Special Ops: Host and Network Security for Microsoft, Unix, and Oracle

Special Ops: Internal Network Security Guide is the solution 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? This book attacks the problem of the soft, chewy center in internal networks. We use a two-pronged approach-Tactical and Strategic-to give readers a complete guide to internal penetration testing. Content includes the newest vulnerabilities and exploits, assessment methodologies, host review guides, secure baselines and case studies to bring it all together. We have scoured the Internet and assembled some of the best to function as Technical Specialists and Strategic Specialists. This creates a diversified project removing restrictive corporate boundaries. The unique style of this book will allow it to cover an incredibly broad range of topics in unparalleled detail. Chapters within the book will be written using the same concepts behind software development. Chapters will be treated like functions within programming code, allowing the authors to call on each other's data. These functions will supplement the methodology when specific technologies are examined thus reducing the common redundancies found in other security books.

This book is designed to be the "one-stop shop" for security engineers who want all their information in one place. The technical nature of this may be too much for middle management; however technical managers can use the book to help them understand the challenges faced by the engineers who support their businesses.

Ø Unprecedented Team of Security Luminaries. Led by Foundstone Principal Consultant, Erik Pace Birkholz, each of the contributing authors on this book is a recognized superstar in their respective fields. All are highly visible speakers and consultants and their frequent presentations at major industry events such as the Black Hat Briefings and the 29th Annual Computer Security Institute Show in November, 2002 will provide this book with a high-profile launch.
Ø The only all-encompassing book on internal network security. Windows 2000, Windows XP, Solaris, Linux and Cisco IOS and their applications are usually running simultaneously in some form on most enterprise networks. Other books deal with these components individually, but no other book provides a comprehensive solution like Special Ops. This book's unique style will give the reader the value of 10 books in 1.

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.