Editorial Review

Gigantically comprehensive and carefully researched, Read more

Reviews (24)

Available for free
Before purchasing this book, you might like to browse through its contents.It is available in its entirety for free on the author's website.Here's the URL:
More high-level concepts and less hands-on guidance
This is certainly a good book for getting introduced to most high-level architectural concepts related to Network security, cryptography, mandatory/multi-level access control etc. From a application development perspective, this book falls short on how to build architecure, design and implement them into your business applications which ultimately meets the end-user. The author justifies the high-level concepts well enough from a generalist perspective, but the industry-standards from OASIS leans towards standards-based application security protocols..which pushes a developer/architect like me to take those suggestions first and how to apply them in real world.The book also does'nt address on how-to build security for emerging application architectures based on Service-oriented architecture (SOA), Identity Management, Net-centric Federated applications. As a developer/architect using Java or Microsoft .NET or open-source based distributed applications, I need guidance on how to implement the recommended concepts (in the book) for example using biometrics or smartcards for building multi-factor access control at my application-level...unfortunately I don't find any answers for real-world implementation.

Best security book on the market
This book is a must own and a must read.Ross Anderson may tweak people's noses on occassion...but usually because they need tweaking.Get this book now.Really. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books And Software    2. Computer Data Security    3. Computer security    4. Computers    5. Computers - Computer Security    6. Computers - General Information    7. Distributed Computer Systems    8. Distributed processing    9. Electronic data processing    10. Management Information Systems    11. Networking - General    12. Programming - Systems Analysis & Design    13. Security - General    14. Computers / Networking / General    15. Data security & data encryption    16. Network security   

Editorial Review

Cryptographic techniques have applications far beyond the obvious uses of encoding and decoding information. For Internet developers who need to know about capabilities, such as digital signatures, that depend on cryptographic techniques, there's no better overview than Read more

Reviews (96)

A must-have book for understanding Cryptography.
This book has really shed a lot of light on cryptography for me. I honestly can't put it down--I wish I had paid more attention in my statistics classes so I could be able to apply some of the stuff the author talks about better. I am about half way through the book, and I haven't gotten to the point where it's more of a chore than a pleasure to read it (something I can't about my other technical books).
Prepare to drink from the firehose
This book is really incredible.When it was first published in the mid-90's, there was almost no material available on the subject of cryptography.Now, ten years later, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of books riding on Schneier's coattails - but almost none have anything new or useful to say.Impeccably researched (with 1,653 references!) and unarguably complete, Schneier's expertise in theoretical mathematics, experience as a practitioner, and razor-sharp lucidity combine to make this the only book you'll ever need on the subject of cryptography.

Text Book for School
The book was in excellent condition.The book came within the alloted time period.No complaints! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer security    3. Computers - Computer Security    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. Cryptography    6. Discrete Mathematics    7. Programming Languages - General    8. Security - General    9. Security measures    10. Telecommunication    11. Computers / Security    12. Data security & data encryption   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (18)

Mind Hacks: Tips & Tools for Using Your Brain
It's a book very interested about language in mind and speech comprehension. I read a short comment in BBC Focus magazine and I wish to read because it's very easy to learn the misteries of mind in cognitive science applied to language and psichology.

A fun book
It is not a typical "hacks" book in that it does not tell you how to utilize you brain more effectively or do neat things.It *does*have a lot of exercises that show you cool things on how your brain works with sections describing how your brain works - and a number of experiments (blind spot, Magnet interaction with the brain, word parsing in the the mind, and so on). This book goes very well with a recent title called _Mind Wide Open_ by Steven Johnson.
Interesting reading
I found this book to be interesting in the way that it presents it's topics. It was insightful and worth the purchase. It is the type of book that you select chapters that interest you as opposed to going cover to cover. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Brain    2. Cognitive Psychology    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Neuropsychology    6. Popular works    7. Psychology    8. Security - General    9. Thought and thnking    10. Attention    11. Cognitive theory, metacognition, vision, audition, motor skills, brain research, cortex, metacortex, sensori-motor    12. Computers / Social Aspects / Human-Computer Interaction    13. Data security & data encryption    14. Listening    15. Movement, Psychology of    16. Network security    17. Psychology & Psychiatry / Neuropsychology    18. Psychology/Cognitive Psychology    19. Reasoning    20. Thought and thinking    21. Visual perception   

