Hacking Exposed Mobile Security Secrets & Solutions by Bergman, Neil Published by McGraw-Hill Osborne Media 1st (first) edition (2013) Paperback

by Neil Bergman

"A great overview of the new threats created by mobile devices. ...The authors have heaps of experience in the topics and bring that to every chapter." -- Slashdot

Genres: Technology

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Raj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nyc

[BCS · Rating 4 out of 5]

The rapid growth of mobile technology and increase in smartphone adoption has resulted in significant changes to the information security landscape over the past few years and this addition to the Hacking Exposed series attempts to cover the current knowledge gap in this new area.

The book has a broad coverage, starting with excellent chapters on the mobile risk ecosystem and potential attacks against the cellular network.

Later chapters cover mobile malware, mobile web applications and secure development for mobile devices. In addition there are more specific and more focussed chapters covering Android and iOS, but unfortunately no other platforms.

There is some excellent information provided and some interesting ground covered, although at 256 pages the book feels more like a high-level introduction. The chapters covering the mobile web, iOS and Android stand out from the others in this respect and provide the type of technical detail that would be useful for performing a security audit or assessment.

The absence of Windows and BlackBerry coverage is unfortunate from a security professional’s point of view. BlackBerry’s traditional use as the corporate device of choice and the increasing popularity of the Windows Phone 8 means that code and applications for the devices are frequently encountered during security assessments and some information on coding for these devices and testing against them would have been welcome and made the book feel more complete.

Overall the book stands up well as an introduction to the subject and the short chapters and accessible writing style mean that the reader can absorb most of the key information needed within a short space of time. The concentration on iOS and Android mean that it is not suitable for people working exclusively with Windows or BlackBerry platforms, and that supplemental books would be needed for anyone working across multiple platforms.

Reviewed by Nick Dunn, Senior Security Consultant NCC Group

[Ari Lacenski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is phenomenal. I haven't read any other technical book on the Android platform that discusses the smali bytecode language or the Dalvik VM in great detail. I now recommend it to iOS and Android students as a must-read if they're hoping to publish apps.

[Amine]

Cc