Customer Reviews

Understanding and Managing Cybercrime

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This is an easy to grasp text. If you are not familiar with the total Cyber world, then this is the book for you. It provides a great overview and breaks it down into specifics. I highly recommend this text for those interested in the field of Homeland Security and anyone new to the IT profession.

The best college textbook I have ever read. It's just simple to read and informative without that convoluted wording

This is a unique book. I would have liked the book anyway, as I work at the same university as Dr. McQuade, and we talk on occaision about information security. So I want you to know my bias. But I am not talking about liking it, I am talking about being astonished.

Dr. McQuade wrote the book because he needed a really good book for his Computer Crime class. He was squirreled away for a couple of years, and now I know why.

The book motivates the average reader and student through being real and relevant.

The book calls to the aspiring and excellent student to do deeper, as deep as they want. The references, indexing, and especially "Critical Thinking" questions at the end of each chapter are amazing.

Dr. McQuade also leads by example. He cites frequently from his groundbreaking research. He leads in 2 areas, first he shows what rigorous social science research is about. He also inspires by giving an example of doing research, when there is not much to build on.

For information security professionals that know the law, but might not know it as deep as someone outside law enforcement, the chapter on relevant law is worth the price of the book.

Also, as an information security professional, I often forget to ask the question "Why?" The "Theoretical and Social Perspectives on Cybercrime" took me deeper than I have been before. It is a bit chilling to understand that a generation has been left alone with computers with little or no guidance on the ethics of responsible computing.

And if that weren't enough, the "CyberTales" and the cartoons actually make the book fun.

This is an intelligent, informative and entertaining (love the cartoons!) text dealing with cybercrime from a sociological perspective.

Note: I waited until I had completed Dr. McQuade's courses before posting my comment, so as to avoid as much bias as possible.

I purchased Understanding and Managing Cybercrime as the required textbook for my class. Having said that, it's the only book I purchased this quarter that I actually read. This book is a resource for anyone involved in network security, systems administration or computer consulting. And while it packs in alot of topics into its 490 pages, it's not written over the head of the casual computer user. In fact, the chapters on malware and computer attacks as well as victimization are pertinent to anyone who uses computers in either a personal or business manner.
For the scholar, this text is broken down into 3 main portions: What there is to attack; Who attacks and why; How they attack and what is/can be done to prevent it. From firewalls to FISA, from Critical Information Infrastructure to the history of Cybercrime laws... it's in there. Dr. McQuade is not an IT person at all, and will profess this to all who ask. He conducted research with experts in the field and combined it with his own criminal justice background to create a book that hits on all of the important topics while giving some personal insight.
The book is a bit difficult to read sometimes. Chapter 8 is very long, with a lot of historical information! And while the text is a little on the small side, it is delightfully broken up by "Cybertales" and cartoons.
The part I enjoyed most about this text, and which has shaped my view the most about managing cybercrime, was the section on Theories of IT-Enabled Abuse and Crime. Although no one can predict when a crime will occur, the "tools" in this chapter when combined with the lessons in the rest of the book will help the IT professional plan thier prevention of cybercrime.
As Dr. McQuade was oft to say: "Eventually, you're all going to get sued" Perhaps with the knowledge from this book, I will win.