Hacking Books

Nutshell review - If you need to know about protecting wireless networks (and how they get attacked) you need this book.

This book is down right scary! The level of detail and information provided is tremendous. The style of writing is excellent and will keep you amuzed as well.
If you've been on the bubble about trying out Linux this book will convince you take the deep dive to better understand wireless activities.

After reading the book I am planning on going back over it and trying to implement some of the info learned.

I can't say that this can be your only reference, but using it with Linux, you will be able to do just about anything with free, open source software. Great book. I read it cover to cover.

An excellent resource both for the novice as well as for the advanced user of WLAN. If you work professionally with wireless LAN you should own this book.

This has the most straightforward exposition of exploits.
I used the info as the basis of a testing framework.
Kris knows his stuff and shares. This book delivers,
but make sure you've got you're brain on and be
prepared to find and use the external resource.

you don't absolutely need the tools he suggests
for all the exploits covered, but they will make
the task a lot easier, and are therefore worth it
for the time they save you writing your own.
This book is aimed at professional's.

I give the author credit for a decent intro to disassembly, but it's a difficult path with this book. Expensive tools are assumed to be available (no reference is made to free alternatives), and less than subtle remarks about using these tools to make commercial software "free".

Later chapters do get more in-depth, and more useful.

The best part about this book is that besides all of the neat tricks it gives you, the layout is step-by-step. You can sit down with it using the CD and go through each exercise. I have recommended this book to all of my friends/co-workers that are either learning how to protect software they write to how to identify vulnerabilities in other programs. Knowing assembly helps, but this also presents it in a way that you can learn as you go.

This book is fantastic- one of a kind, by far :)

Provided you've covered the basics, x86 assembly language- and C++, this book will teach you some of the absolute essential skills required in reversing commercial-level software. This book isn't a toy- it's the real thing, for serious programmers, researchers and experts in the field.

It has a step by step introduction- and builds firmly upon previous chapters- covering various compilers; and how they generate serveral of the common constructs found in Higher Level languages. The section of Virtual Functions is a dime; combined with structures, arrays and many other important elements.

A lot of work has gone into this book, and it definately shows.

One reviewer gave this book a low rating, and claimed- "I had a no luck getting SoftICE to run correctly on Windows XP". That has got nothing to do with the author of the quality of this book. If you searched[..], you'll find there exists several patches you can get to make it run on Windows XP; IDA pro is availible commercially aswell, and dumpbin is provided with Visual Studio.

It's an absolute winner for those wanting to go deeper into the core of computers/software.

Copy protection schemes are to software as locks are to doors: they keep honest people out. This book provides the first insight into the science of disassembling object code for the reader who has been disinclined to search for hacker web sites and zines.

With a topic this large, the author can be forgiven for presenting only a limited set of examples: C, C++, Pascal on Windows. He shows how to use commercial tools to disassemble object code into assembler and how to identify program structures there, with particular emphasis on language features that produce non-intuitive structures.

Topics covered include: cracking passwords, identifying key structures in high level languages (the bulk of the book) and how to make your code difficult to analyse using these methods.

The structures examined include IF-THEN-ELSE, SWITCH-CASE-BREAK, objects, structures, arrays, constants, offsets and variables. The reader is shown how to recognise these objects. Explanations are complete and involve no handwaving.

A good solid introductory text.

This book is good for anyone who wants to get into either Electronics or Computers..A book like this would have been Wonderful for My Highschool years, when I started playing around with Electronics...If you have a Child in Highschool or College who likes to tinker & find out how things work in a hands on fashion, GET THIS BOOK for them...I would even recommend this books To Amatuer Radio enthusiasts

When I ordered this book, I planned to give it to my little brother in the hopes of interesting him in the delightful world of hardware hacking. I didn't expect it to contain anything I hadn't picked up doing E&M research for MIT, or engineering research for the Air Force. However, the things in the book were surprisingly advanced, even for people with experience. There are many excellent ways to kill time in here, and they can even turn out to be useful. They are explained clearly and presented without being intimidating, which makes it perfect for the motivated beginner as well. If you have the basic equipment and the drive, this book is great for you!

