Stealing The Network: How to Own the Box by Syngress

Stealing The Network: How to Own the Box Reviews

• 
  Toni

  Very interesting concept - instead of being a typical hacker or pen-testing howto guide, it's actually a collection of stories told from the viewpoint of hackers on accessing networks in different ways. I found the stories to be really interesting and enveloping, both from a technical and a true-crime-story kind of way, but many of the personalities of the storytellers left me really irritated - definitely a lot of that "teen hacker" stereotypical attitude of immaturity and arrogance. But still pretty fun read.
• 
  cindy

  IT technology.
  This kind of tech has been developes really fast since the 70's where Arpanet connect the first LAN. Along with the advance, came the flaw - Security. If your private network is your home, than prepare to lock the doors.
  
  The book contains some short fiction stories based with real technology. I think this book is not particularly a hackers how to. It is a good book to know how hackers (best ones) would think and do to your network, and by so, helps us improving our defense.
  
  I read this book years ago, but I suddenly remember it, and just read it again, cause Network Security class I took. Still amazing!
• 
  Amar Pai

  addendum 1/12/04: now that I've read 3 books in this series, I have to say volume 2,
  How to Own a Continent, is by far the best. I'd start with that.
  
  Extremely realistic. Good for what it is. Don't bother unless you are ok with pages of unix console logs constituting large parts of each story. That said, this is pretty gripping for the right sort of person. Brian P might like it
• 
  Abdul

  [Verdict]:
  This book is the first book in the series "Stealing the Network" books. It's a cybersecurity fiction book about the world of hacking written in a format of a novel but with accurate and real technical content to satisfy any security geek or engineer.
  
  The book has been written by multiple authors who are credible and distinguished names in the world of Cyber Security. Several independent stories each describing a different scenario involving a different type of hack.
  
  What makes this book so interesting and different is the fact that each of these scenarios although fictional, are very plausible and the techniques and tools described to carry out those attacks are real. From the story of the disgruntled employee who is out for revenge on his employer, to the paid hacker who stole a valuable piece of Intellectual Property for a competing company.
  
  Even as a seasoned security professional, I had a tingling in my spine reading some sections thinking, genius! But wait...that could happen to us if we don't review x,y,z in depth.
  
  Although the book is dated and some of the tools or techniques described might not be up to date, it is still a great reference for the methodology and mindset. I have learnt a lot from this book from the perspective of an attacker. The style is so engaging and well written. If you are not technically inclined, you won't miss a thing by skipping the commands and various instructions or outputs of the hack. You should be able to enjoy it as a cyber-thriller. The end of the book contains a handy summary and a chapter on the laws of Security which explain how to best protect yourself and your company against most of the attacks described in the book.
  
  [How I read this book]:
  I have had this book for a while at my desk in the office. I was juggling other books but I finally decided to do a fun challenge to start reading it. Every morning while my laptop boots and my email and other programs load, I get a solid 5-10 minutes which I used to use to chit chat with my colleagues or get some coffee. I have replaced it with reading 5-10 pages a day while my laptop fully starts up. This gives me the chance to digest the hack and gets my brain working throughout the day in how I would have done it, try the hacks myself or how I would have secured my systems against it. Much better than whizzing through the book and not grasping the message they are trying to communicate.
  Through the power of small steps and chipping away at this, I have finally managed to finish this book! I have already ordered the next two books in the series and plan to read them in the same style without sacrificing extra time after work as I am reading other books.
• 
  Lindsay

  This is bad. Really bad. This book was recommended to me by a colleague, but I couldn't get past the first third of the book.
  
  Each chapter is written separately. They are all sort of like stand-alone short stories. The authors attempt to show you what different types of network attacks would be like through the use of fiction. I assume that they also try to give you a little knowledge about the subject (even though they claim that's not the point of the book) because otherwise the fiction would have to be better than it is. The merger of the two is like a train wreck. In order to make it seem like a mystery to be solved, some of the authors would withhold key information then thrust it onto the reader at the end to show how clever the character was - yes, just like a really bad detective book.
  
  Not recommended.
  Couldn't finish.
• 
  Sheldon

  Solid book written by security/"pen-test" guys. I thought the stories were interesting and present what could be realistic scenarios. It has a good portrayal of the mindset of hackers and their relentlessness.
  
  What the book is not: It's not a how to book for wannabe hackers. If you're looking for a guide on how to exploit systems, you'll want to look elsewhere (and my guess is not in a print book as those exploits will surely have been closed by the time you and thousands of others get your hands on the books)
  
  Overall, it's a good book if you are interested in computer security or like stories on computer / network hacking. The short individual stories make this book easy to read over a long period of time.
• 
  Brian

  (3.0) Good concept, writing could be better
  
  These aren't connected the way that the stories in
  Stealing the Network: How to Own a Continent. I agree with Amar: try that.
• 
  Wm

  Interesting read. This is not your normal computer science book.
• 
  Pete

  I would probably rate higher if so much of the technical stuff wasn't over my head.
• 
  Erik Dominguez

  Great book for the techy person.
  
  The stories are interesting, and seemingly accurate from a technical perspective. I really enjoyed it.