Book review index
This is excerpted from Rob Slade's Book Review Index, a listing of (mostly
technical) book reviews. The initial coding is the review file name (and
approximate size of the file): this is followed by the name of the book and
author(s) and a very brief description. (Some versions of this file may also
contain listings of software reviews.) This version contains books related to
computer viral programs and data security.
BK2NDCNT RVW 2832 "Second Contact", Resnick - fiction about hacking for data,
some reasonable database security stuff
BKADOLP1 RVW 1484 "The Adolescence of P-1", Ryan, 1977 - fiction, my personal
favourite of the classic "computer virus" stories
BKA-LIFE RVW 4116 "Artificial Life", Levy, 1992, 0-679-73489-8,
U$13.00/C$17.00 - an interesting wander through fields
studying artificial life but no strong points
BKBSECCS RVW 4880 "Building a Secure Computer System", Gasser - heavy on
technical, particularly secure hardware
BKBURGER RVW 11277 "Computer Viruses and Data Protection", Burger - poorly
written with little solid information, some viral programs
in source code
BKCMPETH RVW 1492 "Computer Ethics", Johnson, 1994, 0-13-290339-3 - the basic
work in the field, thorough coverage and good discussion
starter
BKCMPSEC RVW 5779 "Computer Security Basics", Russell/Gangemi - good overview,
but some problems (SEC931)
BKCMRLCR RVW 1257 "Computer Related Crime", 1-55950-027-1, U$10.00 - pretty
banal but not completely inaccurate overview of computer
crime
BKCMVRCR RVW 3662 "Computer Virus Crisis", Fites/Johnston/Kratz - somewhat
sloppy and a number of errors
BKCNTCRP RVW 1235 "Contemporary Cryptology", Simmons, 1991, 0-87942-277-7 -
thorough collection of theoretical essays
BKCPTETH RVW 3961 "Computer Ethics", Forester/Morrison, 1994, 0-262-56073-9 -
lots of great stories, but short on analytical depth
BKCSIBGD RVW 1678 "93 Computer Security Products Buyers Guide" - excellent
first start when looking for security products
BKCURRY RVW 3171 "Unix System Security - A Guide for Users and System
Administrators", Curry - not as good as Spafford/Garfinkel
(SEC932)
BKDENING RVW 8118 "Computers Under Attack", Denning, ed. - collection of
essays roughly related to security, also "the net"
BKDGTLWO RVW 6883 "Digital Woes", Wiener, 1993, 0-201-62609-8, U$22.95/C$29.95
- excellent introduction to the risks of software
BKDRSVEN RVW 1328 "Dr. Solomon's Virus Encyclopedia", Solomon, 1992, 1-897661-
00-2 - good listing of MS-DOS viral programs
BKETHICS RVW 4331 "Computers, ethics and society", Ermann/Williams/Gutierrez -
textbook for computer ethics course: not great
BKEYESTM RVW 2465 "Eye of the Storm", Gold Eagle/Worldwide - fiction, virus is
minor subplot
BKFARROW RVW 3556 "Unix System Security", Farrow - basic
BKFEUDO RVW 4414 "Computer Virus Desk Reference", Feudo - collects basic
virus reference sources for those without online access
BKFLSRUN RVW 1309 "The Fool's Run", Camp, 1989, 0-451-16712-0. U$4.95/C$5.95 -
good fun and a more than adequate account of tiger teams
and cracking (the basis for "Sneakers"?)
BKFRINSC RVW 2096 "Firewalls and Internet Security", Cheswick/Bellovin, 1994,
0-201-63357-4, U$26.95 - solid and practical guide for
building firewall machines on TCP/IP (or other networks)
BKFUTCRM RVW 919 "Future Crime", Bova, 1990, 0-812-53241-4 - fiction, short
story collection only one dealing (tangentially) with data
security
BKHACKRS RVW 2943 "Hackers", Levy, 1984, 0-385-31210-5 - entertaining but
trivial and limited collection of anecdotes about two of the
many hacker communities
BKHARLIE RVW 3344 "When H.A.R.L.I.E. Was One", Gerrold, 1972/1988 - fiction,
often cited as first fictional reference to a computer virus
BKHGHLND RVW 5286 "Computer Virus Handbook", Highland - good overview,
unfortunately somewhat dated
BKHKRCRK RVW 2413 "The Hacker Crackdown", Sterling, 1992, 0-553-56370-X -
collection of the stories surrounding Operation Sundevil in
1990, not analytical but entertaining
BKHODGE RVW 2393 "Rid Me of This Virus!", Hodge - short, uneven material,
perhaps a good pamphlet
BKHOFMAN RVW 5768 "Rogue Programs", Hoffman, ed. - good collection of essays
BKHRUSKA RVW 4664 "Computer Viruses and Anti-Virus Warfare", Hruska, 0-13-
036377-4 - MS-DOS specific, technically reasonable but
commentary very suspect
BKHTHGRP RVW 2270 "The Hawthorne Group", Hauser - fiction, supposedly high
tech thriller. Yawn.
BKILOBYT RVW 4410 "Kill-o-byte", Anthony, 1993, 0-441-44425-3 - fiction,
unreal version of gaming and virtual reality
BKISPME RVW 2110 "Information Security Policies Made Easy", Wood, 1994, 1-
881585-01-8, U$495.00 - expensive, but if it is the
difference between having a security policy and not having
one it's worth it
BKITSALV RVW 3084 "It's Alive!", Cohen, 1994, 0-471-00860-5, U$39.95 - an
intriguing, provoking and practical exploration of computer
programs as "artificial life", but somewhat narrow
BKKANE RVW 2494 "PC Security and Virus Protection Handbook", Kane, 1994, 1-
55851-390-6, U$39.95/C$49.95 - good overview for the MS-DOS
arena
BKLEVIN RVW 3793 "Computer Virus Handbook", Levin - vague and undisciplined
BKLNSCNW RVW 2516 "LAN Desktop Guide to Security, NetWare Edition", Sawicki,
1992, 0-672-30085-0, U$27.95/C$34.95 - good inside info on
NetWare, but a trifle paranoid
BKLUDWIG RVW 6838 "Little Black Book of Computer Viruses", Ludwig - MS-DOS
specific, not very accurate, viral source code
BKLUNDEL RVW 4304 "Virus!", Lundell - a lot of research, but a lot of errors
as well
BKMCAFEE RVW 5668 "Computer Viruses, Worms, Data Diddlers, Killer Programs and
Other Threats to Your System", McAfee/Haynes - some
interesting speculations buried in a mass of undisciplined
garbage
BKNAISDV RVW 1437 "Naissance d'un virus", Ludwig translated by Condat - French
translation of Ludwig's "Little Black Book"
BKNHACKD RVW 2453 "The New Hacker's Dictionary", Raymond, 1993, 0-262-68079-3,
U$14.95 - excellent introduction not only to hacker language
but also culture and society
BKNSDNAV RVW 2298 "Inside the Norton Antivirus", Norton/Nielsen, 1992, 0-13-
473463-7 - not much good as a general guide, plus outdated
docs for NAV
BKNTSCSE RVW 3055 "Network Security Secrets", Stang, 1993, 1-56884-021-7 -
practical and thorough security at the right level for most
LAN managers
BKPCVIRS RVW 6620 "PC Viruses: Detection, Analysis and Cure", Solomon - very
accurate, slightly dated, somewhat demanding technically
BKPCVRCH RVW 2474 "The PC Virus Control Handbook", Jacobson, 1990, 0-87930-
194-5, U$24.95 - dated and uneven, but a good chapter on how
to deal with infections
BKPTHVIR RVW 1395 "A Pathology of Computer Viruses", Ferbrache, 1992, 0-387-
19610-2 - good technical overview for the serious researcher
BKRDDBSC RVW 3796 "Research Directions in Database Security", Lunt (ed.) -
rather generic, but a good intro to the various problems in
a very complex area
BKRSI RVW 3582 "Repetitive Strain Injury", Pascarelli, 1994, 0-471-59533-0
- important and often misunderstood problem which can have
severe implications for both individuals and the industry as
a whole
BKSCNCMP RVW 2839 "Security in Computing", Pfleeger - reasonable textbook, but
some shortcomings
BKSCSUHK RVW 2719 "Secrets of a Super Hacker", Fiery, 1994, 1-55950-106-5,
U$19.95 - oddly disjointed perspective, generally good for
protection awareness but no tech details
BKSGTCVR RVW 6052 "Survivor's Guide to Computer Viruses" - relatively
accurate, but disappointing coming from the Virus Bulletin
BKSHKWAV RVW 2582 "Shockwave Rider", John Brunner - fiction, "tapeworm" is a
minor but important aspect of the plot
BKSHRTVR RVW 1892 "A Short Course on Computer Viruses", Cohen, 1994, 0-471-
00768-4 - excellent analysis providing thorough guidance for
antiviral policy and procedures
BKSNCRSH RVW 4150 "Snow Crash", Stephenson, 1992, 0-553-56261-4 - fiction,
sound technical background for nets and programming,
interesting plot line about an "information virus" and funny
BKSYSLAW RVW 3685 "Syslaw", Rose/Wallace, 1992 - legal aspects of BBSes and
online systems (COM932) (SEC932)
BKTOJOVR RVW 3239 "The Tojo Virus", Randall, 1991, 0-8217-3436-9,
U$4.95/C$5.95 - fiction, corporate insider info at IBM, but
no really accurate technical stuff
BKTRMCMP RVW 12846 "Terminal Compromise", Schwartau - fiction, some good
security ideas buried in a lot of bad writing
BKTSDET RVW 1787 "Top Secret Data Encryption Techniques", Held, 1993, 0-672-
30293-4, U$24.95/C$31.95 - fun and maybe useful but *not*
top secret. BASIC source included.
BKUMASSC RVW 4709 "Using McAfee Associates Software for Safe Computing",
Jacobsen - printed docs for SCAN et al
BKZAP RVW 3803 "Zap!", Sellers, 1994, 1-56609-021-0 - discussion and
suggestions regarding various ills that can be related to
computer use
MVSNEAKR RVW 4726 "Sneakers", Universal Pictures - fictional, but reasonably
good portrayal of a "tiger team"
Publishers or authors wishing to have their books reviewed and added to the
list should have copies sent to Rob Slade at 3118 Baird Road, North Vancouver,
BC, Canada, V7K 2G6. Publishers shipping from outside of Canada are advised to
label the materials as samples per GST section 215(1), without value and not
subject to GST.
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993, 1994 REVIEWBK.AVL 940911
======================
DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters
Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733
Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" (Sept. '94) Springer-Verlag