internet chat, or instant messaging the basics are all here. They even include information on how to remove evidence of your activities and ways to tell if you are being watched.

These techniques are mainly for local network spying and not for use over the Internet. Although still subject to many ethical and other considerations, for the purpose of finding out what is going on within your local network Cyber Spying is highly recommended.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting material that can be used or misused..., April 24, 2005

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cyber Spying Tracking Your Family's (Sometimes) Secret Online Lives (Paperback)

Cyber Spying - Tracking Your Family's (Sometimes) Secret Online Lives by Ted Fair, Michael Nordfelt, and Sandra Ring (Syngress) is one of those books that evokes some strong emotional reactions to the content...

Chapter List: Why Spy?; Spying Basics; Technology Overview: Computer Basics; Network Basics; Taking Control; Spying On The PC; Spying On Web Browsing; Spying On E-mail; Spying On Chat And Instant Messages; Advanced Techniques; Counterspy: Are You Being Watched?; Index

The authors cover a subject that may be controversial to some... how to spy on people's computer activities. Depending on when and how this is practiced, it could be construed as illegal or as a responsible parental activity. They start out explaining why spying might be necessary as well as the legal and ethical implications. There is also discussion about how overt and covert spying can be effectively utilized to get the results you're after. After that, there is coverage of the basics of computer technology for those who don't know much more than how to turn on the computer and read email. The rest of the book gets into techniques, software, and case studies of surveillance to explain how it all fits together.

From a technical perspective, the book is very interesting. If you need to find out more about the activities of your kids, this book will most definitely help you get there. But as with all information, it would be very easy to use this same information to spy on other people (like at work). The information on computer basics also seems to be somewhat unnecessary, but I need to remember that I'm probably not the target audience for some of this information. And even if you've been working with computer technology for some time, I'm sure you'll pick up some tips on how you can find out what's going on with your computer (or figure out how to cover your tracks more effectively).

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars measure and countermeasure, April 1, 2005

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cyber Spying Tracking Your Family's (Sometimes) Secret Online Lives (Paperback)

With all the continuing publicity in the general media about nefarious activities on the Internet, and the possibility of crackers tunnelling into your computers, the average person might be bewildered at what to believe. This book tries to provide a rational and non-sensationalistic basis for protecting your home computers. Plus, and perhaps more to the point, to safeguard you and your family from online predation.

There is necessary but mundane background on the basics of computer hardware and software and networking. But the book quickly moves into numerous spying methods. For surveilling a PC, browser, email, IRC and Instant Messages. Basically, for all the common modes of usage of a computer. The authors show that there are some disturbingly powerful programs and hardware devices floating around out there, available to anyone. Like the Best Free Keylogger, which is available from sourceforge, no less. Scarcely a suss website, eh? BFK captures keystrokes and screen captures, and can periodically email this data to any address on the Internet. A bloke could have some fun with this.

A utility of the book is simply alerting you to the existence of programs like this, even if you never avail yourself of it. Which leads into the last section of the book - countermeasures to various methods described earlier in the text. Parse it carefully.