Customer Rating:  
Summary: The darker side of the net...
Comment: If you're looking for something that covers the murky underbelly of the internet, you might want to check out Steal This Computer Book 3 by Wallace Wang.
Chapter List: Finding What You Need: The Magic Of Search Engines; Alternative Sources Of News And Information; Censoring Information (We Know What's Best For You); Hacktivism: Online Activism; Pledging Allegiance: Hatred As Patriotism; Where The Hackers Are; Viruses And Worms; Trojan Horses: Beware Of Geeks Bearing Gifts; Con Games On The Internet; Online Stalkers; Probing A Target; Sneaking Into A Computer; Digging In; Computing On A Shoestring; Protecting Your Data And Your Privacy; Waging War On Spam; Web Bugs, Adware, Pop-ups, and Spyware; Firewalls, Intrusion-Dectection Systems, and Honeypots; Computer Forensics: Recovering And Deleting Data; Protecting Your Computer; Software; A Hacker's Gallery Of Rogue Tools; A Bit Of History: Phone Phreaking And Other Phun; Glossary; Index
On the back cover, you have this warning: "This book is not to be used for hacking into government computers, shutting down AOL, cracking software, phone phreaking, spreading viruses, or any other illegal activity." That's enough to get your attention. Depending on your background, I think you'll have varying reactions to the book. People who haven't been exposed to information like this will quickly learn that all is not safe when you're online. If you've surfed the web for any length of time as an IT professional, you'll read a lot of the information and say "I already know that". But even then, you'll pick up some ideas and concepts that you may not have been aware of. For instance, I didn't know there were servers that would send you requested web pages via email in order to bypass filtering or banned sites. And the chapter on alternative sources of news will cause you to think about expanding your media view of the world.
The packaging of the book is rather unique. The cover and pages have a dirty, "photocopied" look to make it appear more illicit than it actually is. It becomes one of those books that will catch someone's eyes on a book shelf, and may need to be explained. :-)
An interesting read, and you will learn a few things along the way....
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Comment: This book is amazing. It teaches you everything you need to know about all the dark secrets surrounding the hacker world and how to protect yourself. All the way from finding out how Remote Access Trojans are created to phone phreaking. The book starts off very slow with text about white supremacy and why/how racists post their views and opinions on the internet. That was really the only boring part of the book and it seemed kind of off-topic at times. Everything else included in this book is amazing. The examples and website referring is a big help. For example: the book teaches you about a subject...such as how hackers create their programs (using such languages as C++ and Delphi), then it gives you many examples of their programs and what their programs do, then gives you multiple websites to go to if you're interested in viewing the source code of these programs or the programs themselves. The author has great writing skills and makes the book humerous at times by showing the true facts about the internet and certain companies...oh, and cracking a joke here and there about the neo-nazis and their little websites. If you're a person who is trying to protect oneself from hackers, crackers, etc or if you're a white hat hacker who is trying to work on your skill, then this is the book for you. Remember, this book doesn't teach you how to hack maliciously, but teaches you how the hackers work their magic. Other topics this book covers is: 1) How to find a relative or close friend using the internet.
2) How to set up a firewall and why their usage is important.
3) How to protect yourself from idnetity theft, spammers, hackers, and much more.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Steal this computer book 3
Comment: I orderd this book after seeing the "stunning" reviews it recieved on this site. I'm sorry to say that I am very disappointed. I got it yesterday morning and was real eager to get into it, but within an hour I just stopped reading. Why?Dont get me wrong this isnt a bad book per-se and its just that it has its audience and i'm not part of it. This is for people\parents\employers\new users to the internet who want to know more about its dark underbelly.
If you know or understand phrases like- firewalls, sniffers, back-doors, loggers, scanners, spam, idtheft, filters, Airsnort, dumpster-diving, social-engineering, shoulder surfing and so on....- then dont even pick this book up. I'm no computer security guru but i'd say a couple of days surfing the net and you'll soon have the bones of this book. If on the other hand, you're new to the net, you're worried about you kids safety while on the net, who's using your computer, what they're doing, what other could be doing to you, or just need a quick jumpstart into the darker side of the net then maybe (and only just maybe!!) you should consider this book. Its like one reviewer said, its for the ordinary guy, but if you've done any bit of work in IT then a lot of it will seem like fluff. So I've left it for now but am not gonna throw it out, its something i'll read when i got time and also there looks to be some interesting sections that I'm gonna look through. It still gets 2 stars though; one because its well organsied and written in a very easy to understand language, not too technical which is definately a plus if you're new to the net and all thing computers, and two beacuse theres a lot of good links to related software and sites that can help you understand more. Think of it as a good reference\starting point. Peronally i'd say save you're money and read "computer espoinage, counter measures and tactics" if you want more intersting read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nothing of value here
Comment: I read through this book anticipating I would find information that would help me understand the darker side of the internet and protect myself from it. In the end though, the bottom line of the book is that you need: 1) anti-virus software, 2) a good firewall like Zone Alarm, and 3) a good spy blocking program like Spycop. I knew that already and I have all that installed on my PC. The rest of the book is fluf. I found the reading extremely tedious and painful because there is so little new here. Don't waste your money. If you do the three things I mentioned above, you can bypass this book alltogether.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Must-Read Internet Exposé
Comment: A great book -- packed with information, and an enjoyable read to boot. "Steal This Computer Book 3" reveals the "other" side of the Internet -- the good stuff (many great little-known resources) and the bad stuff (viruses, trojans, hackers and various other baddies). I was happy to learn I was already doing most of what I needed to do to secure my computer, and the book inspired me to beef up my security even more. Highly recommended.
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