| | |  | Computer Security | Home » » Counter Hack Reloaded: A Step-by-Step Guide to Computer Attacks and Effective Defenses (2nd Edition) | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | “I finally get it! I used to hear words like rootkit, buffer overflow, and idle scanning, and they just didn’t make any sense. I asked other people and they didn’t seem to know how these things work, or at least they couldn’t explain them in a way that I could understand. Counter Hack Reloaded is the clearest explanation of these tools I have ever seen. Thank you!”
—Stephen Northcutt, CEO, SANS Institute “Ed Skoudis does it again! With this new edition, Ed takes a phenomenal work to the next level! This book is a ‘must-have’ and a ‘must-read’ for anyone remotely associated with computers and computer security.”
—Harlan Carvey, CISSP, author of Windows Forensics and Incident Recovery “Ed Skoudis is a rare individual. He knows the innards of all the various systems, knows all the latest exploits and defenses, and yet is able to explain everything at just the right level. The first edition of Counter Hack was a fascinating read. It’s technically intriguing and very clear. . . . A book on vulnerabilities, though, will get out of date, and so we definitely needed this updated and significantly rewritten second edition. This book is a wonderful overview of the field.”
—From the Foreword by Radia Perlman, series editor, The Radia Perlman Series in Computer Networking and Security; author of Interconnections; and coauthor of Network Security: Private Communications in a Public World “What a great partnership! Ed Skoudis and Tom Liston share an uncanny talent for explaining even the most challenging security concepts in a clear and enjoyable manner. Counter Hack Reloaded is an indispensable resource for those who want to improve their defenses and understand the mechanics of computer attacks.”
—Lenny Zeltser, coauthor of Malware: Fighting Malicious Code “Ed Skoudis does it again! With this new edition, Ed takes a phenomenal work to the next level! This book is a ‘must-have’ and a ‘must-read’ for anyone remotely associated with computers and computer security.”
—Harlan Carvey, CISSP, author of Windows Forensics and Incident Recovery “In addition to having breadth of knowledge about and probing insights into network security, Ed Skoudis’s real strength is in his ability to show complex topics in an understandable form. By the time he’s done, what started off as a hopeless conglomeration of acronyms starts to sound comfortable and familiar. This book is your best source for understanding attack strategies, attack tools, and the defenses against both.”
—William Stearns, network security expert, www.stearns.org “This book is a must-have for anyone in the Internet security game. It covers everything from the basic principles to the fine details of online attack methods and counter-strategies and is very engagingly written.”
—Warwick Ford, coauthor of Secure Electronic Commerce
For years, Counter Hack has been the primary resource for every network/system administrator and security professional who needs a deep, hands-on understanding of hacker attacks and countermeasures. Now, leading network security expert Ed Skoudis, with Tom Liston, has thoroughly updated this best-selling guide, showing how to defeat today’s newest, most sophisticated, and most destructive attacks. For this second edition, more than half the content is new and updated, including coverage of the latest hacker techniques for scanning networks, gaining and maintaining access, and preventing detection. The authors walk you through each attack and demystify every tool and tactic. You’ll learn exactly how to establish effective defenses, recognize attacks in progress, and respond quickly and effectively in both UNIX/Linux and Windows environments. Important features of this new edition include - All-new “anatomy-of-an-attack” scenarios and tools
- An all-new section on wireless hacking: war driving, wireless sniffing attacks, and more
- Fully updated coverage of reconnaissance tools, including Nmap port scanning and “Google hacking”
- New coverage of tools for gaining access, including uncovering Windows and Linux vulnerabilities with Metasploit
- New information on dangerous, hard-to-detect, kernel-mode rootkits
| | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Edward Skoudis | | Paperback:
| 784 pages | | Publisher:
| Prentice Hall | | Publication Date:
| January 02, 2006 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0131481045 | | Product Length:
| 9.38 inches | | Product Width:
| 6.9 inches | | Product Height:
| 1.47 inches | | Product Weight:
| 2.43 pounds | | Package Length:
| 9.0 inches | | Package Width:
| 7.0 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.6 inches | | Package Weight:
| 2.65 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 51 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 51 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
66 of 69 found the following review helpful:
 Simply magnificent. Start here to learn digital security.Nov 01, 2001
By Richard Bejtlich
"TaoSecurity"
I am a senior engineer for network security operations, who has taught SANS, InfraGard, and FIRST audiences. Since late 1998 I've been looking for the one book I could recommend to newcomers to the digital security realm. Ed Skoudis' "Counter Hack" is that book. My previous reviews show I don't shelter weaker books, and I reserve praise for truly deserving titles. "Counter Hack" is a solid, accessible, practical title that merits my highest recommendation.
