Hacker's Challenge 2: Test Your Network Security & Forensic Skills

Do you have what it takes to keep the bad guys out of your network? Find out with the latest edition of this best-selling book featuring 20+ all new hacking challenges for you to solve. Plus, you'll get in-depth solutions for each, all written by experienced security consultants.

"Awesome....Incredibly informative, insightful, as well as a lot of fun to read. Recommended for anyone who values the integrity and security of their network." —Shawn Bracken, Principal Research Engineer, Cenzic, Inc.

Do you have what it takes to keep hackers out of your network? This unique volume tests your computer forensics and response skills with 20 brand-new, real-life security incidents as told by top-tier security experts. In an entertaining and informative style, this book addresses key security topics, including Denial of Service, malicious code, Web application attacks, wireless technologies, insider and outsider attacks, and more. Each challenge unfolds like a chapter from a novel and includes details of the incident—how the break-in was detected, evidence, and background such as log files and network diagrams—and is followed by a series of questions for you to solve. In Part II, you'll find a detailed explanation of exactly what was happening in each incident and the answers to the questioned posed in Part I, along with prevention and mitigation techniques.

Excerpt from "One Thing Leads to Another":

The Challenge: John is the I.T. Manager for a movie company working on the special effects for a hit film.... But the fan site has just posted an unauthorized clip of one of the most anticipated scenes in the movie.... A postproduction team member put the clip on the server but no one accessed it after that, at least not via FTP.... Then it happened again: more footage was released.... The Web master of the fan site supplied the e-mail address from which he received the files. John checked the ssh logs and the Web server logs.... He found an IP address he had not seen before.... He pinged the IP address then checked his arp table to get the machine's MAC address.... He began tracing the cable back to its source: the proxy server, which had not been used in 8 months....

The Solution: After reviewing the log files included in the challenge, propose your assessment: How could the employees have approached the initial investigation differently that may have helped them get to the culprit sooner? What does the lack of evidence in the ftp and ssh logs reveal? Was John's method of tracking down the proxy server the best method? What is the best solution to solve the vulnerability? Then, turn to the experts' answers to find out what really happened.

Mike Schiffman, CISSP, has been involved in most every technical arena computer security has to offer. He has researched and developed many cutting edge technologies including tools such as firewalk and tracerx as well as the ubiquitously used low-level packet shaping library libnet. Mike has led audit teams through engagements for fortune 500 companies in the banking, automotive and manufacturing industries. He has spoken in front of several institutions and government agencies such as: NSA, CIA, DOD, AFWIC, SAIC, and army intelligence. Mike is the lead author of Hacker’s Challenge, and has written for numerous technical journals such as Software Magazine and has written articles for securityfocus.com, and authored many security white papers. Currently, Mike is the Director of Security Architecture for @stake, the leading provider of professional security services. Previous to @stake, Mike was the Director of Research and Development for Guardent, Inc.

Bill Pennington, (CISSP), is a Principal Security Consultant with Guardent Inc. Bill has five years of professional experience in information security, ten in information technology. He is familiar with Linux, Solaris, Windows, and OpenBSD, and is a Certified Information Security Systems Practitioner, Certified Cisco Network Administrator (CCNA), Certified Internet Security Specialist (CISS), and a Microsoft Certified Product Specialist, Windows NT 4.0. He has broad experience in computer forensics, installing and maintaining VPNs, Cisco Pix firewalls, IDS, and in monitoring systems. Bill was a contributing author to several chapters of the original Hacker’s Challenge.

David Pollino Director of the Wireless Center of Excellence at @stake, Inc., conducts leading research into wireless security issues. He is a respected information security consultant with an extensive networking background. His wireless and network security expertise is published in magazines and books. David speaks on security issues at several industry events. David was a contributing author to several chapters of the original Hacker’s Challenge.

Slashdot.org
This is a great book for seeing not just what attacks are out there, but what attacks people in the security industry think are likely in the real world. The format is easy to read and the real-world problem scenarios presented are interesting enough to keep you reading. The solutions are well presented and thorough, covering not just what happened in the attack and how to put the course of events together from the clues, but also ways to prevent and mitigate the attacks. I definitely recommend Hacker's Challenge 2 to anyone interested in, or responsible for, computer security.

Mike Schiffman, CISSP, has been involved in most every technical arena computer security has to offer. He has researched and developed many cutting edge technologies including tools such as firewalk and tracerx as well as the ubiquitously used low-level packet shaping library libnet. Mike has led audit teams through engagements for fortune 500 companies in the banking, automotive and manufacturing industries. He has spoken in front of several institutions and government agencies such as: NSA, CIA, DOD, AFWIC, SAIC, and army intelligence. Mike is the lead author of Hacker’s Challenge, and has written for numerous technical journals such as Software Magazine and has written articles for securityfocus.com, and authored many security white papers. Currently, Mike is the Director of Security Architecture for @stake, the leading provider of professional security services. Previous to @stake, Mike was the Director of Research and Development for Guardent, Inc.

Bill Pennington, (CISSP), is a Principal Security Consultant with Guardent Inc. Bill has five years of professional experience in information security, ten in information technology. He is familiar with Linux, Solaris, Windows, and OpenBSD, and is a Certified Information Security Systems Practitioner, Certified Cisco Network Administrator (CCNA), Certified Internet Security Specialist (CISS), and a Microsoft Certified Product Specialist, Windows NT 4.0. He has broad experience in computer forensics, installing and maintaining VPNs, Cisco Pix firewalls, IDS, and in monitoring systems. Bill was a contributing author to several chapters of the original Hacker’s Challenge.

David Pollino Director of the Wireless Center of Excellence at @stake, Inc., conducts leading research into wireless security issues. He is a respected information security consultant with an extensive networking background. His wireless and network security expertise is published in magazines and books. David speaks on security issues at several industry events. David was a contributing author to several chapters of the original Hacker’s Challenge.