Intrusion Signatures and Analysis

by Mark Cooper, Stephen Northcutt, Karen Federick, et al.

Book Overview

Intrusion Detection is a red-hot topic in today's technology and security field. You hear daily stories of networks compromised or rendered unusable by attack. The cyber-criminals behind this must be stopped. The majority of the security analysts working today are not properly trained to do their important work, and often have to learn on the job or on their own. This book empowers the security specialist to analyze and interpret the traces that...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0735710635
• ISBN13: 9780735710634
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Sams Publishing
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

When a good book is worth a thousand experiences!

This is the best book about Intrusion Signatures published yet. I teach computer security at a local university, and with the only help of this book, I could take care of all the practical aspects of my last course. If you have already a good background on this field, and read and understand thoroughly the book, then you can afford any related security certification test.Chapters 3 through 17, present several well documented cases, which, in turn, are discussed following the same standard:- Presentation- Source of Trace- Detect Generated by- Probability the Source Address Was spoofed- Attack Description- Attack Mechanism- Correlations- Evidence of Active Targeting- Severity- Defense Recommendations- QuestionsChapter 1 introduces the reader to Analysis of Logs (including Snort, Tcpdump, and Syslog), IDS, and Firewalls. Even being a quick review, it is quite useful, though.Chapter 2 explains the way the cases are studied.The covered vulnerabilities and attacks include:- Internet Security Threats- Routers and Firewalls Attacks- IP Spoofing- Networks Mapping and Scanning- Denial of Service- Trojans- Assorted Exploits- Buffer Overflows- IP Fragmentation- False Positives- Crafted PacketsAt the bottom line, this is one of the 5 best computer security books I ever read. Even for non experts, the book can be a valuable tool to improve the understanding on this field.Try it.

A Great Title For Security Geeks to Learn Packet Forensics

I read this book out of general interest and a need to dig deeper into the technical aspects of security, and intrusion detection in particular. For that, this title is perfect!It's great to learn intrusion detection, packet analysis, forensics, attack methodologies, attack recognition, and similar topics. And oh, by the way, if you have any interest at all in certification, Intrusion Signatures and Analysis is the study guide for one of the hottest new certs there is: SANS GIAC Intrusion Detection In Depth.

Includes review questions with throughout the book

A must-have for the serious network security professional, Intrusion Signatures And Analysis opens with an introduction into the format of some of the more common sensors and then begins a tutorial into the unique format of the signatures and analyses used in the book. Readers will find page after page of signatures, in order by categories as well as a case study section on how attacks have shut down the networks and web sites of Yahoo, and E-bay and what those attacks looked like. As an added feature, the collaborative authors Stephen Northcutt; Mark Cooper; Matt Fearnow; and Karen Frederick included review questions with throughout the book to help readers be sure they comprehend the traces and material that has been covered. Intrusion Signatures And Analysis is a recommended resource for the SANS Institute GIAC certification program. 448 pp.

Analysis in practice

This is the second release from some of the key SANS GIAC folk and is a fine addition as it extends on the data from "Network Intrusion Detection : An Analysts Handbook", to give intrusion detection practitioners some interesting detects from the GIAC graduates.Included in these detects are some of the more unique pieces of analysis that have been performed at GIAC, with detailed write-ups of the analysis process and the logic applied in defining the conditions in which the events occured.Once again, this is easy and interesting reading which will appeal to intrusion analyists of all levels. Further, this book gives neophytes a real sense of what can be monitered and how important intrusion detection is in security layering.

You want experience?

The real-world signatures in this book, along with the analysis, make this a wonderful reference book. There is, of course, no substitute for experience. However, this book provides an excellent baseline of experience for any Intrusion Analyst! From that baseline one should be able to better analyze future attacks; there is, after all, only so much an attacker can do.This book was made possible by contributors to GIAC (Global Incident Analysis Center); professionals out "in the trenches" dealing with attacks of all shape and size on a daily basis. These traces were not generated in a lab; they're the same traces you will see on your network if you're looking for them. I've already used this book as a reference guide and it sits on my shelf next to "TCP/IP Illustrated V1" by Dr. Richard Stevens and "Intrusion Detection: An Analysts Handbook V2" by Stephen Northcutt and Judy Novak- I use all on a regular basis. Whether you are just starting out in the IDS realm or whether you're an established Analyst sitting on an enterprise of sensors this book is for you.-- Brent Deterding Enterprise Manager of Network Security - Solutia Inc.