Counter Hack Reloaded: A Step-by-Step Guide to Computer Attacks and Effective Defenses (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

~ Edward Skoudis (Author), (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In defending your systems against intruders and other meddlers, a little knowledge can be used to make the bad guys--particularly the more casual among them--seek out softer targets. Counter Hack aims to provide its readers with enough knowledge to toughen their Unix and Microsoft Windows systems against attacks in general, and with specific knowledge of the more common sorts of attacks that can be carried out by relatively unskilled "script kiddies." The approach author Ed Skoudis has chosen is effective, in that his readers accumulate the knowledge they need and generally enjoy the process.

The best part of this book may be two chapters, one each for Windows and Unix, that explain the essential security terms, conventions, procedures, and behaviors of each operating system. This is the sort of information that readers need--a Unix person getting into Windows administration for the first time needs an introduction to the Microsoft security scheme, and vice versa. A third chapter explains TCP/IP with focus on security. With that groundwork in place, Skoudis explains how (with emphasis on tools) attackers look for vulnerabilities in systems, gain access, and maintain their access for periods of time without being discovered. You'll probably want to search online resources for more specific information--Skoudis refers to several--but this book by itself will provide you with the vocabulary and foundation knowledge you need to get the details you want. --David Wall

Topics covered: How black-hat hackers work, what tools and techniques they use, and how to assess and improve your systems' defenses. The author explains how Windows, Unix, and TCP/IP can be exploited for nefarious purposes, and details a modus operandi that's typical of the bad guys. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

"I finally get it! I used to hear words like rootkit, buffer overflow, and idle scanning, and they just didn't make any sense. I asked other people and they didn't seem to know how these things work, or at least they couldn't explain them in a way that I could understand. Counter Hack Reloaded is the clearest explanation of these tools I have ever seen. Thank you!" --Stephen Northcutt, CEO, SANS Institute "Ed Skoudis does it again! With this new edition, Ed takes a phenomenal work to the next level! This book is a 'must-have' and a 'must-read' for anyone remotely associated with computers and computer security." --Harlan Carvey, CISSP, author of Windows Forensics and Incident Recovery "Ed Skoudis is a rare individual. He knows the innards of all the various systems, knows all the latest exploits and defenses, and yet is able to explain everything at just the right level. The first edition of Counter Hack was a fascinating read. It's technically intriguing and very clear...A book on vulnerabilities, though, will get out of date, and so we definitely needed this updated and significantly rewritten second edition. This book is a wonderful overview of the field." --From the Foreword by Radia Perlman, series editor, The Radia Perlman Series in Computer Networking and Security; author of Interconnections; and coauthor of Network Security: Private Communications in a Public World "What a great partnership! Ed Skoudis and Tom Liston share an uncanny talent for explaining even the most challenging security concepts in a clear and enjoyable manner. Counter Hack Reloaded is an indispensable resource for those who want to improve their defenses and understand the mechanics of computer attacks." --Lenny Zeltser, coauthor of Malware: Fighting Malicious Code "Ed Skoudis does it again! With this new edition, Ed takes a phenomenal work to the next level! This book is a 'must-have' and a 'must-read' for anyone remotely associated with computers and computer security." --Harlan Carvey, CISSP, author of Windows Forensics and Incident Recovery"In addition to having breadth of knowledge about and probing insights into network security, Ed Skoudis's real strength is in his ability to show complex topics in an understandable form. By the time he's done, what started off as a hopeless conglomeration of acronyms starts to sound comfortable and familiar. This book is your best source for understanding attack strategies, attack tools, and the defenses against both." --William Stearns, network security expert, www.stearns.org"This book is a must-have for anyone in the Internet security game. It covers everything from the basic principles to the fine details of online attack methods and counter-strategies and is very engagingly written." --Warwick Ford, coauthor of Secure Electronic Commerce For years, Counter Hack has been the primary resource for every network/system administrator and security professional who needs a deep, hands-on understanding of hacker attacks and countermeasures. Now, leading network security expert Ed Skoudis, with Tom Liston, has thoroughly updated this best-selling guide, showing how to defeat today's newest, most sophisticated, and most destructive attacks. For this second edition, more than half the content is new and updated, including coverage of the latest hacker techniques for scanning networks, gaining and maintaining access, and preventing detection. The authors walk you through each attack and demystify every tool and tactic. You'll learn exactly how to establish effective defenses, recognize attacks in progress, and respond quickly and effectively in both UNIX/Linux and Windows environments. Important features of this new edition include *All-new "anatomy-of-an-attack" scenarios and tools *An all-new section on wireless hacking: war driving, wireless sniffing attacks, and more *Fully updated coverage of reconnaissance tools, including Nmap port scanning and "Google hacking" *New coverage of tools for gaining access, including uncovering Windows and Linux vulnerabilities with Metasploit *New information on dangerous, hard-to-detect, kernel-mode rootkits

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Product Details

• Paperback: 784 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 2 edition (January 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131481045
• ISBN-13: 978-0131481046
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #36,233 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply magnificent. Start here to learn digital security., November 1, 2001

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

This review is from: Counter Hack: A Step-by-Step Guide to Computer Attacks and Effective Defenses (The Radia Perlman Series in Computer Networking and Security) (Paperback)

I am a senior engineer for network security operations, who has taught SANS, InfraGard, and FIRST audiences. Since late 1998 I've been looking for the one book I could recommend to newcomers to the digital security realm. Ed Skoudis' "Counter Hack" is that book. My previous reviews show I don't shelter weaker books, and I reserve praise for truly deserving titles. "Counter Hack" is a solid, accessible, practical title that merits my highest recommendation.