The title is somewhat misleading since theres a fair amount of console repairing information here. The actual hacking information ranges from simple controller rewiring to completely gutting a pc. The chapters done by the main author are very indepth and maybe out of reach of some but the author knows his subject. The chapters concerning the Atari systems though are quite the opposite. All the information presented has already been published by others before or has been available online for free for years, and the author seems more concerned about promoting his website and selling homemade games. Overall there isn't much information here that is new to justify the price but it's a nice compilation with plenty of nice pictures.

The book contains 15 amazing projects that range from the truly useful to the legendary and wacky. You'll learn how to connect toasters and coffeemakers to a network; upgrade radio-controlled cars and talking toys such as the Furby; and build car-mounted periscopes and home video arcades. You'll see how to turn a classic Mac machine into an aquarium and harness ordinary batteries to power your laptop. You'll learn how to build an intruder-detection system for your office cubicle and how to track remote objects as they move around. There's even a project for hacking a 12-story building to use its windows as elements of a huge display screen.

Each project includes step-by-step instructions that even a novice hacker can follow, while also providing the necessary detail to satisfy an experienced hacker. The knowledge gained by building each project can easily be applied to your own projects. If you are unfamiliar with basic electronics, you'll find sections that teach you how to use the tools of the trade; you'll also learn how to read schematics and do basic soldering.

So, whether you're an electronics hobbyist who likes to learn by doing, a software hacker who wants to learn how the other half lives, or a neophyte who has only dreamed of hacking, "Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks" will inspire you to tinker with all kinds of gadgets and gizmos, and will serve as a jumping-off point for new and clever hacks.

If you're the hard-core type that likes to take things apart and "fix" them, you'll like Hardware Hacking: Having Fun While Voiding Your Warranty by Joe Grand (Syngress). Your discarded toys will never be quite the same again.

Chapter list: Tools of the Warranty Voiding Trade; Electrical Engineering Basics; Declawing Your CueCat; Case Modification: Building a Custom Terabyte FireWire Hard Drive; Macintosh; Home Theater PCs; Hack Your Atari 2600 and 7800; Hack Your Atari 5200 and 8-Bit Computer; Hacking the PlayStation 2; Wireless 802.11 Hacks; Hacking the iPod; Can You Hear Me Now? Nokia 6210 Mobile Phone Modifications; Upgrading Memory on Palm Devices; Operating Systems Overview; Coding 101; Index

The first thing to know about this book is that it isn't a beginner's volume. There is some serious hardware modifications going on here. You should be comfortable with electrical theory, devices such as resistors and capacitors, and tools like soldering irons. Also, I'd recommend that you don't try these things on primary devices. I'd say there's a decent chance you could damage it trying some of these tricks. But having said all that, you'll enjoy the book if you meet the above qualifications.

Since I'm not a major hardware geek, I don't know that I could do many of these mods. One of the mods that would be useful even to non-geeks is the chapter on the iPod. You will learn how to replace the battery and how to upgrade the hard drive on your earlier generation iPods, and you don't even need to be that handy. That tip alone would probably pay for the cost of the book. Each hack is very well illustrated with excellent photos and instructions, so you don't feel like you're reading assembly instructions written by something that was run through an automatic translator.

So if you have some old video game consoles gathering dust in the basement, pull them out and see what you can do with them using this book. You'll end up being the envy of all your geeky friends. :-)

This book is a great. Not recommended to people with low expirience in Computers or Information Technology. You should have a strong foundation in systems and different Operating Systems. This book has tons of relevnat, strong, new age information on todays Systems and software. GREAT BUY!

