Cyber Hacking: Wars in Virtual Space

by Scientific American

Cyberspace has certainly transformed the world. From media and communications to banking, an increasing number of daily activities is performed online. We are living digital lifestyles. While this transformation has opened up exciting new frontiers, it also opens the door to security threats undreamed of in previous generations.

In Cyber Hacking: Wars in Virtual Space, we peer behind the cyber curtain. First, we look at the hackers--who they are, how they work, their motivations, and methods. The opening article examines hardware--specifically microprocessors and why they are vulnerable to tampering. Then we turn to the internal attacks, the worms and viruses whose resulting damage ranges from merely inconvenient and attention-getting to expensive and dangerous. Next, we take a broad look at issues of privacy and the technology used to gather and track personal information. With so much personal information volunteered on social networking and other sites, how much privacy can people expect? Most of us leave a trail of data wherever we go. On a positive note, we end by covering innovative technologies used to secure cyber networks and safeguard information.

The race between the hackers and information security professionals continues.

50 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 25, 2013

About the author

Scientific American , as an institutional author, is a popular science magazine founded by Rufus M. Porter and controlled by Nature Publishing Group since autumn, 2008. Mariette DiChristina has been editor-in-chief since December, 2009.

Reviews

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is very old information. Luckily, it is only a general overview, so the problems it reveals are still in play... more or less.

Section 1-The Hacker (00:06)
o The Hacker in Your Hardware by John Villasenor (21:32)
o Hacking the Lights Out by David M. Nicol (20:49)
o The Attack of Code Red by Carolyn P. Meinel (25:09)
o How Hackers Break In...and How They Are Caught by Carolyn P. Meinel (32:02)
o Attack of the Worms by Michael Moyer (05:35)

Section 2-Nowhere to Hide (00:06)
o The End of Privacy by Daniel J. Solove (16:00)
o Stealing Secrets by W. Wayt Gibbs (14:19)
o Brave New World of Wiretapping by Whitfield Diffie and Susan Landau (24:53)
o Tag - You're It by Katherine Albrecht (19:07)
o Malware Goes Mobile by Mikko Hypponen (19:44)
o The Ultimate Database by Simson L. Garfinkel (18:55)

Section 3-The Solutions (00:05)
o How to Keep Secrets Safe by Anna Lysyanskaya (22:43)
o Improving Online Security by John Rennie, et Al. (15:29)
o Can Phishing Be Foiled by Lorrie Faith Cranor (17:57)
o Beyond Fingerprinting by Anil K. Jain and Sharath Pankanti (10:40)

[John Michael Strubhart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once again, the editors of Scientific American Magazine have put together a fine collection of articles culled from their archives on a particular subject. In this case, it is security in a world of electronic data exchange. And, once again, the editors of Scientific American Magazine demonstrate their unprofessional insistence on not using copy editors. I caught numerous typos. You won't suffer this neglect in publications from other magazine sources. Even People handles e-publishing more professionally than these so-called "editors" do. It's just embarrassing! Don't bother with this publication. The information is seriously out of date. It would only be interesting to historians.

[Bryce Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

At this point it's a fun look at nearly ancient technology. Still, it's a neat read and the predictions laid in the book were correct.

[Maymoona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh :/