Security Concepts; interesting topic, stale literature

[minus-sign]

The Security Concepts book for my SEC110 class is, imho, not worth the paper it was printed on. I'm interested in the topic, but the book has a tendency to jump around a lot thrugh chapters, saying things will be expanded on in later chapters and--basically--just restating what was highlighted in the previous blurb.

Ok, /endrant. I'd like to get a better grasp of the topic of network and PC security. What books, websites, or other media could any folks around here reccommend that will expand the topic without confusing me. I'm new to this, and easily confused/frustrated if I have to hop around three hundred pages to find two paragraphs of info.

Thanks in advance.

[Sylvander]

The "Incognito" OS and the methods it uses to maintain privacy and security.
Looks rather nice; based on Gentoo Linux.

[PrntRhd]

Just remember security is a continuous process and no security product achieves complete security because the threats keep changing.
Unfortunately textbooks are behind the curve, and always will be.

[yawningdog]

Do you realize what it is you're asking? "Please teach me to be a neurosurgeon, but keep it simple because I'm easily confused and frustrated. Oh, and leave out the blood. I can't stand blood."

IT security is a complicated and confusing field. In the words of Albert Einstein, "Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler."

That said, I recommend "Hacking Exposed". It contains a lot of really great info and will teach you a ton of stuff. If you find yourself frustrated or confused (as I did, and sometimes still do) then research a little further into whatever it is that's not clear. Google is your friend.

Good luck.

[minus-sign]

I thought I knew exactly what I'm looking for yawningdog. perhaps I was not clear enough,

i'm asking for someone who took a Security Concepts course or is studying on their own to suggest material that they found to be well written; that did not constantly jump topics around but did a fair job of explaining them before moving on--or if you prefer; a good current text book that was written after...say 2003. Also, if there are other websites besides FSecure or cert that I can go to on a regular basis to keep abreast of this topic because, frankly, I'm not taking as much from this class as I'd like to.

I'm not looking for Intro to Neurosurgery as much as a Security Concepts version of Grey's Anatomy, to use your example. Does such a book exist for this field?

I'm looking at chapter 3 of "Hacking Exposed" right now but what about "Gray Hat Hacking"? It was recommended by another person at the school.

[yawningdog]

I can understand how this can be frustrating, since security is a topic that diverges frequently. You can't really study certificates without knowing about encryption. And you can't really study encryption without knowing about algorithms. And in order to study algorithms, you have to have a basic understanding of terms of encryption. If there is a way to study this without skipping around pages, chapters, and even books, then I don't know it.

Gray hat Hacking, if memory serves is not among my favorite books on the subject. You want to avoid the books that simply say, "Here's a script that will enumerate ports" or "Here's a google hack that will locate web servers running older versions of IIS". Such books really don't teach anything and are quickly outdated. (Again, if memory serves. Which often times, it does not.)

The text for my college security class was called "Security+ Guide to Network Security Fundamentals" and was published by thompson. I thought it was pretty good and can recommend it.

Some good web sites to check out for security info are www.remote-exploit.org and irongeek.com.