This book I used for reference material to prepare for the CEH Exam. There is also a review guide for CEH, see Amazon for this book (CEH: Official Certified Ethical Hacker Review Guide: Exam 312-50 by Kimberly Graves). Beware: this is a REVIEW guide. Personally I think that this book (Certified Ethical Hacker Exam Prep, Que Publishing by Michael Gregg) is great for a start and you don't need the other review book.

The exam consists of 150 questions with sometimes deep technical detailed questions. You'll need certainly a good knowledge about protocols and typical behaviour of it but nevertheless this will not make you an ethical hacker. This takes much much more experience, dedication and years of work in the field.
Besides that; you will need lots and lots of other material to prepare yourself for the exam and to build up knowledge in general. For example; buy the guide of "professor Messer" to get additional knowledge on the Nmap tool. The book is however a great guide in the sometimes complex material.

I think this book is easy to read, the author did a great job on this. Second there is a good roll up of all the issues that where discussed in every chapter. I think CEH is a typically focussed on the Windows Platform. This not a problem for me because this is my expertise area anyway but unix and linux is touched lightly.

With that in mind, great guide for preparing, buy some other stuff or search the internet for additional material.

Rob Faber [CISSP, CEH, MCSE]
Security Consultant
The Netherlands

My teach kept saying how he threw the book at the wall when he saw the first error. So don't believe everything word for word in this book. Try some of the stuff out it tells you about to help ya learn about it. The book has a lot of good information. It'd be nice though if they could get a new edition out with the errors fixed.

I purchased this book after taking the 5 day CEH course so I could focus on practicing questions. The book compliments the course, but please do not think that studying this book alone prepares you for the exam or qualifies you to be a Certified Ethical Hacker. The writing style makes it easy to read, and I appreciate the few jokes inserted here and there. The book covers most of the topics for the exam, but I feel you need to go to the ec-council site to understand what will be convered on the exam. I did some of the exercises in this book, and they were helpful and interesting. However they are nothing compared to the exercises you do in the actual CEH class. In conclusion, I suggest using this book as an aid in preparing for the exam, but it doesn't replace the depth of knowledge and experience you get in the class. I would buy other books from the author.

The previous poster did bring up a good point: this book will not teach you how to hack. It WILL help you pass the CEH exam. It lays a very good foundation, and the only reason I give it 4 stars was because it was lacking the detail and depth to be fully comprehensive.

Keep in mind, that this book is meant for people who do have an administration background and who happen to be pretty familiar with Linux and Windows. The book is written for that group of people because without that experience, you probably won't have the experience necessary to be a CEH.

I happen to read all 3 books for the CEH that are listed on Amazon. The Sybex book, the EC-council book, and this book. By far, this book was the best out of the 3. The Sybex book was a waste of money as it wasn't as good as this book and it had even less depth. The EC-council book had a bit more detail in some topics, although it lacked cohesion and was poor at presenting the thought behind it. I think this book and the EC-council book compliment each other, and give you a pretty good idea of what you actually need to know. I would start with this book and finish up with the EC-council book and/or courseware. My reasoning is that you should set the foundation first and this book does that.

Also, as with hacking, google is an excellent resource. These two books won't be enough to fill all the holes, but the internet is a damned good filler.

In conclusion this book provides for pretty good preparation for the actual test, and is a comfortable read.

ABOUT THE TEST:

150 questions, you have 4 hours. I took only 2 and scored an 86%. 70% is passing. I studied for only two weeks, but have extensive background in the subject area.

The test is very specific, and you are expected to know the material in detail - NOT just concepts. The test is geared towards people with security experience, and the test questions are true to that purpose. It will be very difficult to pass if you:
1) Don't know linux
2) Don't understand Microsoft's OS and operations
3) never actually used any of the hacking tools

Linux is not a MAJOR part of the test, but there are enough questions on linux command line operations to make a difference.

