Customer Reviews

Wireless Security: Models, Threats, and Solutions

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The subject of security in the wireless field is a rather confusing one. It relies on an intricate web of multiple and tightly interweaved technical and scientific disciplines way beyond what the average Berkeley "kid" will ever dream to hack. One is usually not an expert in all of these areas. The field has therefore been and pretty much remains the domain of a few top-notch pros.

To master the subject however does not mean that one has suddenly come up with an all-encompassing solution or a magic checklist. It rather means that one has acquired a broad and dense set of knowledge from communications theory to cryptography and from electrical engineering to network design that will allow one to apply discernment as to what may go wrong in a project and what options there are to address the issues, what may work and what may not work and above all why. Before you cook you must know what a kitchen is and what utensils are needed for what purpose.

WIRELESS SECURITY is not a cookbook. It is a massive and scholary exposition of lots of inter-related material much of which cannot be easily found elsewhere and even that which can be found elsewhere will require time and money until one produces it on one's desk, like the material on stream ciphers, on voice processing, or on embedded end-to-end secure systems that transcend vocoders and network infrasrtuctures.

Besides themselves, the authors have put together an impressive list of individual contributors to this book that reads like a Who's Who list from the government military and intelligence communications field and this brings an extra aura of authority and competence to this book. Many books these days are written by a self-appointed expert, usually a fly-by-night quasi-consultant, whose academic credentials at best span an evening class at a local community college and whose major technical accomplishment is that they can safely....start a C-language compiler from the command line, yet they portray themselves as undisputed experts on a cutting-edge subject.

Well WIRELESS SECURITY is not one of those books. It is a heavy-duty impressive textbook that has been clearly written by professionals for readers with a broad thirst and a deep desire to understand the multiple dimensions of the problem of wireless security. It does not give answers to all your questions, in fact it will generate many more questions in your head, but it will help you form a clear idea of contexts, possibilities, ramifications and implications, and more importantly it will steer you to the right direction for subsequent research on a subject. Isn't that however what a good textbook is supposed to be all about?

The book makes the reader sensitive about issues that many people (even professionals) today are simply not even aware about. It covers lots and lots of material from many relevant and seemingly remote areas, spanning from cryptography and voice processing all the way to integrated systems design, and from high-power eavesdropping techniques in the era of CDMA to weaknesses in the set up of wireless LANs.

Of course, if one is looking for a crytography-fundamentals book there are others that are much better suited to the subject. Or if one is looking for a How-To-set-up-your-LAN-by-grilling-your-vendors type of book full of checklists, then this is not for you. There are several other books on certain aspects of wireless security in the market, that are much less scholarly, and certainly less pricey than this one.

If one however wants to take a thorough and comprehensive look over the field of Wireless Security at large, then there should be no doubt that THIS is and by far THE book on the subject. There are no subfields in the area that it does not cover and the authors manage to do it in a nicely flowing style that never becomes boring, no matter how esoteric the subject is.

It is extremely well documented with lots of references and useful footonotes. The care of the authors and their passion about the subject is manifest all over the book. The only small weakness of this book is it has some annoying typos in a couple of places (however nothing critical in terms of overall correctness of text) including some of the earlier figures. If it goes to a 2nd edition the publisher had better address these with a competent copy editor as they do injustice to an overall superb effort.

I am working in the area of advanced DSP-based wireless communications security and in short, I find this book very useful. I refer to it very often during my work. I strongly recommend WIRELESS SECURITY to anyone seriously interested in the subject.

The Approach:
You can find elsewhere any of the issues covered by this book. But only in this book, they are presented all together in detail. Every wireless security related field is discussed and the correspondent defensive and preventive countermeasures are proposed.

The Book:
657+ pages, well structured into 13 chapters. Literally, hundreds of useful references, and plenty of figures, tables, and photos.

The contents:
- Wireless Basics
- Wireless Information Warfare
- Telephone System Vulnerabilities
- Satellite Communications
- Cryptographic Security
- Speech Cryptology
- WLAN
- WAP
- WTLS
- Bluetooth
- Voice Over IP
- E2E Wireless Security
- Optimizing Wireless Security with ASICs and FPGAs
- Extensive Bibliography

The Bottom Line:
As a researcher and professor of Computer Networks Security, I consider this book as a very useful reference for my students. Even if they use the book mostly to learn about WLAN, WAP, WTLS, and Bluetooth security issues, many of them (the students) have been exploring the rest of the book to improve their knowledge. As far as I know, they use particularly: the cryptographic chapters to complement the regular (Dr. Stallings) textbook, and the Wireless Information Warfare chapter to improve their general background.
A unique in its kind book.

I'm an active systems architect from Sweden working with multiple types of wireless communications devices(cellular, Bluetooth, etc.). I have been looking for a comprehensive coverage of security aspects in RF transmissions for quite some time. A colleague of mine recommended this book to me.

My first reaction was surprise due to the breadth of its coverage. It gives a well-rounded view of the subject in a very scholarly fashion. It is very meticulously written, clearly by people who know what they are talking about, and it includes some interesting issues like voice processing and cryptography without ever becoming boring. It provides a great deal of references so one can pursue further and deeper study of the subjects that one is interested in. Lots of footnotes and explanations show the authors' attention and care about detail.

