By Edward Amoroso

Most introductory books on cyber security are either too technical for popular readers, or too casual for professional ones. This book, in contrast, is intended to reside somewhere in the middle. That is, while concepts are explained in a friendly manner for any educated adult, the book also necessarily includes network diagrams with the obligatory references to clouds, servers, and packets.

But don’t let this scare you. Anyone with an ounce of determination can get through every page of this book, and will come out better informed, not only on cyber security, but also on computing, networking, and software. While it is true that college students will find the material particularly accessible, any adult with the desire to learn will find this book part of an exciting new journey.

A great irony is that the dizzying assortment of articles, posts, and books currently available on cyber security makes it difficult to navigate the topic. Furthermore, with so much information coming from writers with questionable backgrounds in cyber security, separating the wheat from the chaff has become an almost impossible task for most readers, experienced or otherwise.

This book is written specifically to address that problem. That is, we set out to create an accessible but technically accurate work on cyber security that would not insult the intelligence of our readers. We avoid the temptation to navigate away from the technical issues, choosing instead to steer toward the detailed concepts in the hopes that our readers will develop new understanding and insights.

The material here provides a technical grounding that is commensurate with what you might receive in a college course on the topic. If you are an engineer, developer, or student, then you are certainly in the right place. On the other hand, if you work in management, executive leadership, or some other non-technical role, then this is exactly the technical grounding in cyber that you’ve been looking for.

Anyone who has not been sleeping in a cave the past few years knows the consequences of misguided decision-making in cyber security. Business leaders colliding with this complex issue will find their intellectual property gone and their services blocked by hackers. Government and political leaders who misstep in this area will find their careers, programs, and campaigns ruined.

Consider this: Target, Home Depot, and Sony have seen massive attacks on their infrastructure, and most citizens, including our leaders, have no idea how or why this occurred. Similarly, we watched data leaks from the US Office of Personnel Management and the Democratic National Committee, and most people have only a vague sense of how such cyber attacks were accomplished.

Perhaps more disturbingly, decision-makers in our society have no idea how to reduce this risk. Because they typically have zero technical understanding, they are forced to suggest simple, trite measures they can understand like awareness, penalties, and compliance. Our approach here is to demonstrate that cyber security attacks are best avoided through improved technology and architecture.

Written from the perspective of the professional cyber security executive, long-time academic, and industry analyst (Edward Amoroso), and the graduate computer science student, software developer, and occasional hacker (Matthew Amoroso), this book provides a concise technical introduction to cyber security that keeps things as straightforward as possible, but without veering into silly analogies.

One brief warning to expert readers: At times, we have decided to take out our scissors and trim some of the more confusing details of a given cyber security issue. We’ve tried in these cases to smoothen the edges to make complex concepts more accessible, hopefully without changing the essence of the technology. This is a difficult task, we discovered, and we hope only fat was removed and never bone.

In the end, our hope is that this short book will help you become more technically equipped to navigate the mine fields of misleading and incorrect cyber security information found across the Internet and on television. It is our hope that you will be in a better position to make informed decisions about anything of consequence that might be affected by the growing potential for cyber attacks.

If you successfully complete this book, you will no longer have to shrug when asked about cyber security. Rather, you will be able to lean in and offer an informed opinion based on an introductory grounding in the fundamental aspects of cyber security technology. Our goal is to expand your understanding and make you a more informed and educated adult.

We are pleased that you’ll be spending time with our material. To not lose any momentum, proceed ahead and continue your reading right now with the first chapter on cyber threats.

This book is available for download today on Amazon.com!

Cyber wars between companies, hacker groups and governments can force entire countries to a standstill. A lone, but sophisticated, hacker can bring global organisations to their knees from just an internet café. The threat isn’t even entirely external; perhaps the greatest threat sits uncomfortably in plain sight – from inside your staff.  Arm yourself with the top cyber security titles:

CyberWar, CyberTerror, CyberCrime

This book is written by Dr Julie Mehan who is a Principal Analyst for a strategic consulting firm in the State of Virginia. She has been a Government Service employee, a strategic consultant, and an entrepreneur – which either demonstrates her flexibility or inability to hold on to a steady job! Until November 2007, she was the co-founder of a small woman-owned company focusing on secure, assured software modernization and security services. She led business operations, as well as the information technology governance and information assurance-related services, including certification and accreditation, systems security engineering process improvement, and information assurance strategic planning and programme management. During previous years, Dr Mehan delivered information assurance and security-related privacy services to senior department of defence, federal government, and commercial clients working in Italy, Australia, Canada, Belgium, and the United States.

Here are the contents of this book.

The world is becoming ever more interconnected and vulnerable, as has been demonstrated by the recent cyber attacks on Estonia. Thus the need for stringent and comprehensive methods for combating cyber crime and terror have never before been need more than now.
Information security should not be an after thought. It should be ingrained into the organisation’s culture. This book will help you create this forward thinking culture using best practices and standards.
Key Features:

• Straightforward and no-nonsense guide to using best practices and standards, such as ISO 27001, to instil a culture of information security awareness within an organisation.
• Distils key points on how to use best practices and standards to combat cyber crime and terror.
• The information within the book is presented in a straightforward and no-nonsense style, leading the reader step-by-step through the key points.

Related articles

• Silicon Valley At Front Line Of Global Cyber War
• We are sharing info with competitors to combat cyber threats, says BSkyB
• Cyber War articles from same website contradict each other.