Reviews (12)

i love GHH
i have read tonnes of books on this subject.starting from secrets of a super hacker by knightmare(published way back in 94, trust me dat was a great read n even 2day i find myself glued to da back as the first time i read it.now coming back 2 gray hat hacking.this is wat i would like 2 call the hacking reference book for the next generation.every one concerned about security should consider picking up this book.u might as well save some money n picking up more knowledge than any of the hacking exposed books in the market.no this book is not for button clicking script kiddies who play around wid trojans n claim to be hackers or web defacers(lamers).if u belong to da breed of script kiddies pick up this disgustin book by ankit fadia (oh by the way ive reviewed it).i wouuld liek to congradulate the authors for the outstanding work put into this book.howeever it would be great to see expanded materials on various topics and a little more detail in tool description.its not bad but it could still be better.so as i said before get dis book u wont regret it.so kiddies grow up keep those hacking exposed n ankit fadias books apart throw em in da firplace burn em do anythin .but go get dis one
Covers more than the typical hacking book
"Gray Hat Hacking - The Ethical Hacker's Handbook" is not your normal hacking book.This book should not be lumped in with the "Hacking Exposed" series nor the likes of "Counter Hack".What differentiates Gray Hat Hacking (GHH) from other books is the amount of code the book offers.This book is not for script kiddies, but instead shows how to advance to the next level of hacking (and, more importantly, prevention) by devoting over 100 pages to developing programming skills for both Linux and Window exploits.I had not encountered a book that dedicated this much space to scripting.
Great buy for every IT dept.
I bought this book from a store in D.C, and read it on my way back to India. I was impressed. Never found any book that deals with computer security and software vulnerabilities written so well. The reason I like this book is than others is because it does not only give you information that can help you in assessing your network security, but also gives you a basic introduction to the laws and legal technicalities. The contents of this book cover most of computer/network security related areas including technical implementation, planning, and defense. Therefore, it is not only for system engineers, but also for people managing IT departments.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers    3. Computers - Computer Security    4. Security - General    5. Computers / Security    6. Data security & data encryption    7. Network security   

Reviews (16)

Welcome to the future
If you don't own this book, then the world will one day 0wn you.Buy this book today and learn from the masters about the ultimate tool in the attacker's toolkit.Greg Hoglund's work is essential to computer security.It behooves us all to understand it.
Rootkit insights
One of the first books to go deeper in to rootkits of its kind.Not many books out there to give a understanding to IAT, SSDT, hooks, trampoline functions, and its relationship to rootkits.
Not a book for Kernel Driver Developer
This book tells me what RootKit really means. One useful thing I got from this book was that in Windows Kernel even simple code can be used against security. And that's it. Most techniques in this book are primitive to kernel developers. I don't recommend this book to serious kernel driver developers. "Windows Internals" and OSR Online should be the way to go. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Access control    2. Computer - Internet    3. Computer Books: Internet General    4. Computer Data Security    5. Computer security    6. Computers    7. Internet - Security    8. Microcomputer Operating Environments    9. Computers / Internet / Security    10. Data security & data encryption    11. Network security   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (16)

Interesting and detailed
Zalewski offers a nice overview of passive information extraction techniques. Each section covers one approach to the problem of determining something about someone's computer use without being detected. He provides an overview of the technology involved and then talks about how to exploit it.
Interesting
This is one of those books that you go HMMMMMM!!! Very Interesting, but most of the things in the book are hard to understand. Also, he jumps around alot like if he's having a conversation rather than an inside manual to Attacks.

