Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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46 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply magnificent. Start here to learn digital security., November 1, 2001
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.)
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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Learn hacking strategies and defenses and have fun reading!!, September 3, 2001
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.
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15 of 15 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
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:
!!!!!
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