Keep in mind, just reading alone will not let you pass this test. It is very important that you try out the most popular and important tools (firsthand!). You will be asked about specific commands, and be expected to know them. Know nmap, snort, hping2, tracert and tcpdump down cold. Know the ICMP codes and types. The only way you learn this stuff is to actually practice it.

This really isn't an entry level test at all. Even if you know all your stuff, the test isn't easy to pass. I'd strongly encourage that people take some practice with actual pen testing before they try this test (use vmware to simulate a target if you cant throw a home made lab together). If you don't actually try this stuff out, your odds of passing will plummet.

About 10% of the questions are what I'd consider bad questions - either they are unclear, or ambiguous or poorly word... Without violating the NDA - one of the questions parallel the following examples: Can you establish tcp sessions while spoofing your ip address? The answer is: it depends - are you sniffing the outgoing traffic? If so, then it is certainly possible.. otherwise there is no way you'll establish a tcp connection. What if the question doesn't specify, and the answer hinges on this? This type of ambiguous situation happened on at least 10 questions. This will lose you points right off the bat, because to no fault of your own you won't be able to determine the valid answers.

Good luck!

Nutshell review - If you are just beginning in the infosec field or perhaps a manager looking for a quick understanding of the basics then this book will do the job.

I bought this book and i must say it was a very good investment. The book is totally understandable, detailed explanations together with screenshots, i would totally recommend this book for anyone who wants to go into network security...

This book is great for beginners, it talks about the ethical hacker and penetration tests. However it also gives out information that can be used for blackhat hacking. It walks you through a tutorial step by step, and gives out names of some other books that can be helpful. If you have no or little experience this book is for you.

Hacking for Dummies sets a foundation for ethical hacking and should be used as more than the proverbial "how to". When reading the pages, try to realize that you are not just learning true methods of attack; you are also gaining valuable information for prevention.
Businesses, red teams, or professional security consultants will find this book as a top 5 reference toward understanding the attack, and a primer in the defense of a network.
For me, a fellow CISSP, Kevin's book rates up there with Eric Cole's "Hackers Beware".

This is a great, easy to read and use reference for both non-technical business leaders as well as IT professionals. It is also a great resource for home computer users, and small- to medium-sized businesses who often do not have the resources to hire dedicated security staff. The book covers the entire spectrum of ways in which computer systems can be compromised and attacked, an easy-to-understand description of how the exploits are executed, and, usually lacking in other reference books on this topic, step-by-step instructions for not only how to identify when the hacks occur, but also how to defend against them. Kevin Beaver also includes some very important warnings you need to keep in mind when performing your own vulnerability and hacking tests against your own network and systems to discover your own technical weaknesses.

The book is put together very well and provides adequate explanations on the majority of everything it touches on, but if you've already been reversing for a while and want more in depth knowledge and/or advanced methods for reversing check elsewhere. For the audience it was written for, its great, if your a newbie to reversing it would be a good addition to your library.

This book takes a tutorialistic approach to reverse engineering. It assumes you have a working knowledge of assembly language and C/C++. The author briefly introduces you to some of the programming languages in use, Windows Internals, gives an overview of some of the tools available, and then proceeds to walk you through some example reverse-engineering. The author spent alot of time covering Windows internals. The overview of Assembly language could have been a little more thorough before going into reverse-engineering, instead most of the appendix is devoted to this. More time introducing the debugging tools and the use of it's features instead of the brief overview would have been helpful too. Despite these shortcomings the book is very educational. If you are not up to speed on C/C++ and assembly would recommend reading Assembly Language Step-by-step: Programming with DOS and Linux (with CD-ROM) and The C Programming Language (2nd Edition) before reading this book.

This is one the few books that goes into details of reverse engineering. A lot of the steps described I went thru myself, not using Ollydbg but with IDA Pro which is the perfect tool for this.