My interest happens to be in implementing embedded integrated systems and this book provided me with ample food for thought with its original coverage of issues related to cipher synchronization in real-time wireless communications protocol stacks. To my knowledge, the subject is not covered anywhere else.

Besides a couple of typos probably due to the publisher's rush to bring the book to the market, I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the area of wireless communications security.

I was recommended to read this book by my class mate and I am stunned at its depth and quality. It gave me so much detail in my studies of wireless security that I needed for my university thesis. I am pleased that there is literature out there that will put down all the facts without any "fluff." I must truly congratulate the authors for their work. I highly, highly recommend this to anybody with a thirst wireless security. I would give it more than a 5 if I could. I am also looking forward to reading Mr. Lekkas' upcoming book.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It gave a lot of sight on Wireless Security and gave a lot of useful information. Some of the chapters are long, but don't let that discourage you from purchasing the book. I found the last two chapters really challenging and difficult. Lan experience will help you get through the book. Some of the wireless solutions are easy to understand, and some of the wireless solutions are difficult. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn or write a paper on wireless security.

I liked this book for its wide and solid coverage of many things that could be tackled from many different angles. I have discussed its content with many colleagues and customers who read it and they all had the same positive feedback about it. Mind you this is an area that is rapidly moving forward, a couple of chapters could use a 2nd edition in the near future, especially regarding the newest standards, nevertheless this book covers a lot of material and very well!

I decided to write this note, because I was surprised and even taken aback by the irrelevance and unfairness of the comments from a previous reviewer (Aug.'03) purportedly from Australia, regarding the satellite security chapter.

The book does not make any sweeping pronouncements on commercial non-US satellite technologies like that reviewer claims, although no one denies that the reviewer's commercial example may very well turn out to be true or not true. So what? The satellite chapter of the book is clearly written from the US policy point of view (whether you like it or not, is actually irrelevant), which at the time the book was being written (a couple of years ago), presented specific and significant export hurdles. In fact the very same chapter the reviewer has a hard time with, actually discusses the use of the RPK-encryption algorithm (a New Zealand invention) in high-end satellite products of Communicado Data Ltd (a UK company). How can that same reviewer dare say that the chapter states "there is no encryption in commercial satellite systems" and that there is no mention of foreign products? Is he reading selectively what he criticizes? Or maybe he wishfuly infers it from what he projects that is written between the lines? Or maybe he does not understand what he is reading. Most probably he did spend too much time looking desperately for something bad to say about the book. This does not lend much credibility to his review. He comes across as a man with ....an ax to grind.....

Even if one takes at face value the reviewer's comment, namely that the authors allegedly did not have much knowledge on the subject, a far-fetched inference given their background, the named contributors, who have been working for the super-secret NRO, the US DOD, and the intelligence community should. I am sure that the satellite chapter would have never seen the light of the day if these people had not vetted what is being said in there. The Australian reviewer comes across as sharply biased and unfair, and most definitely with an ill-intentioned agenda against this book or its authors.

Even if the authors were at fault for such a little commercial detail, in my mind it would not constitute enough ground to even come close to raising doubts about the technical validity of the rest of the content. In fact I am amazed that Mr.Owen berates such a book that comes along with truly numerous references to go and check things out by yourself, with an impressive list of contributors, and above all with a very large number of happy and satisfied readers, as I am hearing it has become a technical best-seller, and rightfully so.

Did all these people miserably miss the point, when only Mr.Owen "down under" didn't? I seriously doubt it!!

The safeguarding of information traveling over wireless technology is perhaps one of the most important and contentious challenges that security managers face. We must protect the individuals' privacy and balance it with the interests of public safety and government interests. Moreover, business costs associated with providing the appropriate security measures are often substantial. They can be difficult to justify to our management.

"Wireless Security" effectively covers a huge range of technologies and their associated vulnerabilities: satellites, telephones systems, WLANs, WAP, WTLS, Bluetooth, speech cryptology, cryptographic security, m-business, E2E, wireless information warfare, and embedded security designs with FPGAs and ASICs.

Wireless Security addresses evolving security concerns by providing deep insights in a readable and effective manner. The authors have taken an approach of best practices to present their material - a balanced identification of state-of the-art technologies combined with a systems approach to the problem of wireless communications security.

A definite winner, its on my desk.

I find the book to be an excellent source regarding wireless communications. It uses straightforward language that can be easily understood by Information Security and Information Technology personnel at various levels throughout an organization.

Wireless Security: Models, Threats, and Solutions not only give the problem(s) associated with wireless communications, but also offer practical solutions on how to mitigate the risk associated with it. This book will definitely serve as a reference in my information security library.

I ordered my book 1 month ago, and I have not receive the book yet. I do not know what happen with the book.
I would never buy from this seller since this is the first time that this happens since I am buying from Amazon.

Wow, this book covers so much material with such depth, accuracy and clarity. It aided me tremendously in my thesis at the university. Therefore, I must graciously thank the authors for the truly amazing work which they have done with this book. I recommend it to all students focusing on wireless security and its future potentials .