Attacks against computer systems are very personal--the only cracking technique most site administrators care about is the one that's being used against them at the moment, and it's really hard to cater to that requirement in a book. On the other hand, Maximum Security deserves a close reading because it provides a lot of background on security risks and the "good housekeeping" sorts of practices (turning off unused services, to cite a simple example) that can motivate bad guys to ignore your system in favor of easier targets. There's no doubt that this book's advice will enable you to fend off uncreative, cookie-cutter attacks of the kind detailed on Web sites for attackers. And that's probably enough, unless you have some really enthusiastic enemies.

The anonymous author explains most security risks, defense strategies, and security tools in highly readable prose that's mixed with a moderate number of listings (of command-line exchanges and software) and a large number of Internet addresses (where detailed information and software can be found). History lessons--stories of security breaches and how they were stopped, and of product weaknesses and how they were detected--are a big part of this large volume. Readers will put this book down with a solid foundation in Internet security concepts, ready to harden their systems against attack and cope effectively with news of new security risks. --David Wall

Topics covered: How to break into or disable a computer system, and how to defend a computer system from being broken into or disabled. Firewalls, intrusion detectors, log-and-audit utilities, and packet sniffers are covered in detail, as are varieties of attack and the specific vulnerabilities of popular operating systems.

From Library Journal

Network administrators need to read this book closely because a lot of aspiring hackers will be reading it closely and will be looking around for somewhere to practice their new skills, e.g., your lan or web server. This book covers in copious detail internet warfare, programming languages, scanners, sniffers, password crackers, trojans, platform security, remote attacks, spoofing, firewalls, and the law. It is a how-to protect book and, by default, a how-to attack book.

Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.