This book includes a great deal of effective and practical techniques related to the subject. While reading this book it soon becomes very clear that the author is a highly experienced professional in the field. He does a wonderful job presenting the many relevant topics presented in the book. If developers want to discover vulnerabilities in their own applications, this book will give some excellent pointers. Security professionals will very likely draw some great benefits from it as well. This book is loaded with information which is generally easy to read, (more so if you are familiar with some high and low level programming languages), and remains right on topic. This book is definitely a "must read!"

This book is a dense collection of information about various aspects of reversing.

There are a few factual errors, and so, while this book can be used for bed-time reading, I wouldn't count on it as a reference.

Before people pounce on me for mentioning 'factual errors' and not substantiating them, let me draw their attention to the description of calling conventions in this book. This book mentions that cdecl and stdcall pass arguments in different orders (i.e left to right for cdecl and right to left for stdcall). This is just plain wrong. I wonder how this important detail could not be caught during editing, and technical review.

This book is jam packed with good information about online stalking, online shopping, protecting your identity, etc. As technology becomes more advanced, there are more and more ways for people to become victims of Internet crime. Jayne Hitchcock explains the steps to take if this ever happens to you and ways to prevent it so it never does!

An excellent read - AND you don't have to be a computer genius to understand all of her technical information!

One of the hook lines for this book states, "..an insightful book that is a must read for everyone who owns a computer". No it isn't! The number of people who have not heard anything about computer viruses, identity theft, hackers or at least some form of computer attack must surely be a small minority by now. Even the most non-mechanical of drivers know something about oil, where the gas goes, tire pressures, etc. even if they only ever turn the ignition key and point their vehicle in the direction they want to go. Why then, would someone who owns a computer and surfs the internet assume all it involves is turning on their computer, getting an internet connection and pointing and clicking? This book is for those people.

It does a good job at highlighting the pit falls, traps and virtual land mines waiting for the unprotected, ignorant or just plain stupid. The book also gives good advice on what to do if harassment gets out of hand. However, the sub-title of "Outmaneuvering the spammers, swindlers and stalkers" is somewhat misleading. The outmaneuvering techniques described are basically don't go to chat rooms, news groups or message forums where people take a virtual swipe at you. The passages about outmaneuvering the spammers also seems incredibly naive and is centered around displaying the full header of an email so you'll know who sent it. Wrong! Some mention is made of how return email addresses can be faked, but so too can IP addresses. Complaining to an ISP about spam, especially one which knowingly hosts spamming operations, is a waste of time. Even more so if they originate somewhere in Asia like a lot of them do. Then we have the anonymous emailing web sites and of course the spammers favorite, the zombie computer which they use to re-direct their emails without the computer owner's knowledge.

If you're looking for a technical reference which tells you how to protect yourself online, what tools to use, what they do and why you need them, this book isn't for you. However, if you're concerned about internet horror stories, online safely and are not particularly computer or internet savvy, this book will be useful to you and you'll learn much about the dos and don'ts of life online.

Ms. Hitchcock outlines the major threats to Internet privacy and safety we face in a clear, easy-to-read, and very comprehensive manner. Although the book caters more to the novice Web surfer than it does the technologically adept, even hardcore geeks will be impressed at how she takes stories of cyberstalking, spoofing, auction fraud, and flame wars and puts human faces on all of them.

Though message boards and newsgroups have been replaced with blogs and MySpace, the basic principles of being smart and protecting yourself when you go online are even more important, and Hitchcock reminds us that no matter how smart or savvy you think you are, you can end up a victim of "Net Crimes", unless you pay attention.

Definitely recommended.

Net Crimes is an outstanding source of information to learn how to protect yourself while online. It thoroughly covers many topics and addresses several issues that you may not realize put you at risk. After reading it, I am "kicking myself" for things I have inadvertently done online that could have caused some potential problems. I will now be much more cautious about websites I visit and personal information that I provide to them.

I just received the 2nd edition, and Hitchcock has again put the fear of the virtual world in me. Her examples and discussion is certainly eye-opening as to what or who is lurking out there.

Not only is this a good read, but it is also a great reference for high school and undergraduate college. The examples and resources made it a valued purchase for me.