"Counter Hack" contains all I could ask for in an introductory book. Chapters three (30 pages) and four (40 pages) provide the basics of UNIX and Windows (respectively). For each operating system, one reads about file architecture, accountability, privileges, trust, and services. Armed with this background, "Counter Hack" then explains reconnaissance, scanning, application/OS-based attacks, network-based attacks, denial of service, maintaining access, and covering tracks. Each chapter is thorough and very well written. Chapter twelve's three attack scenarios are a fitting conclusion, showing how the earlier tactics are utilized in realistic network intrusions.

Veterans will find "Counter Hack" useful too. Some of the topics receiving exceptionally good coverage are Route's "Firewalk" tool, IDS evasion techniques, the Achilles web proxy/attack tool, netcat relays, Reverse WWW Shell, and Covert_TCP. "Counter Hack" includes the single clearest, most concise explanation of stack-based buffer overflows I've read. It offers novel material, like a comparison of netcat's superiority to telnet, and implementing source routing attacks. Most of these discussions include excellent diagrams and well-documented command line instructions.

"Counter Hack" is not perfect. I think the mentions of sequence numbers could be more accurate (ACK with ISN B+1 rather than simply ISN B, for example). Also, early in the book MAC addresses are shown with four bytes, when they are actually six bytes. These minor errors were the only ones I found, however.

If you are a new player in the security arena, I highly recommend reading "Counter Hack." I plan to buy several copies for my office. It's the single most useful volume published for entry level security personnel, and it also contains material which veterans will appreciate.

(Disclaimer: I received a free review copy from the publisher.)

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn hacking strategies and defenses and have fun reading!!, September 3, 2001

By	Michael Ressler (New Jersey, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Counter Hack: A Step-by-Step Guide to Computer Attacks and Effective Defenses (The Radia Perlman Series in Computer Networking and Security) (Paperback)

This is a "fun to read" book that fully describes the methodology of hacking attacks. It is by far the most enjoyable book I have read on the subject. The book is not a textbook or a reference book, yet I found that I learned a lot while I read it and I have continuously referenced it for specifics of the techniques that are described.
Ed starts by providing short intros to UNIX, NT and IP networking, which provide valuable info to readers who don't have good backgrounds in all three. He then walks the reader through the typical steps of an attack. Each of the sections, Reconnaissance, Scanning, Gaining and Maintaining Access and Covering Your Tracks contain well-written, up-to-the minute descriptions of the current methodologies found in the field as well as descriptions of the tools that are used.
He references the authors of the tools and points to their web-sites. There is great info on Sam Spade, THC-Scan, Cheops, nmap, nessus, IDS evasion techniques, buffer overflows, L0phtCrack, John the Ripper, Dsniff, Hunt, Netcat, TFN2K, BO2K, RootKit and others. Yet this isn't a set of man pages or an attempt to prove that he knows more tools than anyone else does. The usage of each tool is described in the context of the methodology that he is explaining.
My favorite chapter is "Putting it all Together: Anatomy of an Attack", where Ed describes three different "real-life" attack scenarios. In each scenario, fictional hackers use the tools and methodologies described in the earlier chapters to break the security of fictional target companies. This chapter really ties it all together!
Anybody who has heard Ed speak at numerous conferences will recognize his fun, fact-filled, informative style. This book is suitable for system administrators, technical experts, security practioners and business executives. I would recommend this book to everyone interested in the security of their systems and networks.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great 2nd edition to a classic book on hacking exploits, February 11, 2006

By	Sean E. Connelly "Just a bithead - CCIE#17085" (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Please note this review is for the 2nd Edition of this book
While "Counter Hack Reloaded" by Skoudis is an `Updated Edition of the Best-Seller' (per the book's cover), Counter Hack Reloaded (CHR) is really a new book in it's own right. CHR has gone through an extensive revision and is fully updated to meet today and tomorrow's emerging threats (i.e. wireless attacks). While 50% of the tools/exploits that are discussed in this book can be found in other `hack' books, the tools/exploits have been fully updated and document the latest commands. See page 21 of for a detailed explanation of CHR's updates.

Some quick points of interest for me:
* Page 228 - excellent, quick description of DNS's characteristics (when DNS uses UDP vs TCP).
* Page 264 - good explanation of UDP vs ICMP pings (something to remember when troubleshooting connectivity from different platforms).
* Chapter 7 - Gaining Access at the OS and App level - very good discussion of buffer overflows. The chapter also provides an updated list of access tools (i.e. WebGoat & password crackers).
* Chapter 8 - Gaining Access via Network Attacks - great explanation of man-in-the-middle attacks by DSniff and Ettercap. I also enjoyed the explanation of NetCat (everyone's friend).
* Chapter 9 - Denial of Service Attacks - the discussion on SYN cookies was new to me.

While I thought chapter 2, Networking, deserved it's place, I thought that chapter 3, UNIX, went a little off course. I also thought that the 2nd half of chapter 5, Reconnaissance, was of much more value than the first half of chapter 5. Page 138 had a weak description of salting. All these demotions are trivial issues, and do not distract from the overall supremacy of CHR.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed "Counter Hack Reloaded" by Skoudis. It is an update to a classic, that like the first edition, does not disappoint.

I give this book 5 pings out of 5:
!!!!!