Security Engineering: A Guide to Building Dependable Distributed Systems

Be aware: This is absolutely not a book solely about computers, with yet another explanation of Alice and Bob and how they exchange public keys in order to exchange messages in secret. Anderson explores, for example, the ingenious ways in which European truck drivers defeat their vehicles' speed-logging equipment. In another section, he shows how the end of the cold war brought on a decline in defenses against radio-frequency monitoring (radio frequencies can be used to determine, at a distance, what's going on in systems--bank teller machines, say), and how similar technology can be used to reverse-engineer the calculations that go on inside smart cards. In almost 600 pages of riveting detail, Anderson warns us not to be seduced by the latest defensive technologies, never to underestimate human ingenuity, and always use common sense in defending valuables. A terrific read for security professionals and general readers alike. --David Wall

Topics covered: How some people go about protecting valuable things (particularly, but not exclusively, information) and how other people go about getting it anyway. Mostly, this takes the form of essays (about, for example, how the U.S. Air Force keeps its nukes out of the wrong hands) and stories (one of which tells of an art thief who defeated the latest technology by hiding in a closet). Sections deal with technologies, policies, psychology, and legal matters.

Product Description
"Security engineering is different from any other kind of programming. . . . if you're even thinking of doing any security engineering, you need to read this book."
— Bruce Schneier

"This is the best book on computer security. Buy it, but more importantly, read it and apply it in your work."
— Gary McGraw

This book created the discipline of security engineering

The world has changed radically since the first edition was published in 2001. Spammers, virus writers, phishermen, money launderers, and spies now trade busily with each other in a lively online criminal economy — and as they specialize, they get better. New applications, from search to social networks to electronic voting machines, provide new targets. And terrorism has changed the world. In this indispensable, fully updated guide, Ross Anderson reveals how to build systems that stay dependable whether faced with error or malice.

Here's straight talk about

• Technical engineering basics — cryptography, protocols, access controls, and distributed systems

• Types of attack — phishing, Web exploits, card fraud, hardware hacks, and electronic warfare

• Specialized protection mechanisms — what biometrics, seals, smartcards, alarms, and DRM do, and how they fail

• Security economics — why companies build insecure systems, why it's tough to manage security projects, and how to cope

• Security psychology — the privacy dilemma, what makes security too hard to use, and why deception will keep increasing

• Policy — why governments waste money on security, why societies are vulnerable to terrorism, and what to do about it