A vicious piece of malware (known as Flame) was uncovered this week and is believed to have infected over 600 targets, be 20 times larger than Stuxnet and to have been backed by state sponsorship.
Realize the underground economy of hacking and crimeware with this handy pocket guide. It will provide you with a valuable list of up-to-date, authoritative sources of information, so you can stay abreast of new developments and safeguard your business.

An Introduction to Hacking & Crimeware: A Pocket Guide (eBook)

Know your enemy: An Introduction to Hacking & Crimeware is a comprehensive guide to the most recent and the more serious threats. Knowing about these threats will help you understand how to ensure that your computer systems are protected and that your business is safe, enabling you to focus on your core activities.

Fighting back
In this pocket guide, the author:

• defines exactly what crimeware is – both intentional and unintentional – and gives specific, up-to-date examples to help you identify the risks and protect your business
• explores the increasing use of COTS tools as hacking tools, exposing the enemy’s tactics gives practical suggestions as to how you can fight back
• provides a valuable list of up-to-date, authoritative sources of information, so you can stay abreast of new developments and safeguard your business.

By Paul C Dwyer

“Tis the season to get scammed!”

Phishing Scams: PCD Says “Beware of emails that appear to be from charities. Not all will be real and bogus sites could steal your credit card details. These “Phishing” emails can also pretend to be banks, telephone companies and even the revenue commissioners. There is even now a category of “recession based” scams which involve targeting consumers with products such as pre approved loans etc. There is also an increase in “Smishing” attacks, that is phishing messages sent out by text.”

PBX / Telephone Fraud: PCD Says “This is the time of year when SME’s and indeed large enterprises phone systems often get hacked. Hackers penetrate the phone system and can reroute Euro 1,000’s of calls through the companies phone system. The criminals often sell call cards openly in markets and on the streets which operate off these hacked phone systems. The first the company know about it is when they return after Christmas to a massive phone bill. Consider having a security audit on your phone system.”

Free iPad’s: PCD Says “Offers of free iPads and similar gadgets are included in most cyber scams lists at the moment. Victims are often requested to participate in some sort of basic quiz or supply their mobile telephone number. In many cases their mobile phone is then “subscribed” to some sort of service that costs Euro X per week.”

Fake Delivery Services Invoices: PCD Says “Over the Christmas period, cyber criminals will email fake invoices and delivery notifications appearing to come from legitimate courier companies. The emails will indicate that they were unable to deliver a package to your address and of course ask you to confirm your address and provide credit card details pay for delivery.”

Smartphone App Scam: PCD Says “Malicious spyware is disguised in a game or an application, which is then marketed to users. If downloaded, the malware steals data from the phone, such as passwords and financial details. Always check a developer is legitimate and review comments regarding the app.”

Fake Goods: PCD Says “Don’t be stupid, if the offers looks too good to be true it probably is. Beware of imitation goods for sale, most are sub standard, many are dangerous and in some cases lethal. Be especially careful when buying computers good such as laptops etc, we have come across a number “preloaded” with key logging software. There are also lots of fake auctions and classified ad sites appear that over Christmas, make sure you are dealing with a genuine business.”

Social Networking Friend Requests: PCD Says “Scammers take advantage of this social time of year by sending out authentic looking friend requests via email. You should not click on the links in the email but sign into your social networking site and look there for friend requests. If you click on a link it could install malware on your computer. Beware of related scams such as “Help I’ve been Mugged!”, this is when you receive a fake distress message from someone in your network requesting money as they have been robbed whilst traveling.”

Fake Christmas Cards: PCD Says “Be careful if clicking on a Christmas E-card or Gift Cards. This method is used to install Malware and other bad stuff. Many E-cards look genuine and authentic so be very careful when considering click on them. If you use an E-Card service obviously make sure it is a reputable one.”

PC Support Fraud: PCD Says “Criminals will attempt to gain access to your computer by calling up and saying you have a problem with your computer. They often claim to be from large legitimate corporations and will either ask for a payment to fix your computer or ask you to download a software patch. In the first case they will steal your credit cards details and in the second instance they will infect your machine with spyware or malware that will provides access to your machine bandwidth to support other attacks.”

Social Network Virus: PCD Says “This is very basic and involves a friend posting a link on your social network wall page or in the status update. This gives the impression that the site is a safe site to visit. However, in some cases it is the result of malware and could result in the download of viruses on your machine.”

Shopping smart and avoid scams: financial literacy during the holiday season: hearing before the Committee on Banking, Housing

The Ghost in the Wires is a well written and captivating tale of Kevin Mitnick which tells his story of how artfully he used social engineering time and again as a first step for some of his famous hacks. During his social engineering hacks how he became an absolute authority on subject at hand and got the trust of a person on phone in just a matter of minutes.

“When you use social engineering, or “pretexting,” you become an actor playing a role. I had heard people try to pretext and knew it could be painfully funny. Not everybody could go on stage and convince an audience; not everybody could pretext and get away with it.”

Per Kevin what he likes about the best of Ghost in The Wires is his life story because it’s kind of like a Catch Me If You Can version for a computer hacker. What is unique about it that it is a true story. People really seem to like it.

Ghost in the wires have been on the New York Times best seller list for a month so far. the only hacking book that made the bestseller list was a book called The Cuckoo’s Egg by Cliff Stoll.

Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker

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