- Hardcover
- Publisher: Tandem Library (Sep 2001)
- ISBN-10: 0613920430
- ISBN-13: 978-0613920438
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- See Complete Table of Contents
Computer Forensics: Incident Response Essentials
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book makes an excellent introductory text to computer forensics. It should be considered as initial reading by any person keen to learn about this subject. Well-written, well laid out and easy to read by the layman. Good use is made of screen prints to illustrate points. A very worthwhile buy!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As an IT Developer I am aware of vulnerabilities of today's computer systems in terms of both security and data recovery, or so I thought!. This book has opened my eyes as to how much I didn't know about the subject. This is an easy informative book to read and having almost finished it in a week, I hope my next purchase on the subject teaches me as much as this did.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
22 reviews
56 of 61 people found the following review helpful
Suitable for newbie incident responders or non-IT staff
9 Oct 2001
Format:Paperback
I am a senior engineer for network security operations. I read "Computer Forensics: Incident Response Essentials" (CFIRE) because I am responsible for performing intrusion detection and incident response on a daily basis. Those with similar skills will probably consider CFIRE too basic. Those working outside the information technology world may find CFIRE enlightening.
I'm a graduate of the SANS System Forensics, Investigation, and Response course and have read "Incident Response: Investigating Computer Crime" (IRICC) by Mandia, Prosise, and Pepe. In my opinion, CFIRE does not offer any new or truly significant material. For example, chapter 2 ("Tracking an Offender") offers several pages on how to find the headers in Outlook messages. Elsewhere, one discovers very elementary information on UNIX commands, searching Windows hard drives, and understanding UNIX file systems. All of this appears in other books or is common knowledge for IT staff.
I was disappointed that the impressive reviewer list did not detect several errors. As a fairly young network engineer, I still recognized this mistake on page 32: "When you dial to an ISP with a modem, you might use a layer 3 protocol called Point to Point Protocol (PPP). Referring back to Figure 2-1, layer 3 is the network layer, and in the case of a dial-up connection, PPP replaces IP." Untrue -- PPP is actually a layer 2 protocol; IP is used above PPP. Furthermore, figure 2-1 on page 24 presents numerous problems: NetBEUI spans layers 3 to 5 (not 3 to 4), web browsers and email clients do not belong at layer 7 (they are applications which call layer 7 protocols), and so on. Also, page 121 claims "you cannot delete an alternate stream from the command line." However, page 193 of "Hacking Exposed: Windows 2000" demonstrates how to remove streams.
On the positive side, CFIRE will probably not scare non-IT staff. They will probably find the numerous tables, screen shots, and references useful. This book could be viewed as a gentle introduction to the incident response and forensics field, especially for the Microsoft Windows crowd.
Two types of staff wear "computer forensics" hats. The first type investigate misuse of computers, typically by authorized personnel. This group is happy to know how to image a drive and search the copy for signs of illicit images or software. The second type investigates compromises, where unknown (usually remote) parties have penetrated a network and used machines for their own purposes. This group will be unsatisfied when CFIRE states on page 132 "we don't anticipate that most readers of this book will become this specialized." If you need that deep level of knowledge, read "Incident Response: Investigating Computer Crime."
(Disclaimer: The publisher provided a free review copy.)
I'm a graduate of the SANS System Forensics, Investigation, and Response course and have read "Incident Response: Investigating Computer Crime" (IRICC) by Mandia, Prosise, and Pepe. In my opinion, CFIRE does not offer any new or truly significant material. For example, chapter 2 ("Tracking an Offender") offers several pages on how to find the headers in Outlook messages. Elsewhere, one discovers very elementary information on UNIX commands, searching Windows hard drives, and understanding UNIX file systems. All of this appears in other books or is common knowledge for IT staff.
I was disappointed that the impressive reviewer list did not detect several errors. As a fairly young network engineer, I still recognized this mistake on page 32: "When you dial to an ISP with a modem, you might use a layer 3 protocol called Point to Point Protocol (PPP). Referring back to Figure 2-1, layer 3 is the network layer, and in the case of a dial-up connection, PPP replaces IP." Untrue -- PPP is actually a layer 2 protocol; IP is used above PPP. Furthermore, figure 2-1 on page 24 presents numerous problems: NetBEUI spans layers 3 to 5 (not 3 to 4), web browsers and email clients do not belong at layer 7 (they are applications which call layer 7 protocols), and so on. Also, page 121 claims "you cannot delete an alternate stream from the command line." However, page 193 of "Hacking Exposed: Windows 2000" demonstrates how to remove streams.
