Best Book Bejtlich Read in 2012

It's time to name the winner of the Best Book Bejtlich Read award for 2012!

I started seriously reading and reviewing digital security books in 2000. This is the 7th time I've formally announced a winner; see my bestbook label for previous winners.

I posted yesterday that 2012 was the year I changed what I read. For example, in 2011 I read and reviewed 22 technical books. In 2012, which a change in my interests, I only read and reviewed one technical book. Thankfully, it was a five star book, which means it is my BBBR 2012 winner!

As you might have figured out yesterday, this year's winner is SSH Mastery by Michael W Lucas. Feel free to read my Amazon.com review for details. Note that I bought a Kindle version from Amazon.com, and later MWL mailed me a print copy.

Besides the excellent style and content, one of the reasons I read the book was to experience MWL's first release of a self-published technical book. I think it was a successful endeavor, although I'm not prepared to try that route myself anytime soon.

If I were to name my favorite non-technical book I read in 2012, it would be For the President's Eyes Only: Secret Intelligence and the American Presidency from Washington to Bush by Christopher Andrew. I enjoyed learning more about American history through the eyes of the intel world, but I was shocked by how poorly most presidents understood and (mis)used intelligence.

I'm probably done reading and reviewing technical books, so I consider this to be the final BBBR post. I have over 100 possible (mainly nontechnical) books to read on my Kindle now (in Sample form), but I doubt I will review them when done.

Good luck reading in 2013!

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Best Book Bejtlich Read in 2011

It's time to name the winner of the Best Book Bejtlich Read award for 2011!

I've been reading and reviewing digital security books seriously since 2000. This is the 6th time I've formally announced a winner; see my bestbook label for previous winners.

Compared to 2010 (31 books), 2011 saw a decrease to 22 books. Remember all reading is neither equal nor fast. When I review a book, I am sure to read it and not just skim it. For 10 books last year, I chose not to read them but to instead post impressions. Posts called "impressions" provide my sense of the book but I do not publish them in my Amazon.com reviews.

My ratings for 2011 can be summarized as follows:

• 5 stars: 10 books


• 4 stars: 7 books


• 3 stars: 4 books


• 2 stars: 1 book


• 1 stars: 0 books

Please remember that I try to avoid reading bad books. If I read a book and I give it a lower rating (generally 3 or less stars), it's because I had higher hopes.

Here's my overall ranking of the five star reviews; this means all of the following are excellent books. The links point to my reviews.

• 10. pfSense by Jim Pingle; Reed Media Services.


• 9. Beginning Visual C++ 2010 by Ivor Horton; Wrox


• 8. Windows System Programming, 4th Ed by Johnson M. Hart; Addison-Wesley.


• 7. Beginning C, 4th Ed by Ivor Horton; Apress


• 6. Robust Control System Networks by Ralph Langner; Momentum Press.


• 5. Managed Code Rootkits by Erez Metula; Syngress.


• 4. Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick and William L. Simon; Little, Brown and Company.


• 3. America the Vulnerable by Joel Brenner; Penguin Press HC.


• 2. Windows Internals, 5th Ed by Mark Russinovich, David A. Solomon, and Alex Ionescu; Microsoft Press.

And, the winner of the Best Book Bejtlich Read in 2011 award is...

• Hacking: The Art of Exploitation, 2nd Ed by Jon Erickson; No Starch. My review said in part:
  
  Jon Erickson's Hacking, 2nd Ed (H2E) is one of the most remarkable books in the group I just read. H2E is in some senses amazing because the author takes the reader on a journey through programming, exploitation, shellcode, and so forth, yet helps the reader climb each mountain. While the material is sufficiently technical to scare some readers away, those that remain will definitely learn more about the craft.

Looking at publishers, for the first year I can remember no publisher won more than one title. No Starch breaks the string of 3 straight previous BBBR victories held by Syngress.

Thank you to all publishers who sent me books in 2011. I have plenty more to read in 2012.

Congratulations to all the authors who wrote great books in 2011, and who are publishing titles in 2012!

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Best Book Bejtlich Read in 2010

It's the end of the year, which means it's time to name the winner of the Best Book Bejtlich Read award for 2010!



I've been reading and reviewing digital security books seriously since 2000. This is the fifth time I've formally announced a winner; see 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006.



