IT Security: Risking the Corporation
by Linda McCarthy

List Price: $34.99
Our Price: $17.00
You Save: $17.99 (51%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.70 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

Book Summary Information

Book Reviews of IT Security: Risking the Corporation

Book Review: Disappointing; an "audit everything" approach to incidents
Summary: 3 Stars

"In my opinion, he was a real loser." (p. 61)

"Joseph clearly fit into what I call the big-L category, and that's 'L' for loser." (p. 102)

Beyond these choice words by a consulting "professional," the author demonstrates no concept of proper incident response procedures. Anyone following her example will destroy evidence and corrupt investigations. In chapter 2, she "helps" an ISP known to be suffering extensive compromise: "within seconds, I had broken root and gained full control of their main sever." (p. 25). What sort of incident response expert collects evidence by breaking into a suspect system? Similar "advice" appears in chapter 3, where "arguably the best security guru in the company" responds by "testing the network for security vulnerabilities" during the latest crisis.

"IT Security" also shows a lack of understanding regarding IDS operations and the security "big picture." The author casually writes "Most IDS can detect the attack only if a signature exists. Sounds silly if you think about it. . . Make sure your IDS can detect new zero-day attacks." (p. 11) While this may make sense on the surface, this breezy statement has no supporting advice and is of little help. The author then claims "You need to know when your company last did a security audit. That is the only way to be sure that your systems are secure." (p. 27). The only thing an audit reveals is the level of risk the day the audit completed. Security is a journey, not a destination!

I rated "IT Security" three stars because the "Let's Not Go There" sections actually contain good advice. Beware the rest of the material.

Summary of IT Security: Risking the Corporation

Privacy Books

• Subjects > Computers & Technology > Business & Culture > Privacy
• Certification
• Networking > Networks, Protocols & APIs
• Network Security
• Software