Ages well
This is one of the few information security books that seem to age well: I reread it after over a year, and it still appears to be quite refreshing and up to date. This only goes to show the difference between books written out of genuine passion, and the rest. Big kudos to the author. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer networks    3. Computers    4. Computers - Computer Security    5. Security - General    6. Security measures    7. Computers / Computer Security    8. Computers / Security    9. Data security & data encryption    10. Network security    11. security, privacy, network monitoring, policy enforcement, evidence analysis, IDS, honeypots, firewalls, forensics   

Reviews (2)

Boring, boring, boring
Did I tell you the book was boring?
Philosophical (Textbook) exposition of InfoSec
If you're looking to get down into the nitty-gritty of infosec, for ways and methods of securing networks and systems, then this probably isn't the book you need. This is a textbook and so it overs a fairly high level viewpoint, even philosophical approach, to infosec. The granualarity just isn't there for the practising person to gain much from this in a substantive way.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Information Management    5. Information Technology    6. Leadership    7. Management Information Systems    8. Security - General    9. Business information systems    10. Data security & data encryption    11. Management & management techniques   

Editorial Review

A lot of computer-security textbooks approach the subject from adefensive point of view. "Do this, and probably you'll survive a particular kindof attack," they say. In refreshing contrast, Read more

Reviews (82)

Information Security
I had to purchase this book for college but it is a great read. One of the only textbooks that I have used that was actually interesting. They give clear examples and make it easy to follow thier explanations. Great book if you want to learn about hacking and some of the issues it involves.

Still solid but redundant and a bit tired
I cannot say anything more that other positive reviews have not already said.
Good, but aging
The book is not bad, but needs serious rewriting. The "fifth edition" is a joke-it looks more like an attempt to beat some more money out of the book's reputation than a serious release.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer networks    3. Computer security    4. Computers    5. Computers - Communications / Networking    6. Computers - Computer Security    7. Data protection    8. Internet - Security    9. Networking - General    10. Security - General    11. Security measures    12. Computer Communications & Networking    13. Computer fraud & hacking    14. Computers / Security    15. Data security & data encryption   

Reviews (5)

Excellent Read
This book is written in such a style that is easy to understand, yet technical and detailed enough to maintain your interest and attention all the way through.
This one is a keeper!
As an author and instructor, I tend to be pretty picky about the books I choose to read and use in my classes. The authors present the material in a good logical progression. I especially like that it also provides sample evidence on the DVD. Most of the computer forensic books that currently exist contain mostly theory. This is the first good hands-on text that I have seen.
An essential A-Z guide for forensic investigations
There is a real lack of well written books in this category, and this one stands out because it is comprehensive, yet easy to digest and carefully laid out, including case studies to understand data capture and analysis techniques.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer - Internet    2. Computer Books: Internet General    3. Computer Crime    4. Computer Data Security    5. Computer crimes    6. Computer networks    7. Computer security    8. Computers    9. Internet - Security    10. Investigation    11. Security measures    12. Computers / Internet / Security    13. Data security & data encryption   

Reviews (16)

Advanced Crypto for the college mind.
This very detailed work is not for the light hearted. It's an in depth look at the mathmatics behind cryptography. If you're looking for a book to help you program then look for Applied Cryptography by Bruce the crypto king instead. If you're looking for something to help you learn cryptoanalysis and how to break codes then this is the first step.

Fantastic traditional reference
The Chapter 14 - Efficient Implementation - shows several multiple precision algorithms. They are very easy to understand and implement under any microprocessor. It is a very good complement to the book set written by Donald Knuth (The Art of Computer Programming, Volumes 1-3 Boxed Set), another fantastic traditional reference.

A very detailed book, but not for everyone.
This is a fairly strong book on crypto, with heavy detail on the math involved.The upside is that the second chapter is devoted to most of the important mathematical theory you'll need to understand for the rest of the book.The downside?That chapter tries to cover just about the same breadth of information as a semester long course in Number Theory.Read more

Subjects:  1. Access control    2. Algorithms (Computer Programming)    3. Computers    4. Computers - Computer Security    5. Cryptography    6. Cryptography/Access Control    7. Discrete Mathematics    8. Handbooks, manuals, etc    9. Reference    10. Security - General    11. Applications of Computing    12. Applied mathematics    13. Data security & data encryption    14. Mathematical theory of computation    15. Mathematics / Combinatorics   

Reviews (6)

Outdated beyond usefulness.
Be advised:this book may have been relevant a couple years ago, but not anymore.ISACA has updated and slightly reorganized the exam.I believe this book actually interferred with my prep.The ISACA study guides and applicable experience are plenty to pass this exam (worked for me).Good luck.

