With the use of virtual computers the reader can concentrate on the tools
instead of the question of legality.
As a former college department chair I saw firsthand how students
responded to hands-on security versus lecture only. By providing my students
with a series of labs structured around security, hacking techniques, and
countermeasures the students gained an invaluable insight as to how to secure
today??™s computers and associated networks. This is evident by these students
being placed at the Pentagon, in our armed forces, as government contractors,
and even independent security consultants. I truly believe that when a security
professional understands the actual techniques, he or she can provide a better
service to the public.
Fifteen years ago the standard for security was ???security by obscurity,??? in
other words, ???You don??™t know I have a network therefore I??™m safe.??? With the
advent of the Internet this quickly changed. However, even today there are
those who when questioned about their security practices respond with ???Hey,
we??™re not a bank??? or ???I don??™t have anything worth stealing.??? These people are
only delaying the inevitable reality that eventually someone of ill-repute will
find their computers or even their networks and take full advantage of them
if they haven??™t already.
Practical Hacking Techniques and Countermeasures
is designed as a lab
manual. I want every reader to be able to duplicate each lab in this book,
vi
Preface
which is why I insisted that the inclusion of the CD containing the exact same
versions of the tools be used to create this book.
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