This book is an excellent start. While you can find alot of usefull hacking material on the web, this book gives it to you well organized.

This book is great if you develop websites, especially if you maintain a webserver. I am fairly well versed on basic security measures, but there was alot of stuff in this book that I didn't know. Its not a book for someone who is looking for an in-depth detailed book about network security, but its a really good overview of web attacks and how to avoid being hit.

The book is also well written, and easy and fun to read. The writers do a good job of making the content fun and entertaining. You won't be disapointed with this book unless you are already very familiar with many different types of web attacks.

This is a pretty informative book on hacking. After reading this book you will have a good overview of many different attacks and defenses. It's a great book for beginners and an entertaining read.

This no-fluff book weighs in at just under 500 pages that are guaranteed to quell any feelings of complacency you may have about the safety of your website. One of the gnawing concerns I live with is that my website will be hacked. I can't say this book made me feel better about that fear, but it brought to light a number of things to talk to my people about. Using real-world examples, it explains the kinds of openings hackers look for, and the ways they exploit those openings to do their damage. In some senses, this book is not just a warning, it is also a how-to for Internet security.

The general premise of this book is that no one is safe from attack, and if you're not already a victim, that's only a matter your good luck so far. Read this book. Study it carefully. Keep it on the nearest, most convenient bookshelf. New kinds of attacks are being developed all the time. But this book will prepare you for what's out there so far, and give you some insight into the kinds of things to watch for in the future.

I was disappointed in what this book had to offer. I was hoping for a full text of web exploits and how to defend against them. Instead the first half of the book covers information such as languages of the web and how to read URL's. It is as if the author assumes the reader has no knowledge of web technologies and systems. I am finding this to be a common problem with network security books, they are written for readers with little real knowledge of networking, let alone network security. Surly they sell many copies because "hacking" is in the title though.
This is not the book for the serious IT professional, you would do better to look elsewhere for security insights.

Learn how to protect your company from online thieves and false rumors that can damage its reputation by instituting sound security policies and addressing false information quickly and publically.

The Internet has introduced unprecedented business opportunities for marketing, sales and communication. It has also made businesses vulnerable to cybercriminals who exploit the Internet to attack the reputations and finances of companies. In this book, Daniel S. Janal, a professional speaker and consultant specializing on the Internet, provides information and advice for companies and individuals to protect themselves from the predations of cybercriminals.

Threats from online thieves:
· Warn employees never to give out credit card numbers, passwords or sensitive company information. Put procedures in place to report people who ask for this information.
· Always check credit cards for validation, including an address verification check.
· Put procedures in place for employees to check questionable information or identities by phone or through reliable third-parties.
· Use encryption or scrambling for sensitive online information so that only those with the key can read it.

Threats to personal safety:
· Keep personal information like your phone number and address off of your personal web-site, newsgroups, online phone directories, and out of chat rooms.
· Make sure that merchants promise not to resell information about you if you give it to them.
· Know the merchant you're dealing with.

Threats to your company's reputation:
· Attack sites. A disgruntled employee or unhappy customer may attack your company's reputation by creating a web-site whose sole purpose is to attack your company. If you can prove that they are not telling the truth, pursue them for libel. You may also be able to sue them for copyright infringement.
· Have employees sign a company policy forbidding them from making public statements about the company.
· If false rumors begin to circulate online about your company, dispel them immediately with clear, public statements of denial in the places where they have been circulating.

Common sense is often obvious only in retrospect. If you are starting or running an online business of any kind, this layman's oriented approach to security is the perfect place for you to start protecting yourself and your business from all kinds of nasties...

o hackers

o intellectual rights infringers

o etc., etc. -- even your own employees!

It's given me the right place to start asking my techies the right questions on numerous security-related issues. It's *THE* "protect yourself" book that we recommend in our book, "Make Your Site SELL!"