Compared to 2009 (15 books), 2010 was a good reading year -- 31 technical or security books, or my fifth highest total since 2000. Incidentally I read a decent number of "security history" books, meaning characterizations of "the scene." Many covered the 1990s and are fairly old, but I had always wanted to read them.



My ratings for 2010 can be summarized as follows:

• 5 stars: 14 books



• 4 stars: 9 books



• 3 stars: 5 books



• 2 stars: 3 books



• 1 stars: 0 books

Please remember that I try to avoid reading bad books. If I read a book and I give it a lower rating (generally 3 or less stars), it's because I had higher hopes.



Here's my overall ranking of the five star reviews; this means all of the following are excellent books.

• 14, 13, and 12. The Dragon's Quantum Leap, Decoding the Virtual Dragon, and Dragon Bytes by Timothy L Thomas, Foreign Military Studies Office. Thomas examines Chinese information warfare like no one else. Enlightening and frightening.



• 11. Intelligence, 4th Ed by Mark M. Lowenthal, CQ Press. Anyone interested in learning about the IC and how professional intelligence officers think and act will enjoy reading I4E.



• 10. The Book of Xen by Chris Takemura, No Starch. This could easily have been a very dry technical book, but TBOX is entertaining from the start.



• 9. IT Security Metrics by Lance Hayden, McGraw-Hill Osborne Media. If you want to introduce a comprehensive security metrics program in your environment, ISM will very skillfully offer one way to accomplish that goal. It's immensely practical and grounded in reality, and it will help you.



• 8. The Victorian Internet by Tom Standage, Walker & Company. Being a history major, I find The Victorian Internet (TVI) to be an enlightening antidote to chronocentricity, and I recommend it to anyone trying to better understand modern times through the lens of history.



• 7. The Hacker Crackdown by Bruce Sterling, Bantam. THC is one of my favorite books on hacker activity because it combines a narrative with the author's accounts of interactions with key individuals.



• 6. The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll, Gallery. I first read TCE 20 years ago when it was first published, but I was a high school student who couldn't appreciate the content. Now, as an IR team leader, I recognize that Cliff probably shares 25 IR lessons in the first 50 pages!



• 5. Hacking Exposed Wireless, 2nd Ed by Johnny Cache, McGraw-Hill Osborne Media. HEW2 is the best book on wireless security available. If you want to understand wireless -- and not just 802.11, but also Bluetooth, ZigBee, and DECT -- HEW2 is the book for you.



• 4. Wireshark Network Analysis by Laura Chappell, Laura Chappell University. Wireshark Network Analysis (WNA) is a very practical, thorough, comprehensive introduction to Wireshark, written in an engaging style and produced in a professional manner.



• 3. Network Maintenance and Troubleshooting Guide, 2nd Ed by Neal Allen, Addison-Wesley Professional. NMATG brings a whole new dimension to network analysis, particularly at the lowest levels of the OSI model. I found topics covered in NMATG that were never discussed in other books.



• 2. The Rootkit Arsenal by Bill Blunden, Jones & Bartlett Publishers. "Wow." That summarizes my review of "The Rootkit Arsenal" (TRA) by Bill Blunden. If you're a security person and you plan to read one seriously technical book this year, make it TRA. If you decide to really focus your attention, and try the examples in the book, you will be able to write Windows rootkits. Even without taking a hands-on approach, you will learn why you can't trust computers to defend themselves or report their condition in a trustworthy manner.

And, the winner of the Best Book Bejtlich Read in 2010 award is...

• 1. Practical Lock Picking by Deviant Ollam, Syngress. My review said in part (emphasis added tonight):
  
  
  
  Practical Lock Picking (PLP) is an awesome book. I don't provide physical testing services, but as a security professional familiar with Deviant's reputation I was curious to read PLP. Not only is PLP an incredible resource, it should also serve as a model text for others who want to write a good book. First, although the book is less than 250 pages, it is very reasonably priced. Second, Deviant wastes NO space. There is no filler material, background found in other readily available texts, reprinted Web site content, etc. Third, the writing is exceptionally clear and methodical, with extreme attention to detail and a master's approach to educating the reader. Finally, the diagrams, pictures, and figures are superb.

The Army FMSO office led publishers with 3 books this year, while traditional media publisher McGraw-Hill Osborne Media followed with 2.



