Dissecting the Hack: The F0rb1dd3n Network (Hardcover)

~ Jayson E Street (Author), Kent Nabors (Author), Dustin L. Fritz (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Welcome to hacker fiction -- like SciFi, but you don't get to make the good stuff up." - Dan Kaminsky, Director of Penetration testing IOActive, Inc. IOActive

"There have been many sensationalist books on hackers, and this isn't one of them. Get a feeling for what it's really about and follow through with the technical details. Fun like Star Trek, but comes with the blueprints." - FX of Phenoelit Recurity Labs GmbH

"A great read, whether you're a geek or not. Hollywood should take notes...a gripping story centered around real tech." -Johnny Long, Professional hacker, best-selling author and founder of Hackers For Charity, Inc. HFC

"'Dissecting the Hack: the F0rb1dd3n Network' is an educational thriller, the reader is thoroughly entertained and yet walks away with an understanding of the importance of information security theory and practice." - Stephen Northcutt, President, The SANS Technology Institute SANS

Product Description

Dissecting the Hack is one heck of a ride! Hackers, IT professionals, and Infosec aficionados will find a gripping story that takes the reader on a global trip through the world of computer security exploits. One half massive case study, one half technical manual, Dissecting the Hack has it all - learn all about hacking tools and techniques and how to defend your network against threats.

Yes, the security threats are real - read more about the tactics that you see executed throughout the story in the second half of the book where you will learn to recon, scan, explore, exploit and expunge with the tools and techniques shown in the story. Every hack is real and can be used by you once you have the knowledge within this book!

• Utilizes actual hacking and security tools in its story- helps to familiarize a newbie with the many devices and their code


• Introduces basic hacking techniques in real life context for ease of learning


• Presented in the words of the hacker/security pro, effortlessly envelops the beginner in the language of the hack

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Syngress (October 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159749478X
• ISBN-13: 978-1597494786
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #639,112 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An all things to all people that almost succeeds, September 30, 2009

By	Ali-Reza Anghaie (Manchester, CT United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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Let me get this out of the way: If books could be reviewed as "first effort" this would be a five/five. For a really ambitious book out of the gate it does a decent job of hitting tons of domains from multiple angles to inform, excite, and influence the thought processes of the reader.

To be even more honest had I thumbed through this book before buying it I would not have bought it. A lot of alarms can go off when you see pictures of vendor equipment, tables of network services, and a touch of conspiracy theory in places. Not that those things are inherently bad but it's only a 400 page tome so that's a lot of real estate to be worried about misusing. The authors use those pages as well as can be expected and in a way that even the most jaded readers should be able to ~respect~ if not always appreciate.

I'm not being hard on this book, trust me. It's now the third book, along with Silence on the Wire, and Anderson's Security Engineering, I expect all newer ITSec professionals to read early and often. I don't judge a non-textbook by the accuracy or timeliness of every statement. Or the quality of the story telling or case studied. I judge these types of books by their ability to affect ~thought processes~, ~perspective~, and ~risk analysis~... and I think this book is a winner on all three counts. It is all about influencing thought, not hand-feeding PRECISE EXACTING and ultimately useless step-by-step hacks.

Solid 4/4.5 star on any scale and a 5/5 for a new set of authors. I hope the editors and publisher give them the opportunity to add about 120/150 pages and build a community. One last note, the books and resources noted within this book are good stand-up lists and should not be overlooked either. The single paragraph stories from the web or people profiles are not to be skipped over.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book that delivers exactly what it claims, October 20, 2009

By	I. Amit "iamit.org" (Israel) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Very interesting approach to a security/hacker book. Not your usual "manual" that becomes obsolete after less than a year after being published (check out how many editions there are for "hacking 101" books). This book takes the reader through a sci-fi novel that is not really sci-fi... All the techniques (and they should be regarded as such - techniques rather than a specific tool or application) are real, and the examples in the 2nd part of the book (the reference) are up-to-date and easy on the reader.

I would highly recommend giving this book to anyone who has anything to do with corporate information in order to help them speak the same language without scaring them with geek/tech/whiz terminology. Every "hack" in the book - from the social engineering ones, through the software and physical hacks are real and clearly explained.

What not to expect: this isn't a reference manual for how to break things. This is not a technical manual of any kind. This is not a "how to become a penetration tester" book (and don't buy books that claim to make you one).