Spies Among Us


Book Description

Ira Winkler has been dubbed "A Modern Day James Bond" by CNN and other media outlets for his ability to simulate espionage attacks against many of the top companies in the world, showing how billions of dollars can disappear. This unique book is packed with the riveting, true stories and case studies of how he did it-and how people and companies can avoid falling victim to the spies among us. American corporations now lose as much as $300 billion a year to hacking, cracking, physical security breaches, and other criminal activity. Millions of people a year have their identities stolen or fall victim to other scams. In Spies Among Us, Ira Winkler reveals his security secrets, disclosing how companies and individuals can protect themselves from even the most diabolical criminals. He goes into the mindset of everyone from small-time hackers to foreign intelligence agencies to disclose cost-effective countermeasures for all types of attacks. In Spies Among Us, readers learn: Why James Bond and Sydney Bristow are terrible spies How a team was able to infiltrate an airport in a post-9/11 world and plant a bomb How Ira and his team were able to steal nuclear reactor designs in three hours The real risks that individuals face from the spies that they unknowingly meet on a daily basis Recommendations for how companies and individuals can secure themselves against the spies, criminals, and terrorists who regularly cross their path




Zen and the Art of Information Security


Book Description

Through analogies, this title makes security understandable to the average person in a completely non-technical, concise, and entertaining format. Using the text, and just plain common sense, readers can see through the hype and become comfortable taking very simple actions to secure themselves.




You CAN Stop Stupid


Book Description

Stopping Losses from Accidental and Malicious Actions Around the world, users cost organizations billions of dollars due to simple errors and malicious actions. They believe that there is some deficiency in the users. In response, organizations believe that they have to improve their awareness efforts and making more secure users. This is like saying that coalmines should get healthier canaries. The reality is that it takes a multilayered approach that acknowledges that users will inevitably make mistakes or have malicious intent, and the failure is in not planning for that. It takes a holistic approach to assessing risk combined with technical defenses and countermeasures layered with a security culture and continuous improvement. Only with this kind of defense in depth can organizations hope to prevent the worst of the cybersecurity breaches and other user-initiated losses. Using lessons from tested and proven disciplines like military kill-chain analysis, counterterrorism analysis, industrial safety programs, and more, Ira Winkler and Dr. Tracy Celaya's You CAN Stop Stupid provides a methodology to analyze potential losses and determine appropriate countermeasures to implement. Minimize business losses associated with user failings Proactively plan to prevent and mitigate data breaches Optimize your security spending Cost justify your security and loss reduction efforts Improve your organization’s culture Business technology and security professionals will benefit from the information provided by these two well-known and influential cybersecurity speakers and experts.




Protecting Industrial Control Systems from Electronic Threats


Book Description

Aimed at both the novice and expert in IT security and industrial control systems (ICS), this book will help readers gain a better understanding of protecting ICSs from electronic threats. Cyber security is getting much more attention and "SCADA security" (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) is a particularly important part of this field, as are Distributed Control Systems (DCS), Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), Remote Terminal Units (RTUs), Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs), and all the other, field controllers, sensors, drives, and emission controls that make up the "intelligence" of modern industrial buildings and facilities. Some Key Features include: How to better understand the convergence between Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and general IT systems Insight into educational needs and certifications How to conduct Risk and Vulnerability Assessments Descriptions and observations from malicious and unintentional ICS cyber incidents Recommendations for securing ICS




The Googlization of Everything


Book Description

In the beginning, the World Wide Web was exciting and open to the point of anarchy, a vast and intimidating repository of unindexed confusion. Into this creative chaos came Google with its dazzling mission—"To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible"—and its much-quoted motto, "Don’t be evil." In this provocative book, Siva Vaidhyanathan examines the ways we have used and embraced Google—and the growing resistance to its expansion across the globe. He exposes the dark side of our Google fantasies, raising red flags about issues of intellectual property and the much-touted Google Book Search. He assesses Google’s global impact, particularly in China, and explains the insidious effect of Googlization on the way we think. Finally, Vaidhyanathan proposes the construction of an Internet ecosystem designed to benefit the whole world and keep one brilliant and powerful company from falling into the "evil" it pledged to avoid.




