Clearly explains core concepts, terminology, challenges, technologies, and skills

Covers today's latest attacks and countermeasures

The perfect beginner's guide for anyone interested in a computer security career

Dr. Chuck Easttom brings together complete coverage of all basic concepts, terminology, and issues, along with all the skills you need to get started.

Drawing on 30 years of experience as a security instructor, consultant, and researcher, Easttom helps you take a proactive, realistic approach to assessing threats and implementing countermeasures. Writing clearly and simply, he addresses crucial issues that many introductory security books ignore, while addressing the realities of a world where billions of new devices are Internet-connected.

This guide covers web attacks, hacking, spyware, network defense, security appliances, VPNs, password use, and much more. Its many tips and examples reflect new industry trends and the state-of-the-art in both attacks and defense. Exercises, projects, and review questions in every chapter help you deepen your understanding and apply all you've learned.

Whether you're a student, a professional, or a manager, this guide will help you protect your assets-and expand your career options.

LEARN HOW TO

• Identify and prioritize potential threats to your network
• Use basic networking knowledge to improve security
• Get inside the minds of hackers, so you can deter their attacks
• Implement a proven layered approach to network security
• Resist modern social engineering attacks
• Defend against today's most common Denial of Service (DoS) attacks
• Halt viruses, spyware, worms, Trojans, and other malware
• Prevent problems arising from malfeasance or ignorance
• Choose the best encryption methods for your organization
• Compare security technologies, including the latest security appliances
• Implement security policies that will work in your environment
• Scan your network for vulnerabilities
• Evaluate potential security consultants
• Master basic computer forensics and know what to do if you're attacked
• Learn how cyberterrorism and information warfare are evolving

Introduction xxvi Chapter 1: Introduction to Computer Security 2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 How Seriously Should You Take Threats to Network Security? . . . . . . . . . 4 Identifying Types of Threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Assessing the Likelihood of an Attack on Your Network . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Basic Security Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Concepts and Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 How Do Legal Issues Impact Network Security? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Online Security Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Chapter 2: Networks and the Internet 32 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Network Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 How the Internet Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 History of the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Basic Network Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Other Network Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Advanced Network Communications Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Chapter 3: Cyber Stalking, Fraud, and Abuse 66 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 How Internet Fraud Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Identity Theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Cyber Stalking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Chapter 4: Denial of Service Attacks 96 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 DoS Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Illustrating an Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Common Tools Used for DoS Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 DoS Weaknesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Specific DoS Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Real-World Examples of DoS Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 How to Defend Against DoS Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Chapter 5: Malware 120 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Viruses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Trojan Horses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 The Buffer-Overflow Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Spyware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Other Forms of Malware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Detecting and Eliminating Viruses and Spyware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Chapter 6: Techniques Used by Hackers 152 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Basic Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 The Reconnaissance Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Actual Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 Malware Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Penetration Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 The Dark Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Chapter 7: I…