Craft of System Security, The

Whether you're a security practitioner, developer, manager, or administrator, this book will give you the deep understanding necessary to meet today's security challenges--and anticipate tomorrow's. Unlike most books, The Craft of System Security doesn't just review the modern security practitioner's toolkit: It explains why each tool exists, and discusses how to use it to solve real problems.

After quickly reviewing the history of computer security, the authors move on to discuss the modern landscape, showing how security challenges and responses have evolved, and offering a coherent framework for understanding today's systems and vulnerabilities. Next, they systematically introduce the basic building blocks for securing contemporary systems, apply those building blocks to today's applications, and consider important emerging trends such as hardware-based security.

After reading this book, you will be able to

• Understand the classic Orange Book approach to security, and its limitations
• Use operating system security tools and structures--with examples from Windows, Linux, BSD, and Solaris
• Learn how networking, the Web, and wireless technologies affect security
• Identify software security defects, from buffer overflows to development process flaws
• Understand cryptographic primitives and their use in secure systems
• Use best practice techniques for authenticating people and computer systems in diverse settings
• Use validation, standards, and testing to enhance confidence in a system's security
• Discover the security, privacy, and trust issues arising from desktop productivity tools
• Understand digital rights management, watermarking, information hiding, and policy expression
• Learn principles of human-computer interaction (HCI) design for improved security
• Understand the potential of emerging work in hardware-based security and trusted computing