The world's bestselling computer security book--fully expanded and updated

"Right now you hold in your hand one of the most successful security books ever written. Rather than being a sideline participant, leverage the valuable insights Hacking Exposed 6 provides to help yourself, your company, and your country fight cyber-crime." --From the Foreword by Dave DeWalt, President and CEO, McAfee, Inc.

"For security to be successful in any company, you must ‘think evil' and be attuned to your ‘real risk'...Hacking Expose 6 defines both." --Patrick Heim, CISO, Kaiser Permanente

"The definitive resource to understanding the hacking mindset and the defenses against it." --Vince Rossi, CEO & President, St. Bernard Software

"Identity theft costs billions every year and unless you understand the threat, you will be destined to be a victim of it. Hacking Exposed 6 gives you the tools you need to prevent being a victim." --Bill Loesch, CTO, Guard ID Systems

"This book is current, comprehensive, thoughtful, backed by experience, and appropriately free of vendor-bias-prized features for any security practitioner in need of information." --Kip Boyle, CISO, PEMCO Mutual Insurance Company

"The Hacking Exposed series has become the definitive reference for security professionals from the moment it was first released, and the 6th edition maintains its place on my bookshelf," --Jeff Moss, Founder of the popular Black Hat Security Conference

Meet the formidable demands of security in today's hyperconnected world with expert guidance from the world-renowned Hacking Exposed team. Following the time-tested "attack-countermeasure" philosophy, this 10th anniversary edition has been fully overhauled to cover the latest insidious weapons in the hacker's extensive arsenal.

New and updated material:

• New chapter on hacking hardware, including lock bumping, access card cloning, RFID hacks, USB U3 exploits, and Bluetooth device hijacking
• Updated Windows attacks and countermeasures, including new Vista and Server 2008 vulnerabilities and Metasploit exploits
• The latest UNIX Trojan and rootkit techniques and dangling pointer and input validation exploits
• New wireless and RFID security tools, including multilayered encryption and gateways
• All-new tracerouting and eavesdropping techniques used to target network hardware and Cisco devices
• Updated DoS, man-in-the-middle, DNS poisoning, and buffer overflow coverage
• VPN and VoIP exploits, including Google and TFTP tricks, SIP flooding, and IPsec hacking
• Fully updated chapters on hacking the Internet user, web hacking, and securing code

Average Customer Review: ( 101 customer reviews )
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The cover of Hacking Exposed announces that "Network security is Y2K without the deadline." That alarmist statement, however, is the only hype in the book. The work is packed with real-world examples and links to tools needed to assess the security of any type of client/server and Web system. As they detail the myriad vulnerabilities in different types of systems, the authors provide countermeasures for each of them.

Well organized, the book progresses in an orderly fashion. It methodically goes through the process of exploiting a target to penetrate a system--from identification and enumeration to actual penetration. The authors provide detailed instructions and explanations for many security features and flaws in Unix, Linux, Windows, NetWare, routers, firewalls, and more. Topics covered include state-of-the-art computer and network penetration, as viewed by both the attacker and the defender; remote system identification; vulnerability identification; war dialers; firewall circumvention; and denial-of-service attacks. An appendix explores the security characteristics of Windows 2000.

Some may argue that books such as this one only serve to motivate and educate hackers. The truth is that hackers are already aware of the book's contents. This book is designed for system administrators and managers who need to know their systems' risks and vulnerabilities and how to address them. When they are done with this book, system administrators and managers will be familiar with such critical topics as back channels, port redirection, banner grabbing, and buffer overflows. Hacking Exposed is a must-read for anyone who wants to know what is really happening on their network....

125 of 133 found the following review helpful:

Time to reposition the "Hacking Exposed" series?Nov 18, 2001
By Richard Bejtlich "TaoSecurity"
I am a senior engineer for network security operations. I've read and reviewed every edition of the "Hacking Exposed" series since the 1999 original. "Hacking Exposed" is a winner; the authors' powerful example-driven style teaches the tools and tactics of vulnerability assessment and penetration testing. Nevertheless, I've compared this third edition to its "Hacking Linux" and "Hacking Windows 2000" cousins, and I believe the authors should rethink their goals for the "Hacking Exposed" series.

"Hacking Exposed, Third Edition" (HE:3E) describes techniques to attack and defend a wide variety of network assets: Microsoft products (9x, ME, NT, 2000, XP), UNIX variants, Novell's NOS, routers, PBXs, firewalls, and so on. Weaknesses in individual applications are explained, with attention given to remote control tools (VNC, Windows Terminal Server, PCAnywhere), Web technologies (IIS, ColdFusion, ActiveX, Java), and file sharing/chat systems (Napster, IRC). Readers are unlikely to find so many topics given fairly thorough coverage in a single volume.

Unfortunately, at 727 pages, HE:3E has gained too much weight. The 1999 first edition offered 484 pages, and the 2001 (yes, 2001) second edition gave 703 pages. While the authors should be credited for not simply copying and pasting material from their 2001 edition of "Hacking Exposed: Windows 2000," many of the same topics appear in both books. Furthermore, some subjects are redundantly described within HE:3E. For example, why rehash port redirection and rootkits in chapter 14 when they were adequately covered in earlier sections?

I strongly recommend the authors remove the UNIX- and Windows-specific material from a future fourth edition of "Hacking Exposed," directing readers to "Hacking Linux" and "Hacking Windows" when necessary. The authors should briefly describe general UNIX and Windows vulnerabilities in "HE:4E," and devote most of the book to their methodology and systems not covered in other books. This overhaul will give the authors a chance to remove some dated material from "Hacking Exposed," like a reference to ISS RealSecure v3.0 (6.0 is now in use).