CISSP or CISM?
I bought this book because there is no other book available (prep guide) that covers the CISM.As I read through the book there is an explicit sentence that reads "to better prepare you for the CISSP exam"; which test is this preg guide for?If you're going to cut and paste from similar works you've done in the past at least do the readers a favor and use the find/replace all function :).Overall it was a good read and I'll keep it around as a reference.

Question Errata Link
Co-author here. It has been brought to Dr. Krutz' and my attention that several errors in the CD questions were not corrected per our instructions prior to publication. Wiley has published a link to the CISM Prep Guide question errata sheet @:Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Bks - Communications / Networking    4. Computer Books And Software    5. Computer Data Security    6. Computer security    7. Computers    8. Computers - Computer Security    9. Electronic data processing per    10. Electronic data processing personnel    11. Examinations    12. Management    13. Networking - General    14. Security - General    15. Study guides    16. Computers / Security    17. Data security & data encryption    18. Network security    19. Privacy & data protection   

Reviews (15)

Biased to Schneier's algorithms
This can be an annoying book for a serious developer, but I do know Writing a secure cryptosystem is very hard. People should be aware that it is hard, and they are likely to make mistakes. It isn't something that should be attempted lightly. If you are doing some actual work, it's not a good one. The book does not cover sufficient mathematic knowledge, and the edit is bit horrible as well. The authors chose to support their own algorithm shedding less light on AES and even RSA. That really made me stop reading this book.
Self contradictory and selflauding
From the very first pages, authors emphasize the need for public algorithms and peer review. Yet, the book is full of suggestions that appear first time in the book. They even take time to give fancy names to their new proposals. It is typical to see things like "While writing this chaper we came up with this new random number generator...". Well, the authors could have used some of public scrutiny they are so fond of.
Must be used with Applied Cryptography
As one other reader pointed out this book can be called Applied Cryptography Light. It is true, it gives you more theory and very little math. I did not like this book by itself since I was interested in actual implementation and i wanted to see full algorithms and math. I did end up buying Applied Cryptography and those 2 books combined provide an excellent reference. I was not able to give more than 3 stars since I did not feel i got any knowledge out of this book to be able to apply it in real life except reading: "Cryptography is hard, you might need to hire an expert..." while I want to become an expert myself one day! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer security    3. Computers    4. Computers - Computer Security    5. Computers - General Information    6. Cryptography    7. Internet - General    8. Networking - General    9. Security - General    10. Computers / Security    11. Data security & data encryption    12. Privacy & data protection   

Editorial Review

Read more

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (31)

Entertaining in it's own right...
The Stealing the Network series of books is in a catagory on it's own. Thrilling, entertaining, and fun to readjust scratches the surface of these books. I'll recommend this book to anybody, from joe sixpack who only uses the internet for games and pr0n to mitnick himself.
Useful, readable illustration of computer security concepts
_Stealing the Network: How to Own the Box_ has 10 stories with a first person narrator, who is either an attacker, or in two cases, a defender.While the characterization isn't up to the standards of (good) commercial fiction* in most cases, it makes the technical medicine go down easier and gives a picture of who and why people do this stuff.That picture is useful in making an abstraction feel more like a concrete threat.
Rough writing, but interesting
The writing needs some help -- I understand the newer books are edited by an actual writer to smooth out the prose a bit.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Data Security    3. Computer networks    4. Computer security    5. Computers    6. Computers - Communications / Networking    7. Internet - Security    8. Networking - General    9. Security measures    10. Computer hackers    11. Computers / Communications / Networking    12. Computers / Networking / General    13. Computers / Security    14. Cyberterrorism    15. Data security & data encryption    16. Security    17. Management Information Systems   

Reviews (5)

Excellent for Management level
I just finished reading this one and I found it to be very helpful for a person trying to find management level understanding of security, I have been working with networking and security for the last 10 years of my life and it has been very helpful to pinpoint several management aspects that technology savvy people (I prefer that over geek) usually don't follow or look at. I enjoyed the explanations, everything was very easy to read and understand, the introduction to cryptography is simply one of the best I have found out there. Again, if you are a technical guru looking for technical advice there is no much use to it in this book, OS, Networks and other practitioner level stuff are not well defined, simply mentioned for reference or examples. Another part I liked about it was the level of detail that the author had to reference the attacks and statistics, which a lot of us love to read and know about. Finally, make sure to get edition 5 of the book, I am referring to edition 4, I am sure that there is a lot to cover in a couple years regarding security and the way to go about it. I got the book from the university package so I wont be getting the new one, it's simply overpriced in my opinion.