While a couple of parts are getting a touch dated, most issues are evergreen. I'm sure I'll find myself referring to it five years from now, if Dan can't convince the publisher to issue a new edition (hint, hint, Dan!).

Thanks Dan, for an unequivocal 5-star effort.

-----

-Ken Evoy, kevoy@sitesell.com

This well-written book by Dan Janal is a "must read" book for people interested in protecting themselves and their businesses from Internet scams and fraud. We often recommend it to the subscribers of Internet ScamBusters (the number one electronic newsletter on Internet fraud). Dan provides a very realistic assessment of what to watch out for online - and unfortunately, there are lots of issues. But fortunately, it's not too hard to protect yourself when you know what to look for.

Dr. Audri G. Lanford, editor Internet ScamBusters

The subtitle of this book is misleading, as much of the advice is geared to consumers rather than business owners.

However, if you'd like a good overview of risks involved in participating in cyberspace activities of all sorts, the book is worthwhile.

Once again, Janal would have received five stars for his introductory work on internet security were it not for the numerous typos and editorial errors throughout the book. To cite a glaring example, on page 315 of the book, one of Janal's four crisis communication measures is repeated twice.

Though the book's content is repetitive in many places, much of the information to be found here can be quite eye-opening for those who are either new to the internet or use it infrequently. While it is true that a lot of the information presented in this book can be found on the net, most people probably would not have the time, patience, or money to find it on their own. Janal should be commended for putting together this information and presenting it as a warning for those thinking of venturing on the net. Janal really does give the thinking novice cause for pause.

The organization of this volume is lacking in a couple of key areas and could have been better organized. Contact information for those quoted was repeated ad nauseum, and could have either been presented once at the end of a chapter or as an appendix at the end of the book. Since the book's target audience is obviously those who are new to the internet and those who rarely use it, Janal could have appended useful information, such as links to useful organizations. Granted, this information was included throughout the book, but really interrupted the flow of his easygoing, understandable dialogue and got in the way of important points in the text. Some of the chapters could have been subdivided into smaller, meatier chunks of information. On the other hand, other pieces of information, such as domain name trivia, could have been dumped altogether.

Yet, from a practical standpoint, the internet, as presented by Janal, can be a legal nightmare. One must consider intellectual property issues, copyright infringement, libel laws, trademark abuse, and domain name protection, in addition to various invasions of privacy and civil liberty long before venturing onto the internet.

To his credit, Janal freely admits that his book is no substitute for good legal help, and the wise web entrepreneur will retain good legal services long before going on the net and facing a problem. Most progressive companies that are serious about competing in the digital era have already taken the steps necessary to protect themselves, and intelligent web surfers are using the internet with a good deal of caution.

In the end, as many of the dangers Janal points out are often unavoidable and come out of the blue, there really is no substitute for a good legal offense, general and up-to-date awareness of the internet medium, and quite frankly, plain old common sense.

The author brings up very interesting ideas, discussing how culture and technologies are inherently anarchistic, and how oligarchies are constantly trying to harness these for control & profit, which may end up damaging or destroying them in the process. The 'anything goes' trading of Napster wasn't good for artist and content produces, but the tied-down DRM world is even worse in the long run.

He definitely knows his material, but the writing just isn't that clear. He compares things to "Anarchistic Libertarianism" like I'm supposed to instantly know the ramifications of the term. I'd read a paragrah and realize I have no idea what he was trying to say.

There's a great argument to make here, I just don't think Siva Vaidhyanathan presents it very well.

