Joel Scambray, Senior Director, Microsoft’s MSN
... an adrenalin-pumping tour of the most critical security weaknesses today.


Jeff Moss, President & CEO, Black Hat, Inc.
Special Ops has brought some of the best speakers and researchers of computer security together ...


Justin Dolly, Information Security Officer, Macromedia Justin Dolly, Information Security Officer, Macromedia
An impressive team of security professionals, led by Erik Birkholz, has drawn upon their extensive experience...


Tim DeLoach, Information Protection Manager, Sempra Energy
Effective, coherent strategies for managing internal systems ... a timely treasure.


Dave Aitel, Founder, Immunity Security, Inc.
Special Ops has managed to make installing an IIS securely both doable and understandable, which is quite a feat.


Slashdot.org
Special Ops is a great book. It will definitely reside on my reference shelf for years to come...


Book Description
In the fast-paced, caffeine-powered, and sometimes reckless world of computer security, the security analogy of a "hard crunchy outside and soft chewy inside," a staple of the security community today, is uncannily apropos as we spend millions to protect and fortify the outside perimeter network and nary spend a dime to address internal threats. However, as convenient as it may be to leave internal systems free from controls, it’s a disaster once someone "bites" through to that unprotected inside; consider, too, the potential damage (whether intentional or not) that could be generated by those employees or partners who have legitimate access to the center. Lackadaisical attention to the soft and chewy inside could compromise your security at any time. The authors of Special OPs: Host and Network Security for Microsoft, UNIX, and Oracle immerse you in this analogy of intranet security and "the soft chewy inside" so frequently neglected in today’s security oration. In this book, you will find the critical pieces to securing your vital internal systems from attackers (both friend and foe) and a near complete picture to understanding your internal security risk.


About the Author
Erik Pace Birkholz (CISSP, MCSE) is a Principal Consultant and Lead Instructor for Foundstone, Inc. Since 1995, Erik has performed internal security assessments, penetration tests, host security reviews, Web application assessments, and security training around the world. Erik is a contributing author of four of the six books in the international best selling series, Hacking Exposed, Network Security Secrets and Solutions (Osborne/McGraw-Hill). Throughout his career, Erik has presented hacking methodologies and techniques to members of major United States government agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Security Agency, and various branches of the Department of Defense. He has presented at all three Black Hat Windows Security Briefings, Microsoft, and The Internet Security Conference (TISC). Before accepting the role of Principal Consultant at Foundstone, he served as Assessment Lead for Internet Security Systems (ISS), a Senior Consultant for Ernst & Young's National Attack and Penetration team, and a Consultant for KPMG’s Information Risk Management Group. Chip Andrews (MCDBA) has been a programmer and computer security consultant for more than 12 years, specializing in applying the skills obtained through security consulting to every aspect of software development. Chip maintains the SQLSecurity Web site, which focuses on SQL Server security issues. He is a contributing author to Hacking Exposed: Windows 2000 (ISBN: 0072192623), SQL Server Magazine, Microsoft Certified Professional Magazine, and Dr. Dobbs Journal on SQL Server security topics. Hal Flynn is a Vulnerability Analyst for Symantec Corporation. He manages the UNIX Focus Area of the SecurityFocus Web Site, and moderates the Focus-Sun, Focus-Linux, Focus-BSD, and Focus-UNIX-Other mailing lists. Hal has worked the field in jobs as varied as the Senior Systems and Network Administrator of an Internet Service Provider, to contracting the United States Defense Information Systems Agency, to Enterprise-level consulting for Sprint. James C. Foster (CISSP, CCSE) is the Manager of Threat Intelligence for Foundstone, Inc. and is responsible for leading a team of research and development engineers whose mission is to create advanced security algorithms to check for local and network-based vulnerabilities for the FoundScan product suite. Prior to joining Foundstone, James was a Senior Consultant and Research Scientist with Guardent, Inc. and an Adjunct Author at Information Security Magazine, subsequent to working as an Information Security and Research Specialist at Computer Sciences Corporation. Norris L. Johnson, Jr. (MCSA, MCSE, CTT+, A+, Linux+, Network +, Security+, CCNA) is a technology trainer and owner of a consulting company in the Seattle-Tacoma area. His consultancies have included deployments and security planning for local firms and public agencies, as well as providing services to other local computer firms in need of problem solving and solutions for their clients. David Litchfield is a world-renowned security expert specializing in Windows NT and Internet security. His discovery and remediation of over 100 major vulnerabilities in products such as Microsoft's Internet Information Server and Oracle's Application Server have lead to the tightening of sites around the world. David is also the creator of Cerberus' Internet Scanner (previously NTInfoscan), one of the world's most popular free vulnerability scanners. In addition to CIS, David has written many other utilities to help identify and fix security holes.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Special Ops is an adrenaline-pumping tour of the most critical security weaknesses present on most any corporate network today..."
￯﾿ﾽJoel Scambray, Senior Director, Microsoft￯﾿ﾽs MSN, and Co-Author, Hacking Exposed Fourth Edition, Windows 2000, and Web Hacking Editions

"Special Ops has brought some of the best speakers and researchers of computer security together to cover what you need to know to survive in today￯﾿ﾽs net."
￯﾿ﾽJeff Moss, President & CEO, Black Hat, Inc.

"Special Ops brings perspective from today￯﾿ﾽs best computer security minds into a single, enormously informative book."
￯﾿ﾽMike Schiffman, Director of Security Architecture, @stake, Inc., and Author of Building Open Source Network Security Tools and The Hacker￯﾿ﾽs Challenge Series

Special Ops: Host and Network Security for Microsoft, UNIX, and Oracle provides solutions for the impossible 24-hour IT work day. By now, most companies have hardened their perimeters and locked out the "bad guys," but what has been done on the inside? Have you considered the damage that could be done by recently laid-off or disgruntled employees, contractors and consultants, building security guards, cleaning staff, and of course the unsecured wireless network? This is the one book you need to defend the soft, chewy center of internal networks.

Erik Pace Birkholz with David Litchfield, Mark Burnett, Chip Andrews, Jim McBee, Roelof Temmingh, Haroon Meer, Tim Mullen, Eric Schultze, Hal Flynn, Vitaly Osipov, and Norris L. Johnson

Foundstone Authors: John Bock, Earl Crane, Mike O'Dea,and Brian Kenyon, Matt Ploessel, James C. Foster