On the positive side, CFIRE will probably not scare non-IT staff. They will probably find the numerous tables, screen shots, and references useful. This book could be viewed as a gentle introduction to the incident response and forensics field, especially for the Microsoft Windows crowd.
Two types of staff wear "computer forensics" hats. The first type investigate misuse of computers, typically by authorized personnel. This group is happy to know how to image a drive and search the copy for signs of illicit images or software. The second type investigates compromises, where unknown (usually remote) parties have penetrated a network and used machines for their own purposes. This group will be unsatisfied when CFIRE states on page 132 "we don't anticipate that most readers of this book will become this specialized." If you need that deep level of knowledge, read "Incident Response: Investigating Computer Crime."
(Disclaimer: The publisher provided a free review copy.)
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Excellent introduction to the basics
13 April 2002
Format:Paperback
The authors, both of whom have impeccable credentials, have managed to distill a complex subject into a book that can be understood by anyone with intermediate-level computer skills. More importantly, computer forensics is a relatively new sub discipline of IT security, making this book important in that there are few books on the topic.
I'll start with the beginning and end of the book, each of which are focused on legal aspects of forensics. The book begins by explaining what forensics is, and giving a three-step process that covers the essentials at a high level: (1) acquire evidence, (2) authenticate it, and (3) analyze it. Although this process is presented at a high level, important details, such as the importance of establishing and maintaining a chain of custody, how to collect and document evidence and key issues to consider when presenting the evidence in court are covered. This discussion is picked up again in Chapter 12, Introduction to the Criminal Justice System, in which applicable laws, advice on dealing with law enforcement agencies, and the distinction between criminal and civil cases are discussed. There is sufficient detail and pointers to put sources of information to arm you with the bare essentials.
Between the opening chapter and Chapter 12 described above are chapters devoted to basic techniques and procedures for tracing email, specific operating system issues (the book deals with UNIX and Windows), encryption, codes and compression and other common challenges an investigator will face. The material is not overly technical, and is presented in easy-to-understand prose. Anyone who works as a network or system administrator, provides desktop support, or is an advanced end user will have no problems following the techniques that are presented or the underlying technical details. If you're seeking an advanced text this book will probably disappoint you, although there is sure to be some new trick or fact that you'll learn. For example, I have over 25 years of IT experience and was fascinated by the discussion of steganography (an information hiding technique). There were other chapters that I quickly skimmed because I was well-versed in the subject matter.
What I like about the book is the easy approach, which makes it easy to develop the fundamental skills necessary to perform forensics. The few other papers and books on the subject are far more advanced and the learning curve is a barrier. This book will give the new security investigator a foothold in the topic upon which he or she can build. I especially liked the appendices, which provide an excellent framework for incident response. One of the best features is the detailed roles and responsibilities, which are well thought out and reinforce the axiom that security is everyone's business. Another outstanding feature is the flowcharts for various incident types, such as denial of service, hostile code, etc. These can be used verbatim in a security policies and procedures manual, as can the incident response form provided in Appendix B. I also liked the valuable URLs provided throughout the book. I knew of many, but was surprised to find invaluable resources that I didn't know about.
Even though much of this book presented information I already knew, I still enjoyed reading it because I picked up facts that I didn't previously know, and was reminded of legal aspects of forensics and security that I'd forgotten. The appendices alone make this worthwhile to even advanced readers, and the fact that it provides an entry point into forensics for new practitioners makes this book invaluable as a training tool and vehicle for professional growth.
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
A Much Needed Primer
26 Nov 2001
Format:Paperback
As a high technology crimes prosecutor in Silicon Valley, this book is just what I've been waiting for. While not an exhaustive treatise on the minutia of computer systems and forensic tools, the authors provide a comprehensive overview of investigative approaches, tools, and techniques desperately needed in the field. This book should be a must read for investigators (public and private), attorneys, and system administrators, as well as corporate management responsible for overseeing either personnel, or the security of network infrastructure and information assets. Both an excellent primer on the developing field of computer forensics and a good resource from which to launch more in depth research into a specific area in the field. While many of the previous works in this field proved to be either uninformative cursory overviews or mind numbing forays into the depths of the arcane, the authors have struck a good balance that makes for an enjoyable and informative read. Not the end all, be all of computer crime investigation, but a damn fine starting point.
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