I recommend readers who have not read previous "Hacking Exposed" titles buy this book. Despite my concerns, I still learned something new (wireless issues, format string vulnerabilities) and re-acquainted myself with material mentioned in earlier editions (RIP spoofing, enumeration techniques). If you've read "Hacking Exposed, Second Edition," wait for a revamped fourth edition.

(Disclaimer: I received a free review copy from the publisher.)

47 of 50 found the following review helpful:

Still the best for vulnerability assessment and pen testingApr 11, 2001
By Richard Bejtlich "TaoSecurity"
I am a senior engineer for managed network security operations, which includes conducting vulnerability assessments against client networks. I read this second edition to gain insights into ways to better assess a client's security posture, and also to understand some of the attacks I see while monitoring intrusion detection systems. Of the books I've read, Hacking Exposed remains the best guide to systematically assess and (if necessary) compromise hosts. By understanding black hat methods, defenders can better prepare for the tidal wave of exploits washing upon the networking shore.

Parts I (Casing the Establishment), II (System Hacking), and III (Network Hacking) are a tour-de-force of attacker tools and techniques. While explaining how to penetrate systems, the authors spend a fair amount of time explaining how those systems work. From a system administration standpoint, these descriptions are pure gold. Since the authors are fairly operating system-agnostic, they show the pros and cons of Microsoft, UNIX, and Novell products in the harsh light of improved security. For example, the discussion of file handles, file descriptors, and signals in chapter 8 ("Hacking UNIX") helped me understand a little bit of UNIX's guts, while giving a security spin to file system operations.

Thankfully, Hacking Exposed gives Microsoft operating systems plenty of attention. While recognizing that many of us dislike administering these systems, the authors provide helpful and solid chapters on Windows NT and Windows 2000. They also demonstrate many ways to use Windows as an attack platform. They convincingly show that if a scan can be performed in Linux, someone has developed a similar tool for Windows.

My favorite issues in the book involved describing Windows rootkits (a recent development) and UNIX loadable kernel modules. On the negative side, I felt the book lost steam in section IV (Software Hacking), spending too much time repeating earlier material. Also, unless you're a relative newbie to security, you may become bored with the litany of historic deficiencies and required patches discussed in section IV.

Overall, the second edition of Hacking Exposed remains a must-read book for security professionals. I recommend it as the sort of book one reads after gaining an overall sense of the security field and learning about TCP/IP. With those foundations in place, it's time to learn how black hats operate. If you're a system administrator, you'll learn how to fortify your network assets. If you're an intrusion detector, you'll learn what to watch for. If you're a pen-tester, you'll learn how to compromise hosts. Who could ask for more?

28 of 29 found the following review helpful:

Impressive follow-up editionOct 26, 2000

I read the first edition and thought it was a great book that every administrator should have. I didn't think that they would come out with a second edition so quickly. I am impressed that the second edition isn't just a rehash of the same material. It is filled with new information that is a must have for security minded administrators. The application hacking information is the wave of the future.

We have had consultants come in to perform work for our company who have carried the first edition in hand to perform security reviews for us. I can't wait to see how long it takes them to bring in the second edition. Its amazing how the authors share this great information with their competitors. The authors are keeping the competition on their toes and increasing the general knowledge of security for the whole industry.

Keep it coming guys!

13 of 13 found the following review helpful:

Still the best book for vulnerability assessorsAug 02, 2003
By Richard Bejtlich "TaoSecurity"
It's been nearly two years since I reviewed "Hacking Exposed: 3rd Ed" (HE:3E). Since then I've joined Foundstone and contributed the case study on pages 2-7 in "Hacking Exposed: 4th Ed" (HE:4E), on a non-royalty basis. Since my review could still be seen as being biased, I'll mainly discuss changes between HE:3E and HE:4E.

The most noticeable change is the reorganization of the Windows-specific chapters. HE:3E had one 25 page chapter on 9x/ME/XP and two chapters with 172 pages on NT and 2000. HE:4E offers one 22 page chapter on 9x/ME and one 66 page chapter on the "NT family." The authors wisely direct readers to "Hacking Exposed: Windows 2000" and "Hacking Exposed: Web Applications" for more in-depth discussions of attacking Windows. The material in HE:4E is still sufficient to compromise Windows boxes without having to open HE:W2K or HE:WA. This decision allowed HE:4E to grow by only 2 pages since HE:3E. (I criticized HE:3E with a four star review for including too much material best left in topic-specific HE editions.) Pruning the Windows material allows room for a stand-alone wireless hacking chapter in the nitty-gritty HE style, as well as other improvements.

Another major addition to HE:4E is a completely rewritten enumeration chapter. While HE:3E compartmentalized techniques by operating system (Windows, Novell, UNIX), HE:4E offers port-based techniques. For example, if port 179 is open, try BGP-based queries. If port 524 is open or IPX is in use, try Novell attacks. This approach reflects the methods used by assessors who find listening services, and can't be sure what OS is present. The chapter on network devices (ch 9) offers exceptionally devious hacking tricks, such as performing a T-1 "man-in-the-middle" attack.

HE:3E represents a significant upgrade from HE:3E, with nearly two years between the two books. I wasn't happy with the changes between HE:2E and HE:3E, as both were published in 2001. I would like to see HE:5E add a single chapter on attacking Cisco routers, with discussions of the overflows, tunnels, and remote sniffing pioneered by Phenoelit's FX. A chapter on attacking embedded devices and PDAs would be helpful. I recommend following the lead of frequently-updated hardware books like Scott Mueller's "Upgrading and Repairing PCs": print the latest and greatest, and archive the rest to CD-ROM. I think the chapters on Win 9x/ME and Novell could make way for more exciting discussions in HE:5E. Along with Ed Skoudis' "Counter Hack," HE:4E is one of the books I recommend as absolutely essential reading for all security professionals.

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