Book Reviews
Book Reviews
A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues for Computing and the Internet, 3rd Edition
I read the first edition of this book in the mid-1990s, well before the Internet boom, and much has changed in the world of computing since then. The new edition of A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues for Computing and the Internet begins with an overview of modern computing, covering topics such as blogs, e-commerce, the Internet, tools for disabled users, robotics, and conceptual issues, such as "What Is Ethics, Anyway?"
Subsequent chapters cover popular topics such as privacy, freedom of speech, intellectual property, and crime. In the Privacy chapter, author Sara Baase discusses new risks involved with new technology, such as the thousands of databases that now hold our personal information, and how search engines save search phrases.
In following chapters, the author looks at issues related to using your computer at work, errors caused by and failures of computers, evaluating and "controlling" the technology, and professional ethics and responsibilities. Baase does not discuss the topics as if they are problems that need to be "fixed"; instead, she describes the issues surrounding the given topic and discusses various laws, court cases, and real-world examples.
A Gift of Fire is intended to be a text book, and each chapter concludes with various "exercises." A few exercises simply test your understanding of the material, and "assignments" encourage readers to research specific information related to the chapter. Finally, she proposes exercises meant for class discussion. Because of the nature of the material, this kind of critical thinking about the topics helps because many of the issues are not clear-cut, with multiple sides to the legal and ethical aspects.
Although the book cannot cover social, legal, and ethical issues for computing and the Internet, it does a wonderful job of covering the essentials while providing an interesting read for anyone who used computers.
Sara Baase
Paperback, 528 Pages
Prentice Hall, 2008
ISBN: 978-0136008484
UK£ 36.99, US$ 70.00, EUR 60.99
Network Security Assessment, Second Edition
Two key characteristics set this book apart from others. First, the author never claims that following the steps he lays out will make your network secure or hacker-proof. Instead, his goal is to give you the tools to assess the security of your network.
Second, the book covers various tools, discussing what information each tool can provide and what this information means.
Starting with a discussion of what network security assessment entails, the author then moves on to an overview of tools, and each subsequent chapter digs deeper into the system – what machines are on the network, what services are being provided, and how to collect information about specific applications.
The chapter that discusses risks caused by improperly written applications might be a bit too basic for many admins – and probably most managers – so this can probably be skipped, particularly if you are not involved with software development in any way.
Next comes a chapter on the Nessus vulnerability scanner. Although entire books have been written about Nessus, I think this chapter provides a nice introduction and you might actually get more out of it because of the background in previous chapters.
In a few places, the author was not clear about the security implications of the information collected, such as how it could be exploited. However, considering that Chris McNab did do a great job of efficiently covering vast amounts of information, I can easily overlook any ding I might want to give the book.
Chris McNab
Paperback, 504 Pages
O'Reilly, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-596-51030-5
UK£ 24.99, US$ 39.99, EUR 39.99
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils Linux Laptop Featuring AMD Ryzen CPU
This latest release is the first laptop to include the new CPU from Ryzen and Linux preinstalled.
-
XZ Gets the All-Clear
The back door xz vulnerability has been officially reverted for Fedora 40 and versions 38 and 39 were never affected.
-
Canonical Collaborates with Qualcomm on New Venture
This new joint effort is geared toward bringing Ubuntu and Ubuntu Core to Qualcomm-powered devices.
-
Kodi 21.0 Open-Source Entertainment Hub Released
After a year of development, the award-winning Kodi cross-platform, media center software is now available with many new additions and improvements.
-
Linux Usage Increases in Two Key Areas
If market share is your thing, you'll be happy to know that Linux is on the rise in two areas that, if they keep climbing, could have serious meaning for Linux's future.
-
Vulnerability Discovered in xz Libraries
An urgent alert for Fedora 40 has been posted and users should pay attention.
-
Canonical Bumps LTS Support to 12 years
If you're worried that your Ubuntu LTS release won't be supported long enough to last, Canonical has a surprise for you in the form of 12 years of security coverage.
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.
-
New Pentesting Distribution to Compete with Kali Linux
SnoopGod is now available for your testing needs
-
Juno Computers Launches Another Linux Laptop
If you're looking for a powerhouse laptop that runs Ubuntu, the Juno Computers Neptune 17 v6 should be on your radar.