"Counter Hack" contains all I could ask for in an introductory book. Chapters three (30 pages) and four (40 pages) provide the basics of UNIX and Windows (respectively). For each operating system, one reads about file architecture, accountability, privileges, trust, and services. Armed with this background, "Counter Hack" then explains reconnaissance, scanning, application/OS-based attacks, network-based attacks, denial of service, maintaining access, and covering tracks. Each chapter is thorough and very well written. Chapter twelve's three attack scenarios are a fitting conclusion, showing how the earlier tactics are utilized in realistic network intrusions.
Veterans will find "Counter Hack" useful too. Some of the topics receiving exceptionally good coverage are Route's "Firewalk" tool, IDS evasion techniques, the Achilles web proxy/attack tool, netcat relays, Reverse WWW Shell, and Covert_TCP. "Counter Hack" includes the single clearest, most concise explanation of stack-based buffer overflows I've read. It offers novel material, like a comparison of netcat's superiority to telnet, and implementing source routing attacks. Most of these discussions include excellent diagrams and well-documented command line instructions.
"Counter Hack" is not perfect. I think the mentions of sequence numbers could be more accurate (ACK with ISN B+1 rather than simply ISN B, for example). Also, early in the book MAC addresses are shown with four bytes, when they are actually six bytes. These minor errors were the only ones I found, however.
If you are a new player in the security arena, I highly recommend reading "Counter Hack." I plan to buy several copies for my office. It's the single most useful volume published for entry level security personnel, and it also contains material which veterans will appreciate.
(Disclaimer: I received a free review copy from the publisher.)
30 of 30 found the following review helpful:
Learn hacking strategies and defenses and have fun reading!!Sep 03, 2001
By Michael Ressler
This is a "fun to read" book that fully describes the methodology of hacking attacks. It is by far the most enjoyable book I have read on the subject. The book is not a textbook or a reference book, yet I found that I learned a lot while I read it and I have continuously referenced it for specifics of the techniques that are described.
Ed starts by providing short intros to UNIX, NT and IP networking, which provide valuable info to readers who don't have good backgrounds in all three. He then walks the reader through the typical steps of an attack. Each of the sections, Reconnaissance, Scanning, Gaining and Maintaining Access and Covering Your Tracks contain well-written, up-to-the minute descriptions of the current methodologies found in the field as well as descriptions of the tools that are used.
He references the authors of the tools and points to their web-sites. There is great info on Sam Spade, THC-Scan, Cheops, nmap, nessus, IDS evasion techniques, buffer overflows, L0phtCrack, John the Ripper, Dsniff, Hunt, Netcat, TFN2K, BO2K, RootKit and others. Yet this isn't a set of man pages or an attempt to prove that he knows more tools than anyone else does. The usage of each tool is described in the context of the methodology that he is explaining.
My favorite chapter is "Putting it all Together: Anatomy of an Attack", where Ed describes three different "real-life" attack scenarios. In each scenario, fictional hackers use the tools and methodologies described in the earlier chapters to break the security of fictional target companies. This chapter really ties it all together!
Anybody who has heard Ed speak at numerous conferences will recognize his fun, fact-filled, informative style. This book is suitable for system administrators, technical experts, security practioners and business executives. I would recommend this book to everyone interested in the security of their systems and networks.
19 of 19 found the following review helpful:
Great 2nd edition to a classic book on hacking exploitsFeb 11, 2006
By Sean E. Connelly
"Just a bithead - CCIE#17085"
Please note this review is for the 2nd Edition of this book
While "Counter Hack Reloaded" by Skoudis is an `Updated Edition of the Best-Seller' (per the book's cover), Counter Hack Reloaded (CHR) is really a new book in it's own right. CHR has gone through an extensive revision and is fully updated to meet today and tomorrow's emerging threats (i.e. wireless attacks). While 50% of the tools/exploits that are discussed in this book can be found in other `hack' books, the tools/exploits have been fully updated and document the latest commands. See page 21 of for a detailed explanation of CHR's updates.
Some quick points of interest for me:
* Page 228 - excellent, quick description of DNS's characteristics (when DNS uses UDP vs TCP).
* Page 264 - good explanation of UDP vs ICMP pings (something to remember when troubleshooting connectivity from different platforms).