Network Security?
I purchased a copy of this book for a network security class.In a way it has been a great read, for humor.The terms and programs are dated at best, made up at worst.An example, 'drive-by hacking,'I have NEVER seen this anywhere.It is commonly refered to as 'war driving,' showing its lineage to 'war dialing' or 'Snooping'.I have worked in IT security for the past 3 years and I find this book insulting.But, for a plus, it is a convenent size to use as a clip board, and it does hold papers down on my desk well.

Great book...
This is an excellent book -- really gives you a security mindset. Informative, yet still an easy read. The only think I didn't like is the price of the book -- but I bought it using a coupon from UnderTag.com, so it ended up being a bargain for me! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer networks    3. Computer security    4. Computers    5. Computers - Computer Security    6. Computers - General Information    7. Electronic data processing dep    8. Electronic data processing departments    9. Networking - General    10. Security - General    11. Security measures    12. Computers / Security    13. Data security & data encryption   

Reviews (32)

Wonderful book explaining all the secret s of secure communication
Cryptography Decrypted is an easy to read and fun book that explains how cryptography has evolved from Caesar's time to now. The author goes over how encryption is used in all areas of communication, and what sequential systems have deveoped to stop hacker attacks along the way. It is detailed but fun to read, and explains how all the enigmatic parts, like Private Keys, Public Keys, Secret Keys, Digital Signatures, SMIME, PGP, RSA, SHA-1 ect. all fit together.
Simply THE BEST!!!
This book is phenomenal! I skimmed through countless books on cryptography before I settled on this one. The authors Mel and Baker have the unique ability to make a complex subject like cryptography completely accessible even to the mathematically challenged. This book is a MUST READ! If you work in the IT Security or Network Design field, this book gives you all the background you need to be more effective in your job without having the turgid style of most crypto books. It really does a fantastic job of explaining all the basic building blocks of cryptography as well as suites like SSL and IPSEC in plain everyday language. You will not be disappointed with this book!

Good first book on security
Excellent book for people who want to understand in nutshell what security is all about. If you are overwhelmed by several security terms and want to know how things fit in a bigger picture, this is the book for you. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer security    2. Computers    3. Computers - Communications / Networking    4. Cryptography    5. Cryptography/Access Control    6. Language    7. Security - General    8. Coding theory & cryptology    9. Computers / Internet / Security    10. Data security & data encryption    11. Network security   

Reviews (23)

Still enough to pass the CISSP
I sat for and passed the CISSP test in January 2006.I used the following resources to help in passing the CISSP:
Excellent CISSP Book and CDROM - Highly Recommended.
Dear All, I recently completed my CISSP review studies, passed the exam, and completed the CISSP endorsement process. This is a very worth while endeavor and, as someone with many years of Internet security and risk management experience, I highly recommend the CISSP certification process for everyone.Reviewing the 10common bodies of knowledge (CBK) has value for everyone in the IT business and I am very pleased to have taken the time to review the material and complete the exam.For my self-study review, I purchased four books via Amazon: (1) The CISSP Pre Guide - Gold Edition by Ronald L. Krutz and Russell Dean Vines, (2) All-In-One CISSP Exam Guide, Third Edition by Shon Harris, (3) Official(ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP Exam by Susan Hansche, John Berti and Chris Hare, and (4) CISSP Certified Information Security Professional Training Guide by Roberta Bragg. Each of these texts came with a CDROM for practicing test questions on a Windows PC and covered the 10 CISSP CBKs. I found the first three CISSP books in my list to be helpful. Of those three, the most helpful was The CISSP Prep Guide- Gold Edition by Krutz and Vines. This book is concise, well written, and easy to read.The CDROM is excellent and nearly error free.The text is well thought out and informative. I also recommend Shon Harris' book, with reservation. I found it hard to get to the required CISSP information, at times, due to the attempts at humor in the book.The CDROM of sample test questions were also very good, albeit not as rich in features as the book by Krutz and Vines. The Official(ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP Examby Susan Hansche, John Berti and Chris Hare was a disappointment. This book read just like a cut-and-paste from the Internet and other documents; and the companion CDROM was full of errors and omissions.After a while I stopped using this text book and focused on the first two.I am sorry to say that CISSP Certified Information Security Professional Training Guide by Roberta Bragg was a complete disappointment from every perspective.The CDROM example tests were riddled with errors and omissions. For those interested in my self-study technique, I took each book and studied one (sometimes two) of each of the CBK chapters each day.Then, I repeated the same process for each of the other books, except for the book by Bragg, which was dropped for reasons mentioned. I took all the sample tests repeatedly, before and after and then again.I must have practiced between 4000-5000 sample questions.It was challenging and enjoyable.In summary, I highly recommend Krutz and Vines and also recommend, with reservation, the book by Shon Harris. No single book can cover the entire CBK of the CISSP. The more you study, the better.Best of luck on your CISSP studies. The CISSP is certainly an experience that will improve your knowledge of the field of IT security and benefit the profession at-large.