Sandworm


Book Description

"With the nuance of a reporter and the pace of a thriller writer, Andy Greenberg gives us a glimpse of the cyberwars of the future while at the same time placing his story in the long arc of Russian and Ukrainian history." —Anne Applebaum, bestselling author of Twilight of Democracy The true story of the most devastating act of cyberwarfare in history and the desperate hunt to identify and track the elite Russian agents behind it: "[A] chilling account of a Kremlin-led cyberattack, a new front in global conflict" (Financial Times). In 2014, the world witnessed the start of a mysterious series of cyberattacks. Targeting American utility companies, NATO, and electric grids in Eastern Europe, the strikes grew ever more brazen. They culminated in the summer of 2017, when the malware known as NotPetya was unleashed, penetrating, disrupting, and paralyzing some of the world's largest businesses—from drug manufacturers to software developers to shipping companies. At the attack's epicenter in Ukraine, ATMs froze. The railway and postal systems shut down. Hospitals went dark. NotPetya spread around the world, inflicting an unprecedented ten billion dollars in damage—the largest, most destructive cyberattack the world had ever seen. The hackers behind these attacks are quickly gaining a reputation as the most dangerous team of cyberwarriors in history: a group known as Sandworm. Working in the service of Russia's military intelligence agency, they represent a persistent, highly skilled force, one whose talents are matched by their willingness to launch broad, unrestrained attacks on the most critical infrastructure of their adversaries. They target government and private sector, military and civilians alike. A chilling, globe-spanning detective story, Sandworm considers the danger this force poses to our national security and stability. As the Kremlin's role in foreign government manipulation comes into greater focus, Sandworm exposes the realities not just of Russia's global digital offensive, but of an era where warfare ceases to be waged on the battlefield. It reveals how the lines between digital and physical conflict, between wartime and peacetime, have begun to blur—with world-shaking implications.




Information Warfare and Security


Book Description

What individuals, corporations, and governments need to know about information-related attacks and defenses! Every day, we hear reports of hackers who have penetrated computer networks, vandalized Web pages, and accessed sensitive information. We hear how they have tampered with medical records, disrupted emergency 911 systems, and siphoned money from bank accounts. Could information terrorists, using nothing more than a personal computer, cause planes to crash, widespread power blackouts, or financial chaos? Such real and imaginary scenarios, and our defense against them, are the stuff of information warfare-operations that target or exploit information media to win some objective over an adversary. Dorothy E. Denning, a pioneer in computer security, provides in this book a framework for understanding and dealing with information-based threats: computer break-ins, fraud, sabotage, espionage, piracy, identity theft, invasions of privacy, and electronic warfare. She describes these attacks with astonishing, real examples, as in her analysis of information warfare operations during the Gulf War. Then, offering sound advice for security practices and policies, she explains countermeasures that are both possible and necessary. You will find in this book: A comprehensive and coherent treatment of offensive and defensive information warfare, identifying the key actors, targets, methods, technologies, outcomes, policies, and laws; A theory of information warfare that explains and integrates within a single framework operations involving diverse actors and media; An accurate picture of the threats, illuminated by actual incidents; A description of information warfare technologies and their limitations, particularly the limitations of defensive technologies. Whatever your interest or role in the emerging field of information warfare, this book will give you the background you need to make informed judgments about potential threats and our defenses against them. 0201433036B04062001




Hacking For Dummies


Book Description

Updated for Windows 8 and the latest version of Linux The best way to stay safe online is to stop hackers before they attack - first, by understanding their thinking and second, by ethically hacking your own site to measure the effectiveness of your security. This practical, top-selling guide will help you do both. Fully updated for Windows 8 and the latest version of Linux, Hacking For Dummies, 4th Edition explores the malicious hacker's mindset and helps you develop an ethical hacking plan (also known as penetration testing) using the newest tools and techniques. More timely than ever, this must-have book covers the very latest threats, including web app hacks, database hacks, VoIP hacks, and hacking of mobile devices. Guides you through the techniques and tools you need to stop hackers before they hack you Completely updated to examine the latest hacks to Windows 8 and the newest version of Linux Explores the malicious hackers's mindset so that you can counteract or avoid attacks completely Suggests ways to report vulnerabilities to upper management, manage security changes, and put anti-hacking policies and procedures in place If you're responsible for security or penetration testing in your organization, or want to beef up your current system through ethical hacking, make sure you get Hacking For Dummies, 4th Edition.




Understanding Cyber Risk


Book Description

A myriad of security vulnerabilities in the software and hardware we use today can be exploited by an attacker, any attacker. The knowledge necessary to successfully intercept your data and voice links and bug your computers is widespread and not limited to the intelligence apparatus. Consequently, the knowledge required can - at least in part - also easily be accessed by criminals trying to ‘transfer your wealth’ and competitors looking for your trade secrets. The temptation to use these easily accessible resources to the disadvantage of a rival company grows as global competition gets fiercer. Corporate espionage is nothing new, but since the dawn of the Internet Age the rules have changed. It is no longer necessary to be on-site to steal proprietary information. Cyberattacks today are cheap and attackers run a very low risk of getting caught, as attacks can be executed from anywhere in the world - an ideal breeding ground for criminal activities - and the consequences can be disastrous. In Understanding Cyber Risk: Protecting your Corporate Assets the author provides a wealth of real world examples from diverse industries from all over the world on how company assets are attacked via the cyber world. The cases clearly show that every organization can fall victim to a cyberattack, regardless of the size or country of origin. He also offers specific advice on how to protect core assets and company secrets. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in cyber security, and the use of cyberattacks in corporate espionage.




Spying on Democracy


Book Description

Spying on US citizens is rising as corporations make big bucks selling info about our private lives to the government.