Windows Server 2003 (Hacking Exposed) (Paperback)

~ (Author), (Author) "It's difficult to talk about any system in a vacuum, especially one that is so widely deployed in so many roles as Windows Server in..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"The most demystifying source of information since Toto exposed the Wizard. Hacking Exposed Windows Server 2003 eliminates the mystique and levels the playing field by revealing the science behind the curtain." --Greg Wood, General Manager, Information Security, Microsoft Corporation From the best-selling co-authors of the world-renowned book, Hacking Exposed, comes Hacking Exposed Windows Server 2003. You'll learn, step-by-step, how to defend against the latest attacks by understanding how intruders enter and pilfer compromised networks and weaknesses. All the new security features and exploits in Windows Server 2003 are covered.

From the Back Cover

"The end-all of hacking.... A must-read if you want to secure your networks." --W2Knews

Plug the holes in your Windows infrastructure by seeing it through the eyes of the attacker

Protect your Windows Server 2003 systems from the latest widespread and devastating attacks the tried-and-true Hacking Exposed way. You'll learn, step-by-step, how intruders locate targets, gain super-user access, and ransack compromised networks. Fully updated chapters detail all-new Windows Server 2003 footprinting and scanning methods, IIS6 security flaws, buffer overflow exploits, Terminal Services hacks, and DoS/DDoS vulnerabilities. Real-world cases and code examples demonstrate the most current dangers and spell out countermeasures to stonewall malicious intruders every time.

New and Updated Material:

• All-new Windows footprinting and scanning tools and techniques
• NetBIOS, MSRPC, SMB, DNS, SNMP, and Active Directory enumeration protection
• Updated exploits of Windows-specific services, including the MSRPC interface vulnerability that led to the Blaster worm, SQL Slammer, and eavesdropping attacks on Kerberos
• Details on the new IIS6 security architecture, URLScan, Microsoft Web services source code disclosure exploits, and HTR chunked encoding exploits
• All-new Terminal Services information including new password guessing, privilege escalation, and eavesdropping countermeasures
• New client-side exploits using popular multimedia file formats, and strong new countermeasures using Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration
• The latest countermeasures for Denial of Service (DoS) attacks including bogon filtering and sink holes
• New security features such as Internet Connection Firewall, software restriction policies, and updates to IPSec

About the Authors:

Joel Scambray is Senior Director of Security for Microsoft's MSN and Stuart McClure is President/CTO of Foundstone, Inc., an enterprise security products company. They are co-authors of four editions of Hacking Exposed as well as Hacking Exposed Windows 2000.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 628 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; 1 edition (October 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072230614
• ISBN-13: 978-0072230611
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #616,061 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of old information that does not apply to Win2003, December 27, 2003

By	D. Morris (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I like this book because it illuminates many of the approaches a hacker would take when trying to invade the system. But it is already out of date for anyone who has Windows 2003 and the latest version of IIS and SQL Server.

Most of the entire section on IIS describes vulnerabilities in IIS 5.0 and does not apply to Win2003. Some of the recommended tools from Microsoft will not even download onto a Win2003 machine running IIS 6!

The SQL Server chapter describes vulnerabilities that are already fixed in SP3. It does however describe application defects that can be exploited, and tells how to guard against them.

So, this is a good reference on general vulnerability mitigation, but much of the information is already out of date as of Christmas 2003.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the ultimate Windows 2003 security book, but still solid, June 1, 2004

By	Richard Bejtlich "TaoSecurity.com" (Metro Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"Hacking Exposed: Windows 2000" (HE:W2K) was published in August 2001, eight months after the W2K OS was released to manufacturing (RM) in December 1999. "Hacking Exposed: Windows 2003" (HE:W03) was published in October 2003, seven months after the Windows 2003 OS was RTM. Does the shorter gap between OS availability and book publication hurt the successor to the original hit Windows security book? It's possible, but I don't see many contenders for the title of best Windows assessment guide. Because this book delivers the technical goods in a proven format, I give HE:W03 four stars.