Goes into details
This is a great book. Unlike many other CISSP books, the book goes into details of each topic. For example, chapter 2 of the books provide great details on the Kerberos Protocol, and describes it better that any other CISSP book. The description was so good that it reminded of university days, when we had to learn various algorithm/protocols inside-out. I would recommend this book to anyone. http://validate.sf.net ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - Cisco    3. Certification Guides - General    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computer Data Security    6. Computer networks    7. Computers    8. Computers - Certification    9. Electronic data processing per    10. Electronic data processing personnel    11. Examinations    12. Security - General    13. Study Guides    14. Computers / Security    15. Data security & data encryption    16. Network security    17. Social & Legal Aspects of Computing   

Reviews (22)

Another hit from the Core series! Awsome job!
This is an excellent book for all Security Practitioners. FromIdentity Managment to Mutli-factor athentication this book provides examples and clear description of many important concepts. The bookcovers enterprise patterns for access contol, federatation and identity management. Like the J2ee patterns, I see this book being an important/practical addition for the security community.
A classic security book for java guys
I picked this book to read about using smartcard and biometrics in j2ee application. I am really amazed to see, this is the only book in the market to illustrate how to put together all three factors of authentication in a j2ee application. More compelling, the authors did a terrific job to cover every possible security option that adds value to j2ee application. The patterns and best practices for application security architecture and design strategies for the presentation tier, business tier, and Webservices tier of j2ee platform are very promising and helpful.
Recommended for All Security Architects
I have found all the Sun "Core" Java books to be at cut above, but this one differs in that while obviously Java-centric, much of the patterns dicussed are relevant to all development platforms. I'd recommend this book to developers and architects of web services and web applications regardless of their preferred development environment. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Business Enterprise    3. Computer Books: Languages    4. Computer security    5. Computers    6. Computers - Languages / Programming    7. Java (Computer program language)    8. New Business Enterprises    9. Programming Languages - General    10. Programming Languages - Java    11. Security - General    12. Computers / Programming Languages / Java    13. Data security & data encryption    14. Network security   

Reviews (31)

An eye opener
You think your data is safe, your website secured, your code foolproof.... think again. If you haven't read this book, probably none of the above are true. This book is written with a hacker's mind. It reveals and elaborates on the most common and not so common volnurabilities of computer and web applications. I am glad I read this book and used the information to plug the holes at a client's web application, so when one of their laptops was later compromised, no harm was done to their data or IT infrastructure.
Good reference for Securing Microsoft Application Development.
I am happy with this book, it helped me quickly with all possible security options with Microsoft C++ and little bit of .NET framework. The book drills well enough on the Microsoft specific implementation guidelines for authentication, authorization, cryptographic options, database connectivity etc. It helps most part, but the book is weak on security options related to XML Web services particularly technologies related to WS-Security and Passport (Identity federation options).I am not a Microsoft developer so I do understand the security holes with every Microsoft application..(never heard of a Java virus), so I always wondered why the authors did'nt suggest to secure their own applications from redmond.If you are a C# developer, I am sure you will like it...and it certainly worth a buy.

Required readind, not just at MS
Every professional developer should read this book, period!