Customer Reviews

Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World

5 star:		(74)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Some references said that this book a business issue, not a technical one. The second half of this statement is definitely correct. I'm an engineer teachig in a Community College and I looked for some book to brush up the interest of my students. Not a technical book. Unluckily enough I've selected this one, but I was disappointed very much.
Words and words. So much text and hardly any fact. If any that's old enough being known publicly.
I'm sure that even business people have not enough time to read through so much text for so little relevant information to mine out.
So as for the first half of the statement cited, I doubt that businessman can gain anything of this book except the fear of using such a public facility as Internet is.

Devoid of useful information. Most of the book is devoted to a pathetic angst-ridden grappling with the idea that there is no perfect security. Well, duh. Get over it Bruce. Tell us something we don't know. The only points of light are the antedotes and the idea that risk can be a business opportunity, by managing it well.

This is a sales book! The book outlines many of the security problems today, but offers only one solution: to hire the author's company.

Bruce Schneier did an excellent job with this book. He has taken a subject that can be highly technical and presented it in a way that can be understood and appreciated by both techies and non-techies.

This book is not very technical but it is very interesting to read and is very good to convey the basic principles of security. This book will teach you why security is more important than ever with the advent of computers and internetworking. It will present you potential attackers, their motivations and their resources. It shows how to add security to a system by doing some analysis of how the system could be attacked. After reading this book, you will have a better understanding of what it means to make a digital system secure.

I highly recommend this book, for everyone interested in comp security. This is book is very comprehensive, and covers every possible aspect. Even so it was published in 2000, I didn't feel it's dated, since the problems are the same.

Schneier's job is security. How do you get more customers? By scaring them. He does plenty of this in this book, and even admits at the end that part of his agenda is to drum up business for his newly restructured company, Counterpane. Of course, this admission directly follows Schneier's comment that the best way to secure your network is by outsourcing (read: hiring Counterpane to do it).

That said, aside from the standard-issue security hype and redundant examples, Schneier has outlined the important parts of the security process in a way that can be understood by all. His emphasis on addressing threats, and not just vulnerabilities, is very welcoming. Too many times, authors and companies spend all of their time and money addressing every known vulnerability. By prioritizing the fixes according to the capability and intent of the perceived adversaries (hackers, corporate spies, etc.), the overall security is greatly enhanced. If there's no threat, then even the most vulnerable system is secure.

I first tried reading the Authors other book, Applied Cryptography, but that was way too technical for my needs.
Then along comes this book, at just the right level. I encourage everyone to read this to get a basic appreciation of the issues and underlying principles. The only disappointment was there is very little material on Chip/Smart Cards; this is a fast-evolving area of study, and I hope there is another edition soon with a chapter on this topic.

This is a really good book to give a manager.

It tells stories of what happens when you don't do security right without getting too technical.

Schneier also goes into details about how security can be product based but must be process based.

If you can get you CISO to understand this, you are lucky.

Overall the book was a great read. I wanted to get a high overview of computer security and the different aspects of it and this book delivered. It was not too technical at all and presented everything in lay men's terms. Great book for the not so technical wanting to get a good overview.

Now my next book is Practical Cryptography!!!