Step by Step Guide to Computer Attacks and Defenses - New Book by Ed Skoudis
Prentice Hall PTR today announced the publication of Counter Hack: A Step-by-Step Guide to Computer Attacks and Defenses by Ed Skoudis. Unlike other hacker books on the market, Counter Hack is a next-generation hacking book that presents a complete solutions-based approach to computer attacks and defenses for the IT professional protecting network infrastructure and data.
Skoudis provides an in-depth look at hacking practices, the most widespread and dangerous attack scenarios, the most widely-used hacker tools and detailed proven countermeasures for both UNIX(R) and Windows(R) environments...
Copyright 2001 Business Wire, Inc.
Business Wire
HEADLINE: Prentice Hall PTR Publishes the First Next-Generation Hacking Book; 'Counter Hack' Provides Expert, In-Depth Insight into Computer Attacks and Defenses
DATELINE: UPPER SADDLE RIVER, N.J., Aug. 9, 2001
Hackers can strike any company.
eBay, America Online and Microsoft all have experienced headline-making hacker attacks over the past year.
The Computer Security Institute's 2001 Computer Crime and Security Survey found that cyber crime tallied up to $378 million in losses among 186 companies that were able to quantify their damages in 2001. However, the FBI insists that this figure is much higher than reported. Computer crime has doubled since 2000 and experts believe that losses will only continue to grow.
According to Gartner Group, by 2004, 80 percent of enterprises will be using the Internet as an integral part of their business processes. Half will experience a financially significant loss due to Internet-borne incidents by that time.
Written by a leading computer security expert who demonstrated hacking techniques before the U.S. Senate, Counter Hack offers network and system administrators an in-depth, yet entertaining, step-by-step guide to computer attacks and defenses. Skoudis examines hackers from script kiddies to elite attackers and the hacker's view of networks.
He illustrates how to defend against today's most powerful hacker attacks and explains new evasion techniques and associated countermeasures. Skoudis details how readers can detect and prevent spoofing, evasion, Trojan Horses, backdoors, covert channels, denial of service attacks, and other key attacks.
The book features a complete chapter devoted to three in-depth hack scenarios describing how the hacker moves through systems and highlights the system administrator's errors so that readers may learn from the mistakes.
Counter Hack provides in-depth coverage of: the five phases of hacking (reconnaissance, scanning, gaining access, maintaining access and preventing detection); key hacker tools; how hackers build the most elegant attacks from simple building blocks; how hackers cover their tracks--and how you can uncover their handiwork; and a preview of tomorrow's hacker tools, attacks, and countermeasures.
About the Author...
Edward Skoudis is Vice President of Security Strategy for Predictive Systems, a leading independent infrastructure network consulting company, helping global enterprises and service providers harness the power of network technology. His specialty is identifying and resolving security vulnerabilities in UNIX, Windows, firewall architectures, and Web servers.
Skoudis is a frequent speaker at major security conferences such as SANS and has demonstrated hacker techniques for the United States Senate.
Skoudis is a member of the "Honeynet Project," a collection of 30 volunteer computer security, information intelligence and psychology experts studying how hackers break into computer systems via a system of "honeynets" or collections of computers set up as false networks for the study of hacking.
Widely recognized as an expert in the security field, Skoudis has published several articles in security trade magazines and has been quoted on hacking and computer security issues on CNNfn, Inter@ctiveWeek, Network World, Computerworld, Information Security Magazine and other national computer trade publications.
His web site devoted to his book, Counter Hack, will be online in the summer of 2001 at www.counterhack.org.
Counter Hack: A Step-by-Step Guide to Computer Attacks and Defenses by Ed Skoudis. (Prentice Hall PTR 2002. 500 pp. ISBN: 0-13-0333273-9. $49.99 US.)
Editors and media: For complimentary review copies, permission for excerpts, art or interviews with the author, please contact Kevin Jurrens of Garfield Group PR at 215-867-8600 x273 or
