php|architect's Guide to PHP Security| [Paperback]

Ilia Alshanetsky (Author), Rasmus Lerdorf (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 2005

With the number of security flaws and exploits discovered and released every day constantly on the rise, knowing how to write secure and reliable applications is become more and more important every day. Written by Ilia Alshanetsky, one of the foremost experts on PHP security in the world, php|architect's Guide to PHP Security focuses on providing you with all the tools and knowledge you need to both secure your existing applications and writing new systems with security in mind. This book gives you a step-by-step guide to each security-related topic, providing you with real-world examples of proper coding practices and their implementation in PHP in an accurate, concise and complete way. Provides techniques applicable to any version of PHP, including 4.x and 5.x Includes a step-by-step guide to securing your applications Includes a comprehensive coverage of security design Teaches you how to defend yourself from hackers Shows you how to distract hackers with a "tar pit" to help you fend off potential attacks

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

With the number of security flaws and exploits discovered and released every day constantly on the rise, knowing how to write secure and reliable applications is becoming more and more important every day.

Written by Ilia Alshanetsky, on eo fhte foremost experts on PHP security in the world, php|architect's Guide to PHP Security focuses on providing you with all the tools and knowlege you need to both secure your existing applications and writing new systems with security in mind.

The books gives you a ste-by-step guide to each security-related topic, providing you with real-world examples of proper coding practices and their implementation in PHP in an accurate, concise and complete way.

About the Author

Ilia Alshanetsky is the principal of Advanced Internet Designs, Inc., a company that specializes in security auditing, performance analysis and application development.

He is the author of FUDforum, a highly popular, Open-source bulletin board focused on providing the maximum functioanlity at the highest level of security and performance.

Ilia is also a core PHP developer who authorer or co-authored a series of extensions, including SHMOP, PDO, SQLite, GD and ncurses. An active member of PHP's Quality Assurance Team, he is responsible for hundreds of bug fixes, as well as a sizable number of performance tweaks and features.

Ilia is a regular speaker at PHP-related conferences worldwide and can often be found teaching the Zend Certification Training and Professional PHP Development courses that he has written for php|architect. He is also a prolific author, with articles for php|architect, International PHP Magazine, the Oracle Technology Network, Zend.com and others to his name.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Marco Tabini & Associates, Inc. (September 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0973862106
• ISBN-13: 978-0973862102
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #747,760 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An OK book, but lots of errors and examples weren't great, November 21, 2007

By 

RivulentDotCom "Professional Web Developer" (Washington State) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: php|architect's Guide to PHP Security| (Paperback)

As a programmer with 7 years experience, I already had a fair amount of knowledge about PHP security, but it was all self-taught. I will say that I was able to learn a few new things and pick up a few strategies from this book.

Overall, I wouldn't say I was disappointed with the book, but I definitely wasn't impressed. There were numerous misspellings, typos, and (in a few cases) words missing altogether. With my knowledge I considered these typos to be fairly minor, but someone with less experience may become confused by a few of them.

In one case, a variable in one of the coding examples was actually mis-keyed. If someone were to copy the example verbatim, it would not behave as expected. That type of error should never occur in a book like this.

The various chapters do contain useful information, but the code examples are pretty lame. Don't buy this book if you're looking for specific, real-world, useful examples on how to implement your security measures, but if you already have enough PHP experience to figure out ways of implementing the *concepts* presented in this book, then it may be worthwhile picking up.

Experienced PHP programmers with some security experience will probably find a few useful tidbits, and anyone looking to truly maximize the security of their web applications would definitely benenfit from the sheer number of concepts presented in this book. However, many PHP developers will likely agree that a number of the concepts presented are somewhat superfluous, or rendered obsolete by other concepts.

In many cases the author will provide a concept for securing an application, provide an example of how to do it, and then proceed to explain why that method is NOT the best method to use. Someone looking for a quick-use reference manual of the most effective ways to secure your application will probably not enjoy this book.

BOTTOM LINE: there's gotta be better books on PHP security available for beginners, intermediate developers, and professionals alike. Only buy this book if you're interested in a large number of concepts and don't care about clear and specific examples of real-world implementation.

Advice to the Author/Publisher: Fix the typos and put the missing words back in! Expand on your code examples and provide more real-world application. Choose better naming conventions for your variables in your examples - no one wants to guess at what the variable "$e" represents, use "$elements" instead. Compile a chapter of "Top 10 security exploits and how to avoid them" using your recommended methods for the various exploits (or something similar). As it stands now, your readers not only have to work through the errors and the poor examples, they also have to decode which of your concepts are worth actually implementing, since so many of them have loopholes, provide other vulnerabilities, or simply "aren't enough" to truly secure the application.

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Short, fast, and to-the-point (no fluff and I love it), December 5, 2005

By 

Chris Charlton "Chris Charlton" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: php|architect's Guide to PHP Security| (Paperback)

This book isn't large at all, 10 chapters and thin (called a nano-book), so you may feel like you won't learn much - WRONG! I just got this book last week and I swear, this is one of the only books I've ever seen that gets to the point instantly.

As for the example code - fast, small, and no wasted time declaring variables or basic stuff.

Don't get this book if you're just learning PHP - get this book after writing your first PHP forms!!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book For Beginners, August 23, 2007

By 

David Chez - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: php|architect's Guide to PHP Security| (Paperback)

This book was real helpful. I really didn't know much about the topics so I found it a good introduction. If you are even semi-knowledgeable about this area, I would recommend another book.