Stealing the Network: How to Own a Continent

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Stealing the Network: How to Own a Continent

Mix the best Tom Clancy novel with the alpha-geek hackingculture trolling Slashdot and you may have some idea how Stealing the Network: How to Own a Continent exposes the seedierside of nefarious black hats to the technology community at large. Stealing the Network: How to Own a Continentis a sequel (of sorts) to 2003 s extremely well received Stealing the Network: How to Own the Box, a book that won accoladesfor its realistic depiction of computer hacking gone wrong.

Even though Stealingthe Network: How to Own a Continent is a chilling piece of fiction, thesoftware vulnerabilities exploited in the story are very real. It s also anentertaining exploration into the motivations behind the destructive behaviorthat the dark side of information technology can often elicit from peopleplagued with weak morals and corrosive greed. In the end, the messageultimately is that bad things happen to bad people.

A select number of experts in the computer security fieldwith a penchant for creative writing and deep knowledge of their craft haveindividually contributed chapters to the story. Each character s involvement isthreaded together by a fictitious mastermind named Bob Knuth (as one of thecharacters surmises, the name was obviously patterned after the world-renownedcomputer scientist Don Knuth ). Each chapter introduces a new characterexploiting a new vulnerability. Some of these bits contain brilliant deductionsand eerie twists. Two of my favorites were the less you know, the more moneyyou will make theorem, and the startling whiplash of a plot device involving ablood type change. I also got a kick out of the DVD Extras style of appendixthat reprinted portions of the Stealingthe Network: How to Own a Continent Yahoo Group s threaded discussionsshowing how the book was assembled from concept to completion. This sectionoffers readers an extraordinary glimpse into the effort required to coordinatea book with multiple contributors, and the questions and uncertainties that canarise throughout such a dynamic process.

Stealing theNetwork: How to Own a Continent is a rare treat for diehard techies seekinga good story that doesn t flinch in either its tale of gritty crime orreal-life technology. It is a killer thriller of a story in the most literalsense of the word, with real-world tech speak. It s also a refreshing changefrom other works of fiction that use technology as a magical black box toadvance the story. This is a book that treats its audience with respect whileblowing their mind. I honestly couldn t put this book down, and when I finishedreading the last page, I immediately e-mailed my recommendations to my techfriends.

Stealing theNetwork: How to Own a Continent is a book any serious developer and/ornetwork administrator will enjoy reading andit will further help its audience realize the ongoing vulnerabilities in thecurrent computing landscape and the types of people who are capable of takingadvantage of these flaws. I can t wait for the next installment in thisfascinating series!

Mike Riley

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Title: Stealing the Network: How to Own a Continent

Authors: 131ah,Russ Rogers, Jay Beale, Joe Grand, Fyodor, FX, Paul Craig, Tim Mullen, RyanRussell

Publisher: SyngressPublishing, Inc.

ISBN:1-931836-05-1

Book Web Site: http://www.syngress.com/catalog/sg_main.cfm?pid=2890

Price: US$49.95

Page Count: 432pages