First Edition Foreword

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Information is today's most important commodity. Protecting that information from unauthorized access and/or modification is what information security professionals constantly try to do. The objective: Keep your information protected as long as it has value!

Have you ever wondered about the vulnerability of your information systems to hackers? Knowing the enemy is the best way to defeat him! Halting the Hacker looks at information systems from the perspective of hackers. It describes how they gain access to information, with many excellent examples of how information has been compromised, and what can be done to prevent similar losses.

An ounce of prevention is still worth a pound of cure. Viewing information systems from a hacker's perspective exposes the motives behind the threats and allows the information security professional to protect his systems before he becomes a victim. What actions to take, and how and when to take them, are key components of the ounce of prevention.

Halting the Hacker describes what actions to take to protect information systems, from access control and authentication to detecting break-ins ” and what to do if a break-in does occur.

This book describes how to implement strong security mechanisms to protect your information systems. It outlines the hacker's objectives and then gives details on how to counter those objectives.

The book describes when to implement security mechanisms. It takes you from installation and security education through security policy reviews within an organization.

Halting the Hacker is written by a security professional who's made his career in security consulting and helping to prevent hackers from gaining unauthorized access to valuable information. The author has seen all types of hackers ” young, old, insiders, outsiders, professionals, and amateurs from home and abroad. We can now learn from those experiences and gain the advantage in protecting valuable information by "halting the hacker!"

Jim  Schindler
Information  Security  Program  Manager
Hewlett-Packard

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