Windows Internet Security: Protecting Your Critical Data - Softcover

Fogie, Seth; Peikari, Cyrus

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0130428310 ISBN 13: 9780130428318

Publisher: Pearson P T R, 2001

Synopsis

Windows Internet Security will help you protect any Windows system against hackers - even if you know nothing about Internet security! Stop exposing your private files; install a personal firewall; protect your e-commerce transactions; avoid worms, Trojans, and hostile Web pages; protect your privacy; and more. Whether you're running XP, 2000, Me, 98, or 95, this book makes Windows security practical and easy!

About this title

About the Author

SETH FOGIE is currently Senior Security Consultant at VirusMD Corporation, where he moderates the firm's Internet Security Help forum. He served six years as a U.S. Navy Nuclear Engineer and earned his MCSE before becoming the Network Administrator for a large retail company.

DR. CYRUS PEIKARI has served as Chief Technical Officer for VirusMD Corporation since 1998. Dr. Peikari is a physician in Dallas, TX who personally has several patents pending in the computer virus field. He has also spoken at Defcon, the annual hacker security conference in Las Vegas, NV.

From the Back Cover

Protect your Windows system against Internet hackers—right now!

• Protect your Windows computer—NOW!
• Covers Windows 2000, Me, 98, 95, and Windows XP
• Stop sharing your files with the world
• Install your own personal firewall—step by step
• Block your employer from reading your private email
• Avoid worms, Trojans, viruses, and hostile Web pages

Whether you're running Windows XP, 2000, Me, 98, or 95, if you're connected to the Internet, you're at risk—especially if you're using an "always-on" cable modem or DSL connection. Now, learn exactly how to defend yourself—even if you know nothing about Internet security!

Windows Internet Security starts by reviewing the threats to your Windows PC: what hackers know about your computer and the Internet, and how they can use that knowledge to attack you. Then, step by step, you'll plan and implement today's most powerful defenses. Discover how to:

• Stop sharing resources you don't want to expose to the world
• Choose and implement the right "personal firewall"
• Protect your e-commerce transactions
• Avoid viruses, worms, Trojans, and hostile Web pages
• Protect your privacy and anonymity on the Web
• Cope with today's new wireless hacking attacks
• Respond and recover if you've already been hacked
• Make the most of Windows XP's new computer security features

Windows Internet Security makes security comprehensible, practical-even easy! At home or at work, it's the one indispensable security book for every Windows user and administrator.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

PREFACE

The Internet can be a painful experience. Hackers invade our personal computers,steal from us, and humiliate us. Computer viruses destroy years of ourhard work within milliseconds. Corporations and governments watch ourevery move, invading our privacy in an Orwellian nightmare from which wecannot wake.

Why are books on Internet Security in such fierce demand? It is becausethey empower us to fight back. The media constantly reminds us of how vulnerablewe are. We are inundated with reports of viruses such as Melissa, ofgovernment spyware such as Carnivore, and of an Internet teeming withthieves. Above all, we fear hackers, the inscrutable criminals who invade themost private parts of our lives.

Our primary goal in writing this book was to make it easy to understand.Material of this gravity should be explained carefully. The Internet itself is confusing,and Internet security is one of its most esoteric aspects. Thus, we havetaken great care to explain difficult topics in the most clear and compellingterms, using familiar examples. For instance, we describe how a hacker exploitsbuffer overflows by comparing it to rearranging a stack of music CDs.

There is a pressing need for the depth and clarity of our book. With theadvent of always-on, broadband Internet connections, home users and small business owners are now in grave danger from both hackers and malicioussoftware. With knowledge and training, these threats can be minimized.Unfortunately, however, few resources exist for beginners; most security booksare written for expert users. For example, it is impossible for a beginner tounderstand a buffer overflow if he does not even know what a buffer is.

Our book assumes no prior knowledge of computers. In the first part, wereview computer architecture and operating systems, explaining the securityimplications of each component. The pace quickens as we delve into the com-puterunderground, analyzing the psychology of hackers and virus writers.Next, we examine how the Internet works, explaining communication networksin great detail. We also thoroughly explain the TCP/IP protocol withclear and simple analogies.

Part II is more technical and describes exactly how hackers execute theirattacks. We tackle social engineering, data sniffing, session hijacking, bufferoverflows, and SYN attacks. Although this material is quite advanced, it is neverthelesscrucial for the novice to master. Therefore, we compel interest byusing an actual walk-through of an attack as seen through the eyes of a hacker.

Part III empowers the reader to fight back. We inculcate the four basic elementsof Internet Security: backup and recovery, encryption, firewalling, andvirus scanning, with instructions on how to implement each. A special chaptertakes a refreshing approach to personal firewalls and gives an objective reviewof the most common programs. In addition, since Network Shares are such animportant vulnerability, we spend an entire chapter with instructions and diagramsexplaining exactly how to secure Network Shares under each Windowsoperating system. We then strike back at hackers by explaining how to usebuilt-in Windows tools to track them down. This section also covers e-commercesecurity and gives an introduction to computer viruses and antivirustechniques.

Part IV helps readers protect their anonymity and privacy on the Internet.It includes a treatment of computer ethics and why they are so important inthe new world order. We explain how to disable the "cookies" that Web sitessecretly place on users' computers in order to track them across the Internet.Similarly, we cover corporate spying: how employers monitor the workplace,and how to block this spying.

Part V is a more advanced section designed for those readers who feel readyto learn computer virus debugging skills for themselves. This section includesa walk-through of the risky steps for disinfecting viruses and Trojan horses. Italso includes a chapter on restoring a computer from scratch after a viral infectionhas rendered it useless.

In summary, this is the easiest-to-understand introduction to Internet security,bar none. We have endeavored to cover this difficult field in a didactic formatthat appeals to both beginning and intermediate users. A glossary of key terms helps newcomers, while an annotated bibliography directs those readerswho are ready for expert level.

In order to maximize the utilitarian benefit of this book, we have targetedit toward the preponderance of Internet users that rely on the MicrosoftWindows operating system. Because of the universal demand for the informationin this book, we have excluded regional differences as much as possible inorder to serve a worldwide audience. Although the material is focused onWindows 95/98/Me/2000/XP, the subject matter will embolden all Internetusers to fight for their privacy, their safety, and their dignity online.—Seth Fogie
Cyrus Peikari, M.D.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pearson P T R
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0130428310
• ISBN 13: 9780130428318
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 370