While many academics do tend to "fog" their arguments I think this book by Professor Siva Vaidhyanathan of New York University is a fresh, provocative, and extremely readable discourse on the nature of freedom and control in a world awash with technology that is often over-hyped and under-analyzed. Prof. Vaidhyanathan is a fresh voice analyzing the extremely important issue of, in his words, the "availability and accessibility of the substance of expression and thus the possibility of public discussion and creativity" (185). As a veteran of the culture wars spawned by punk rock's initial social (and later in a watered-down form) commercial success, I have seen the reliance on empty sloganeering and naive calls for anarchy from punks who couldn't organize taking out the trash if they had all week. Prof. Vaidhyanathan rejects simplistic calls for decentralization and anarchy, and instead provides a rich and nuanced historical context for why we should return to what he calls "Civic Republicanism," a return to the idea of public trust and mutual dependency that many Americans have lost sight of in the rather simplistic way most debates have been framed in the battle over public control of information. One of the virtues of Prof. Vaidhyanathan's book is that he does not provide any easy answer or EFF manifestos, just a reliance on the basic responsibility of human beings to engage in meaningful dialogue about the Faustian bargains involved in new technologies. And in an age that promises unparalleled control and unparalleled, resistance, a call for a meaningful and participatory dialogue is a breath of fresh air.

If you've been reading Slashdot, EFF's newsletter, or similar news sources, you have already read most of the valuable ideas that are in this book.
If you know very little about the political issues raised by recent changes in technology, the first three quarters of this book might be as good a place as any to introduce yourself to the discussions that have been floating around the net.
The last quarter of the book deals with broader political issues where the author has no more expertise than a typical reporter, and is at least as superficial as what you'd find in a typical newspaper article. For instance, he says "The World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which exercise wide-ranging influence over the lives of billions of people in developing nations, clearly work for the interests of the developed nations." I say that they work for a much narrower set of interests, and are probably somewhat harmful to developed nations as a whole.

This is a book is on, the most unexpected subjects: Information anarchy in utopia, Information anarchy in dystopia and Information utopia?

These insights are from an expert who visualizes the effects of hacking, cracking and whacking in the world in general. And how such a scenario creates chaos in libraries. See for instance, computer filters (p. 38), effect of total acces (121-122), and terrorism (118-120, 122).

Contextually, this books sounds as a sequel to the earlier title by the same author, i.e., "Copyrights and Copywrongs." In considering structurally as a sequel, I am not in anyways special. Because, The Chronicle of Higher Education, in 2004, said it precisely in the following article: "In the Copyright Wars, This Scholar Sides With the Anarchists." (see: http://chronicle.com/free/v51/i13/13a02901.htm)

Nevertheless, Anarchist in the Library adds value to the existing literature on safety, security, and emergency preparedness.

Interestingly, The Anarchist in the Library deals with clashes and the limits of freedom in a world that continues to converge - in electronic, media and digital domains.

The Anarchist in the Library is a good reading for policy makers to consider issues in public governance in a situation that is loaded with smart-internet, as well as, friendly-access environment.

Anarchy is a governing system that eschews authority. Oligarchy governs from, through, and for authorities. These ideologies feed off each other dialectically; they are rapidly remaking our global information ecosystem: the increasing speed and amount of information and the basic paradox of the digital world onto the real world.

Libraries are never as placid as they appear. They are sources of controversy and conflict. After it was confirmed that some of the terrorists had used public computers in Virginia and Florida, the government decided they want access fo patron reading habits and Internet use. Thus, the USA Patriot Act came into existence.

The Patriot Act, signed by President Bush II, in October 2001, has turned into an intrusion in the privacy of library users and those who check out books. Anyone pretending to be FBI can check your account and no one will inform you.

The FBI is notorious for overstepping its bounds. This intrusion into patrons' privacy is against the Constitution. We are being denied our inalienable rights. The library is not just functionally important to communities all over the world, the doors should be open to everybody. Librarians are being forced to choose between their values, but they are supposed to support and protect the patrons. We are not to be intimidated by the choice of books we choose to read. I am using a diverse study among the nonfiction (simply because they are new), clearly not my choice of reading material, but folks on Amazon. com seem to prefer the newer books for their reviews.

As with Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, unclassified technical reports have disappeared from the Los Alamos National Lab web site. How is that possible? It never should have been put online in the first place.