Silicon Press: Cyber Security

For most of the past decade, Edward Amoroso has overseen Cyber Security for one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world AT&T. In his role as Chief Security Officer, hes helped to discover and counter virtually every conceivable type of malicious threat that has been targeted at computers and networks around the world.

In this new book, Amoroso brings his wealth of experience and expertise chasing computer hackers to the lay reader and he leaves no stone untouched! Some of his themes may be uncomfortable, but they simply must be examined in order to gain a proper perspective on our growing risk.

Software Amoroso explains that we should be ashamed of how weve allowed bad software to pervade every aspect of our lives, leaving gaping vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure systems in our society.

System Administration Virtually every one of us has now become an amateur system administrator of some sort of computer and the result is an unforeseen security nightmare that leaves us vulnerable to botnets, worms, and viruses.

Complexity Computer scientists know that reducing complexity is the most important task in the design of software and systems. But what has happened instead is that systems abound with complex features that hackers control with ease.

In this book, readers will find themselves absorbed into Amorosos endless anecdotes with real people, governments, and businesses. Youll laugh as Amoroso relates his time wandering around the office of a political party, finding their router unprotected. Youll wince as he explains the Cyber Security ignorance hes witnessed among so many corporate IT chiefs.

Some of the stories are shocking, others a bit amusing. But in all cases, the underlying message is clear: Cyber Security plays a fundamental role in the way we live our lives. And understanding its basics is critical for citizens, lawmakers, and business people around the world.