Review of IT Security: Risking the Corporation Posted

Amazon.com just posted my three star review of IT Security: Risking the Corporation. This book is essentially the same as the Jan 98 book Intranet Security: Stories from the Trenches, according to this interview. From the interview:


Q: Tell us a little about this new version of your book. What's different?


McCarthy:The new version has a new chapter "Looking Back, What's Next?" which looks back over the last decade and discusses some of the problems that we see today and that we will face in the future. It has all new statistics and quotes from well-known people in the computer industry.


From the review:


When I saw Gene Spafford's glowing foreword to "IT Security," I expected a good read. This book did not deliver, and Spafford's suggestion that those seeking "deeper insight" consult "IT Security" rings hollow. I wondered if Spafford even read this very book when he wrote "all too often, management depends on the services or writings of self-professed experts whose whole experience has been in downloading and running pre-packaged penetration tools written by others." (p. xiv) The author's own words fit this mold.


What explains Spafford's words of praise? Perhaps this Dec 02 press release Symantec Funds Fellowship Program at Purdue University does:


"This Fellowship expands the long-standing relationship CERIAS has enjoyed with Symantec over many years. During that time we have collaborated on research issues of Internet security and policy," said Dr. Eugene Spafford, professor and director of CERIAS at Purdue University.

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