Product: 1593271441

When I mentioned aloud that I was exciting to try hacking with the help of this book, another visitor to this ALA booth glanced up at me with suspicion and then looked down as if she was either sharing a joke that I did not look like somebody that would succeed at hacking even if I tried, or as if she was looking away to not seem to be investigating my motivations. I am interested in hacking because I have been a victim of hacks of various sorts, some of which have cost me money or loss of privacy. All of these have been relatively minor, but the IRS sends me a special code every year because somebody has attempted to steal my identity and was trying to fill out my tax return on my behalf. If I understood how hacking is done, perhaps I would not be such an easy victim. And the same probably applies to most people in this digital age.
At the same time a book on practical hacking is problematic because somebody can use it as a starter guide to learn the skills necessary to attack others. The back cover stresses that the techniques explained here are outdated and ancient and would no longer pass current security systems. It is a foundation text on the principles of hacking aimed at programmers who call themselves hackers but lack the knowledge that would make them professionals. These basicas are grounded in C programming. A LiveCD is included with Linux programming and debugging components. It promises to teach how to hijack network communications and even how to invent new exploits to current systems. It also promises to outsmart Norton and other security systems that detect threats. And like in a science fiction movie, you might even learn how to crack into computers using a password probability matrix. The author, Jon Erickson, teaches computer security, and the primary audience for this book is people working to stop hackers, rather than the hackers themselves.
This book jumps completely over my head. It offers complex codes and instructions and beginners definitely should not attempt it. If I am a victim of a more serious hack in the future, I think I will pick it up and attempt to comprehend it, but this is not a book that can be mastered in a month because Im sure Id need to read a dozen other books just to catch up to the basics that it skips.
–Pennsylvania Literary Journal: Summer 2016: […]
Rating: 3
1593271441
Count: 12