IT Security: Risking the Corporation

by Linda McCarthy

Security is more about people and policies than about techie details. Linda McCarthy's IT Crimes and Misdemeanors gives you more than the title promises. It is not only a collection of enlightening case studies based on real security audits, but the author also gives a brief and to-the-point analysis of the real risks in the way systems are installed, configured, supported and managed. The book deliberately does not go into technical details, so anyone who is interested in network security will find it easy to read. Discusses and documents the importance of a security policy, the impact of organizational politics, and includes actual transcripts of break-ins and checklists of preventive security measures. It won't come as news to IT pros that cybercrime is soaring. But a new slate of stats reveals just how bad the situation really is. Research firm Computer Economics predicts computer crime will more than double this year while virus incidents are expected to increase by 22 percent.

268 pages, Paperback

First published March 6, 2003

Reviews

[Max · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was mainly the author talking about how good she was at her job, with useless anecdotes that don't really add much at all to the goal of the book. That's great that you like to go for a run after you have to deal with "idiots," or that your little sister was in town that one weekend -- but no one cares. I'm not reading the book for your personal opinions on the people you've had to work with, or what you do with your free time. It read like McCarthy was just trying to have a few hundred pages of her patting herself on the back.