I gave the original HE:W2K five stars for finally breaking out Windows-specific security material into its own "Hacking Exposed" title. HE:W03 is mainly an update of its predecessor, a fact I confirmed with a chapter-by-chapter evaluation. HE:W03 has a new foreword and better organization. Ch 1 sports five more pages, and ch 2 offers a new discussion on service accounts and groups. Ch 4 adds an RPC enumeration section while ch 5 provides info on sniffing Kerberos authentication. Ch 6 mentions exploiting the Windows debugger but is short on details. Ch 7 explains psexec and ch 8 explains usage of MDcrack. Ch 10 gives new info on IIS 6, ch 11 mentions SQL Slammer and more defensive strategies, and ch 12 updates remote access methods for Windows XP and 2003. Ch 13 presents a few recent client-side attacks and ch 16 mentions several defensive tools. Ch 17 is mainly original, although the Windows OS roadmap appears as dated as the one first proposed in HE:W2K. Oddly, chs 9, 10, and 16 were missing material, like talk of hiding files via streaming and the "runas" command. Ch 3, 14, and 15 are mostly the same.

HE:W03 is still the best book available if you want to learn how to assess and compromise Windows servers using publicly available tools. It will not teach original exploitation techniques like coding exploits, although this is usually unnecessary when admins deploy stock servers with blank administrator passwords. The authors are experts when it comes to performing pen tests of Windows targets, even though they are unapologetic Windows fans. (Page 195 bears the quote "command-line brain damage of Linux.") Their bias is also apparent as they question the applicability of the word "monopoly" to Microsoft (a legal fact); this isn't surprising given the authors' employers. Their bias also colors their judgment in the introduction, where they propose that security is a zero sum game between security and usability. Attitudes like that can no longer cover for Microsoft's security lapses.

If you're forced to run Microsoft products, it pays to understand how intruders can compromise them. It's also helpful to know how to defend those systems. HE:W03 shows both sides of the coin in the plain language readers have been enjoying since the original "Hacking Exposed" was published in 1999. I recommend this book, especially if you haven't read HE:W2K.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good place to start, but just a refresh on the 2000 edition, February 29, 2004

By	Craig Humphrey (Auckland, New Zealand) - See all my reviews

Having read "Hacking Exposed Windows 2000" (and most of the other Hacking Exposed books), and just started using Windows 2003 Server, I ordered this book with an eager anticipation for what it would reveal on Microsoft's supposedly significantly more secure OS.

The opening chapters were a disappointment and in general a lot of the content had been copied from the previous Windows 2000 edition, often with just "Windows 2000" replaced with "Windows 2003", which while sometimes accurate, was more often than not, completely inaccurate.

Many of the example outputs and screen shots didn't match the text and often there were inconstancies in the outputs, suggesting that they had perhaps been hand crafted.

In general the editing was poor and this book didn't really come up to the standard I've come to expect from the Hacking Exposed series. It had all the hallmarks of a book rushed to press.

As for Win2003 specifics, there was actually very little. Weather that's because Win2003 is super secure... or just that the author's (and perhaps the hacking community) hadn't really come to grips with the product....

Even the updated Win2000 content was largely pre SP3, which is odd, since SP4 had gone public, well before this book was released (in fact, some of the virus/worm references in the book are post SP4's release).

If you haven't read the Windows 2000 edition, then don't bother, get this one, it has all the content from that edition, plus a small amount of new Win2003 content.

If you've already read the Win2000 edition recently, then don't bother with this one, especially if you're already playing with Win2003. You've probably got most of the Win2003 info already, from MS and other public sources.

I've just started reading "Microsoft Windows Server 2003: Insider Solutions" (ISBN 0-672-32609-4) written by a team of writers who have been using Win2003 in it's pre-beta and early adopter stages. These guys had been using Win2003 since most of us got Win2000! Hopefully this will cover some of the security aspects that are missing in the Hacking Exposed book.