Congratulations again to Syngress, publisher of the last three Best Book Bejtlich Read winners!



Thank you to all publishers who sent me books in 2010. I have plenty more to read in 2011.



Congratulations to all the authors who wrote great books in 2010, and who are publishing titles in 2011!

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Best Book Bejtlich Read in 2009

It's the end of the year, which means it's time to name the winner of the Best Book Bejtlich Read award for 2009!



Although I've been reading and reviewing digital security books seriously since 2000, this is only the fourth time I've formally announced a winner; see 2008, 2007, and 2006.



2009 was a slow year, due to a general lack of long-haul air travel (where I might read a whole book on one leg) and the general bleed-over from my day work into my outside-work time.



My ratings for 2009 can be summarized as follows:

• 5 stars: 6 books



• 4 stars: 5 books



• 3 stars: 4 books



• 2 stars: 0 books



• 1 stars: 0 books

Here's my overall ranking of the five star reviews; this means all of the following are excellent books.

• 6. Vi(1) Tips by Jacek Artymiak; devGuide.net. Every Unix admin should know how to use vi(1), and Jacek's book provides the right balance of commands and examples.



• 5. Web Security Testing Cookbook: Systematic Techniques to Find Problems Fast by Paco Hope; O'Reilly. Even though I am not a Web developer, I found this book to be very clear and helpful for security analysts trying to understand Web traffic.



• 4. IPv6 Security by Scott Hogg; Cisco Press. When it comes to IPv6 security books, there is really no alternative, and thankfully this book delivers.



• 3. Windows Forensic Analysis DVD Toolkit, Second Edition by Harlan A. Carvey; Syngress. Harlan's update to the first edition of his book is another winner; you must read this book.



• 2. The Web Application Hacker's Handbook: Discovering and Exploiting Security Flaws by Marcus Pinto; Wiley. This is an excellent book. I read several books on Web application security recently, and this is my favorite.

And, the winner of the Best Book Bejtlich Read in 2009 award is...

1. SQL Injection Attacks and Defense by Justin Clarke, et al; Syngress. This was a really tough call. Any of the top 4 books could easily have been the best book I read in 2009. Congratulations to Syngress for publishing another winner. SQL injection is probably the number one problem for any server-side application, and this book is unequaled in its coverage.



Looking at the publisher count, top honors in 2009 go to Syngress for 2 titles, followed by Wiley, Cisco Press, O'Reilly, and devGuide.net, each with one.



Thank you to all publishers who sent me books in 2009. I have plenty more to read in 2010.



Congratulations to all the authors who wrote great books in 2009, and who are publishing titles in 2010!

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Best Book Bejtlich Read in 2008

If I read and reviewed a book you wrote in 2008, this was one of the better years to win my Best Book Bejtlich Read award. I only read and reviewed 20 books this year, compared to 17 in 2000, 42 in 2001, 24 in 2002, 33 in 2003, 33 in 2004, 26 in 2005, 52 in 2006, and 25 in 2007.



My 2007 and 2006 winners are posted too. Although I've been reviewing books seriously since 2000 and blogging since 2003, I only started listing my favorite books in 2006.



I did not spend enough time "hanging in the sky" (to quote John Denver) reading a book, and too much of my day job spilled into my evening reading hours. I prefer to avoid long-haul air travel, so I don't expect to read more on planes in 2009. Regarding work-life balance, I have more help at work for detection and response duties. We'll see how 2009 fares with respect to reading overall.



My ratings for 2008 can be summarized as follows:

• 5 stars: 7 books



• 4 stars: 8 books



• 3 stars: 4 books



• 2 stars: 1 book



• 1 star: 0 books

Here's my overall ranking of the five star reviews; this means all of the following are excellent books.

• 7. Beginning Perl, 2nd Ed by James Lee. Lee's book is excellent from start to finish. I found his explanations very clear and his writing style lively. He covered just about everything I hoped to read in a book of roughly 400 pages.



• 6. OSSEC HIDS by Rory Bray, Daniel Cid and Andrew Hay. I have to congratulate the author team for OHG. Writing a book for Syngress with many contributors is usually a recipe for disaster. OHG features three lead authors, four contributors, and one foreword author -- and they don't step on each others' toes.