* Chapter 7 - Gaining Access at the OS and App level - very good discussion of buffer overflows. The chapter also provides an updated list of access tools (i.e. WebGoat & password crackers).
* Chapter 8 - Gaining Access via Network Attacks - great explanation of man-in-the-middle attacks by DSniff and Ettercap. I also enjoyed the explanation of NetCat (everyone's friend).
* Chapter 9 - Denial of Service Attacks - the discussion on SYN cookies was new to me.
While I thought chapter 2, Networking, deserved it's place, I thought that chapter 3, UNIX, went a little off course. I also thought that the 2nd half of chapter 5, Reconnaissance, was of much more value than the first half of chapter 5. Page 138 had a weak description of salting. All these demotions are trivial issues, and do not distract from the overall supremacy of CHR.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed "Counter Hack Reloaded" by Skoudis. It is an update to a classic, that like the first edition, does not disappoint.
I give this book 5 pings out of 5:
!!!!!
15 of 15 found the following review helpful:
Excellent and an easily readable security bookFeb 18, 2002
By sporkdude
"sporkdude"
Counter Hack is a great book overall. It encapsulates all that should be a good technical book. It's easy to read, easy to follow, contains lots of useful information, and doesn't bog down the reader with useless specifications or incredibly obtuse details. From the view of a security newbie, this book provides an all-encompassing view of hacking and counteracting it. The book starts out with a simple introduction to various system and network technologies, and then details the ways to hack into, and then prevent hacking into these technologies. The book takes a great view in each chapter. First it explains the evil hacker's view and how they could exploit vulnerabilities and weaknesses. Then it follows it up with how to shore everything up and prevent such hacking. This book also goes into the tools, websites, and methods to hack and to counter hack, providing an invaluable reference without annoying the reader with too much information. Include this with its remarkable readability, and I would say this should be required reading for anyone administrating networks or writing software applications. In short, I could not imagine a better security book around.
14 of 14 found the following review helpful:
This book is a keeper !!Sep 06, 2001
By R. Desouza
For those of you out there who are new to computer security, or who understand theory and concepts and want some practical explanations about what's out there, this is a book you cannot do without. If you are really serious about wanting to know details about what you are up against when protecting your organization, or your PC from attacks you will not just want to glance through the book but read it from cover to cover. The is not a book that will teach you theory about encryption, PKI and all the mathamatical and computer science concepts that Computer Science or Computer Engineering majors usually learn. There are plenty of good books out there for that. This book is more of a practical hands-on approach to how attacks are executed and how to stop and defend against them.
Ed Skoudis has really done a phenomenal job presenting the material in an organized, easy-to-follow format without making it like a 'security for dummies' type of book. He gives you knowledge and techniques you can apply. Ed begins with 3 chapters on the basics of TCP/IP, UNIX and Windows NT/2000. I found these three chapter very helpful in preparing for the rest of the book even though I have read books on and worked with all three before. Ed presents a few ideas about the vulnerabilities of these systems without going into detail. That comes later. Then he serves up the main course. The 5 phases of an attack are outlined and the following is a brief description: Phase 1: How do attackers do research on their targets ? This includes web sites where they look up their info, social engineering techniques, etc.
Phase 2: How do they find vulnerable systems ? This includes war dialers, port scanners, network mappers etc. He also gives you detailed information about where you can find these tools how to use the most popular ones and how they actually work internally.
Phase 3: What can an attacker actually do once he has found the vulnerabilities in your system and breached security ? This tells you about cracking passwords in UNIX and NT, how to attack web apps by finding bad cgi scripts, stack buffer overflows, packet sniffing, IP spoofing, etc. This once again has detailed explanations on where to get the tools and how they are used.
Phase 4: How does the attacker maintain access to the system ? This tells you about trojan horses, back doors, Rootkits, etc
Phase 5: How does the attacker cover his tracks ?
Ed finally ties it all together by describing attacks using the phases and tools he talks about above with examples along with a discussion of mistakes made by system admins. I should also mention that for all the attacks mentioned in the book, Ed always fills you in on how to defend against them so you don't feel like you are fighting a losing battle as a system admin. The book is written in a way that is very easy to follow. It is almost like someone standing in front of you in a classroom and explaining things to you. Ed uses personal experiences along with light-hearted comments about system administrators and hackers that will make you smile so that the reading doesn't stay too serious. This book is worth reading and keeping as a reference. I gave it 5 stars because it is the best book I have seen on practical computer security.
See all 51 customer reviews on Amazon.com
| | |
|
