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Title: Viruses Revealed by C. David Harley, David Harley, Urs E. Gattiker, Robert M. Slade ISBN: 0-07-213090-3 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media Pub. Date: 21 September, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $39.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.43 (7 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Good reference, but pick your spots
Comment: "Viruses Revealed" is a comprehensive review of the subject, written from the perspective of a security professional. If you're searching for an in-depth understanding of virus programming, keep looking. But if you're a system administrator or technology manager responsible for minimizing risk, then this is an important reference to study. I'd also recommend this book to any IT professional who wants to develop a good overview of virus technology.
The authors really know their field and they have a bit of an attitude, but it's generally amusing. They assume the reader has a modest technical background and carefully cover the fundamentals, provide a brief historical overview, then dive into virus structures and mechanisms. Good stuff, but you've seen much of it before, so pick and choose. The next section - a good overview of management solutions - is worthwhile. Then the authors select a representative sample of the better-known viruses roughly in the chronological order they were released. Each virus is discussed, but the value of such a lengthy section eludes me. Another place to pick and choose. Finally, the authors examine non-technical (social) aspects, such as social engineering, legal issues, ethics and so on. No light bulbs went off, but it's useful information.
Excellent overview of the field, but not worth reading cover to cover unless you're new to the subject. The authors should have culled out much of the repetitive information and tightened the rest. "Viruses Revealed" is good, but pick your spots.
Rating: 3
Summary: High Level Overview
Comment: How you tend to rate a book often depends on what you are looking to get out of it. For my purposes, this book leans a bit too much toward the high-level end of the spectrum. For example, the discussions on how viruses and anti-virus software solutions work is presented from the 10000 foot level. Much of the content seems to focus on the management/policy making end of the problem space rather than the technical point of view. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but as a techie, it just wasn't what I was after.
Oddly enough, the author rates Roger Grimes' Mailicious Mobile Code as a mediocre to poor reference on the subject of computer malware. Even though Grimes' book is Microsoft-centric, I consider it a far better reference from a technical standpoint.
Rating: 2
Summary: Good idea, poorly executed
Comment: I really had trouble reading this book. It isn't very well written and it felt that most of it had been gleaned from the internet, edited, bound and published. The book sensationalizes viruses and other malicious code, while the actual threat from viruses has decreased significantly.
Fewer sophisticated viruses are released every year. The average worm or email virus that is written by some disgruntled teenager just isn't sophisticated enough to be worried about, and fewer proficient programmers are producing malicious code (the stakes are too high).
As a technically proficient person, I found the book boring and, condescending. The authors went on and on, were not concise, and didn't "reveal" anything that even a computer savvy 16 year old wouldn't already know. At the same time the confused writing, will only serve to baffle novices.
In short, I doubt the experience and expertise of the writers, and the book is poorly written. Save your money, install virus protection on your computer and keep it updated. That will protect you, this book will not.
If you want reliable information about malicious code then try:
1) Malicious Mobile Code: Virus Protection for Windows,
2) Know Your Enemy: Revealing the Security Tools, Tactics, and Motives of the Blackhat Community
3) E-mail Virus Protection Handbook : Protect your E-mail from Viruses, Tojan Horses, and Mobile Code Attacks
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Title: Malicious Mobile Code: Virus Protection for Windows (O'Reilly Computer Security) by Roger A. Grimes ISBN: 156592682X Publisher: O'Reilly & Associates Pub. Date: August, 2001 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
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Title: Incident Response and Computer Forensics, Second Edition by Chris Prosise, Kevin Mandia, Matt Pepe ISBN: 007222696X Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media Pub. Date: 17 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $49.99 |
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Title: Hack I.T.: Security Through Penetration Testing by T. J. Klevinsky, Scott Laliberte, Ajay Gupta ISBN: 0201719568 Publisher: Addison-Wesley Pub Co Pub. Date: 01 February, 2002 List Price(USD): $42.99 |
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Title: Hacking Exposed: Network Security Secrets & Solutions, Fourth Edition by Stuart McClure, Joel Scambray, George Kurtz ISBN: 0072227427 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media Pub. Date: 25 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $49.99 |
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Title: RSA Security's Official Guide to Cryptography by Steve Burnett, Stephen Paine ISBN: 007213139X Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media Pub. Date: 29 March, 2001 List Price(USD): $59.99 |
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