• 5. Virtual Honeypots: From Botnet Tracking to Intrusion Detection by Niels Provos and Thorsten Holz. If you are at all interested in potentially deceiving intruders, buy and read Virtual Honeypots. You'll learn about more than VMware (QEMU, UML, etc.) as well as numerous open source tools you can download and try for free.



• 4. Googling Security: How Much Does Google Know About You? by Greg Conti. There's no question that Greg Conti writes excellent books. Last year's Security Data Visualization book earned 5 stars, and I put Googling Security in the same league. Conti takes a thorough and methodical look at the privacy consequences of Google's services, incorporating technical realities and thoughtful analysis.



• 3. Nmap Network Scanning by Gordon "Fyodor" Lyon. If you are looking for *the* book on Nmap, the search is over: NNS is a winner.



• 2. Applied Security Visualization by Raffy Marty. I think ASV is a great book on security visualization, but it will also help general security practitioners.

And, the winner of the Best Book Bejtlich Read in 2008 award is...



1. Malware Forensics: Investigating and Analyzing Malicious Code by Cameron H. Malin, Eoghan Casey, and James M. Aquilina. Malware Forensics is an awesome book. Last year Syngress published Harlan Carvey's 5-star Windows Forensic Analysis, and now we get to enjoy this new title. I should disclose that I co-wrote a forensics book with Curtis Rose, and I just delivered a guest lecture in a class taught by Eoghan Casey. However, I still call books as I see them, regardless of the author.



I can confidently say that anyone interested in learning how to analyze malware, or perform incident response, will benefit from reading Malware Forensics. The authors even maintain a Web site -- malwareforensics.com -- to support the book.



Looking at the publisher count, top honors in 2008 go to Addison-Wesley for 3 titles, followed by Syngress with 2, and finally Apress and a self-published title, each with one. Thank you to all publishers who sent me books in 2008. I have plenty more to read in 2009.

---

Richard Bejtlich is teaching new classes in DC and Europe in 2009. Register by 1 Jan and 1 Feb, respectively, for the best rates.

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Best Book Bejtlich Read in 2007

Last year I posted my first year-end ranking of books I had read and reviewed in 2006, titled Favorite Books I Read and Reviewed in 2006. I decided to continue the tradition this year by posting my 2007 rankings, and awarding Best Book Bejtlich Read in 2007 (B3R07).

2007 was not my most productive year in terms of reading and reviewing books. I read 17 in 2000, 42 in 2001, 24 in 2002, 33 in 2003, 33 in 2004, 26 in 2005, and 52 in 2006. This year I read and reviewed 25 books, several during the last week. My ratings can be summarized as follows:

• 5 stars: 9 books


• 4 stars: 11 books


• 3 stars: 4 books


• 2 stars: 1 book


• 1 star: 0 books

The competition for the B3R07 award was intense. Keep in mind these are all five star books.

• 9. Designing BSD Rootkits: An Introduction to Kernel Hacking by Joseph Kong (No Starch). If you understand C and want to learn how to manipulate the FreeBSD kernel, Designing BSD Rootkits is for you.


• 8. Hacking Exposed VoIP: Voice Over IP Security Secrets & Solutions by David Endler and Mark Collier (McGraw-Hill/Osborne). I like HE books because the good ones explain a technology from a security standpoint, how to exploit it, and how to defend it. I thought HE:V did well in all three areas, even featuring original research and experiments to document and validate the authors' claims.


• 7. Security Metrics: Replacing Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt by Andrew Jaquith (Addison-Wesley). You must read this book if you care to measure security progress.


• 6. Security Data Visualization: Graphical Techniques for Network Analysis by Greg Conti (No Starch). It's perfect for readers familiar with security who are looking to add new weapons to their defensive arsenals.


• 5. Linux Firewalls: Attack Detection and Response with iptables, psad, and fwsnort by Michael Rash (No Starch). As a FreeBSD user, Linux Firewalls is good enough to make me consider using Linux in certain circumstances!


• 4. Absolute FreeBSD, 2nd Edition: The Complete Guide to FreeBSD by Michael W. Lucas (No Starch). When was the last time you could physically feel yourself getting smarter while reading a book? If you are a beginning to average FreeBSD user, Absolute FreeBSD 2nd Ed (AF2E) will deliver that sensation in spades.


