Brute Force: Cracking the Data Encryption Standard

In the 1960s, it became increasingly clear that more and more information was going to be stored on computers, not on pieces of paper. With these changes in technology and the ways it was used came a need to protect both the systems and the information. For the next ten years, encryption systems of varying strengths were developed, but none proved to be rigorous enough. In 1973, the NBS put out an open call for a new, stronger encryption system that would become the new federal standard. Several years later, IBM responded with a system called Lucifer that came to simply be known as DES (data encryption standard).The strength of an encryption system is best measured by the attacks it is able to withstand, and because DES was the federal standard, many tried to test its limits. (It should also be noted that a number of cryptographers and computer scientists told the NSA that DES was not nearly strong enough and would be easily hacked.) Rogue hackers, usually out to steal as much information as possible, tried to break DES. A number of "white hat" hackers also tested the system and reported on their successes. Still others attacked DES because they believed it had outlived its effectiveness and was becoming increasingly vulnerable. The sum total of these efforts to use all of the possible keys to break DES over time made for a brute force attack. In 1996, the supposedly uncrackable DES was broken. In this captivating and intriguing book, Matt Curtin charts DES’s rise and fall and chronicles the efforts of those who were determined to master it.

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Webster's New World Hacker Dictionary

The comprehensive hacker dictionary for security professionals, businesses, governments, legal professionals, and others dealing with cyberspace
Hackers. Crackers. Phreakers. Black hats. White hats. Cybercrime. Logfiles. Anonymous Digital Cash. ARP Redirect.
Cyberspace has a language all its own. Understanding it is vital if you're concerned about Internet security, national security, or even personal security. As recent events have proven, you don't have to own a computer to be the victim of cybercrime-crackers have accessed information in the records of large, respected organizations, institutions, and even the military.
This is your guide to understanding hacker terminology. It's up to date and comprehensive, with:

• Clear, concise, and accurate definitions of more than 875 hacker terms
• Entries spanning key information-technology security concepts, organizations, case studies, laws, theories, and tools
• Entries covering general terms, legal terms, legal cases, and people
• Suggested further reading for definitions
  

This unique book provides a chronology of hacker-related developments beginning with the advent of the computer and continuing through current events in what is identified as today's Fear of a Cyber-Apocalypse Era. An appendix entitled "How Do Hackers Break into Computers?" details some of the ways crackers access and steal information

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Hacker Attack

Hacker Attack is the only book about computer security that is at once entertaining, understandable, and practical. You'll be fascinated as you read about hackers, crackers and whackers--people who spend their time trying to break into your computer, spreading computer viruses, or peeping (and recording what they see!) as you surf the Internet or send email. Best of all, this book provides simple but powerful solutions to all these security needs. It's all on the book's CD. Protect yourself right now with firewalls, anonymisers, and virus-guards. This is without doubt the most readable and interesting book about computer security ever written. You'll enjoy reading it, and you'll be safe after you've followed its advice.

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