• 3. Windows Forensic Analysis Including DVD Toolkit by Harlan Carvey (Syngress). WFA delivered just what I hoped to read in a book of its size and intended audience, and my expectations were high. If your job requires investigating compromised Windows hosts, you must read WFA.


• 2. Network Warrior by Gary Donahue (O'Reilly). Gary Donahue has written a wonderful book that I highly recommend for anyone who administers, supports, or interacts with networks.

And, the winner of the Best Book Bejtlich Read in 2007 award is... 1. Ajax Security by Billy Hoffman and Bryan Sullivan (Addison-Wesley). Ajax Security was the last book I read and reviewed in 2007. However, it was the best book I read all year. The book is absolutely compelling and every security professional and Web developer should read it. It's really as simple as that.

If you'd like to read a very thorough and technically perceptive review of the book, I recommend this post by Dre: Ajax Security opens up a whole new can of worms.

Let me conclude by saying the competition for the top slot was very tight. I really loved all top five books, and the bottom four were excellent too. There are even some good four star books, but a book must rate five stars in order to be considered here.

Congratulations to No Starch for placing 4 books in my five star list. Addison-Wesley was the runner-up with 2 books, but the publisher also produced the B3R07 award winner.

Happy reading in 2008!

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Favorite Books I Read and Reviewed in 2006

2006 was my most productive reading and reviewing year yet. I read and reviewed 17 in 2000, 42 in 2001, 24 in 2002, 33 in 2003, 33 in 2004, 26 in 2005. This year I read and reviewed 52 books. I was determined to make as big a dent as possible in the huge stack of books sent to me by publishers and blog readers, and I made a lot of progress.

My ratings yielded the following:

• 1 star: 0 books
• 2 stars: 1 book
• 3 stars: 9 books
• 4 stars: 29 books
• 5 stars: 13 books

Because I don't try to read every book, I'm glad my ratings are skewed towards the higher end. I don't intentionally read books I expect to be bad.

I thought I would list the 13 books that I gave five stars, starting with my favorite and working down.

1. 802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Ed by Matthew S Gast: A first-rate technical book that dispels myths by speaking authoritatively and comprehensively.
2. Running IPv6 by Iljitsch-van-Beijnum: A close second, this book nicely describes IPv6 in a practical manner.
3. Protect Your Windows Network by Jesper M. Johansson and Steve Riley: Yes, really -- a "Windows" book! This book is amazing because the security principles within apply to any platform.
4. The Debian System by Martin F. Krafft: I would love to see a book like this written for FreeBSD.
5. PGP-GPG by Michael Lucas: This book should be given to anyone who needs to use PGP or GPG, before they create their first key!
6. IPv6 Essentials, 2nd Ed by Sylvia Hagen: This book is the perfect companion for the previous IPv6 book, because this title is mostly IPv6 formats and theory.
7. Software Security by Gary McGraw: Of the six books I read this year on building secure software, this was my favorite and the only five-star recipient.
8. Hacking Exposed: Web Applications, 2nd Ed by Mike Shema, Joel Scambray, and Caleb Sima: I liked this book because it is a thorough update of the 1st Ed, and it covers the subject very well. It still won't win over all you HE-bashers out there. (You know who you are.)
9. Apache Security by Ivan Ristic: This is the best book on Apache security, and a good introduction to Web attacks as well.
10. Phishing Exposed by Lance James: I liked this book because it seemed to extend the boundaries of knowledge regarding phishing, and not just rehash old attacks.
11. File System Forensic Analysis by Brian Carrier: If you do any sort of host-centric forensics, this book is a must-have.
12. Pro Nagios 2.0 by James Turnbull: The best Nagios book, thus far.
13. Skype Me! by Michael Gough: Wow, I gave a Skype book five stars? It was very well-written.

So, congratulations to Matthew Gast for being my favorite author of 2006!

I have more than 30 books sitting on my shelf waiting to be read now, and another 40 plus books on my Amazon.com Wish List. I've assigned priority values to the Wish List based on projected publication date. In other words, books that are already on shelves or due soon are rated "Highest." Books arriving next year, for example, are rated "lowest."

If you find my reviews helpful, please rate them as such at Amazon.com. I look forward to hitting the 4000 mark for "Helpful Votes" in 2007. I hit 1500 three years ago and 3000 at the beginning of 2006. Since I am not paid for my reviews I appreciate any indication that they are helpful. Thank you.

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