Site Map - Book Reviews

11/06/2007 - Kirschenbaum will make readers question their own motivations and choices. With that in mind, he leads readers down an avenue of constant exploration, probing the considerations of various stakeholders, the plethora of constraints on effective disaster management, and the bureaucratic inertia that can all too quickly subsume disaster management.

11/06/2007 - Paul Markel, a former U.S. marine, ex-police officer, and current executive protection agent, has written an advice book for fledgling bodyguards. The book covers critical topics such as communications, confrontation, defensive tools, professionalism, legal issues, intelligence gathering, and foreign travel. It is not detailed enough to be considered a textbook on executive protection, but it probably was not meant to be.

11/06/2007 - Many an executive on a business trip abroad has suffered the embarrassment of making an error in protocol or local custom. The “thumbs up” or “V for victory” gestures that are symbols of approval in the United States may have derogatory meanings elsewhere, for example. By brushing up on local culture in advance, these executives could have saved themselves heartache, embarrassment, and lost business.

11/06/2007 - To some extent, everyone zealously guards his or her own privacy and fights to preserve it. But what are the chances we are fighting to secure the wrong thing? What if greater openness and transparency could protect our society better than fighting to preserve privacy at all costs? This is the thesis of The Open Society Paradox, in which author Dennis Bailey argues forcefully for a homeland identification card, openness in government and society, and the use of sophisticated information analysis as a powerful triple play to reduce the risk of cybercrime and terrorism.

11/06/2007 - Aimed at the experienced content-security professional, the book begins with a brief introduction to the types and uses of steganography. Remaining sections and chapters take the reader, step by mathematical step, through data-hiding applications such as the use of hidden watermarks in images and video to verify ownership. Also discussed are intellectual property attacks and detection and response measures for thwarting those attacks.

11/06/2007 - Charles Nemeth has released the third edition of his highly acclaimed Private Security and the Law. For years, it has proved to be an indispensable guide to civil and criminal liability stemming from acts or omissions committed by the security function. This newest edition updates the principles with new case law.

11/02/2007 - Forensic Discovery is not for technical novices; readers must have a solid understanding of computer file systems, networking concepts, and computer processes. The authors focus on computer forensics for UNIX (Solaris, FreeBSD, and Linux) computers, with scant information provided about Windows. The authors explain how to obtain reliable digital evidence from running UNIX systems, uncover changes to system utilities and kernel modules, and identify suspicious activity. Sample computer compromises illustrate the concepts.

11/02/2007 - Tiller does a fantastic job explaining the process of the ethical hack from beginning to end. By way of charts, diagrams, graphs, and comparisons, the reader is led step by step through a penetration test. Also provided are sample incident reports and response forms, examples of documentation needed for the test, and an example of how the finished penetration-test document should be presented.

11/02/2007 - In this book, author Marc McElhaney shares his experience, perspective, programs, and conclusions with regard to aggressive and threatening behavior in the workplace. His easy-to-read style blends comprehensive coverage with enough detail to make the book a practical tool.

11/02/2007 - The face of terrorism today is Osama bin Laden. Yet for all the publicity surrounding him, he remains an elusive figure who has become larger than life throughout the Muslim world. Merely mentioning his name evokes adulation among his devotees and revulsion in the Western world. When he issues a video or audiotape, terror alerts spike all over the world. Therefore, knowing as much as possible about him is useful for those  tasked with trying to counter his activities and those of his supporters. This book is an excellent effort to do just that.

11/02/2007 - One of the most useful, and untapped, security tools at any business is the human resources department. HR serves as the operational equivalent of an access control system, keeping problem employees off the payroll. Many companies fail to take full advantage of this department.

11/01/2007 - When outsourcing security services, what key characteristics should you look for in a contractor? How can you figure out whether the rates a vendor charges are reasonable? What should you include in a request for proposal (RFP) for security services? In Value-Based Security Procurement, a book newly published by ASIS International, author David R. Serafine, CPP, answers these questions and more.

11/01/2007 - For the basics, one of the best chapters categorizes fraud into three primary types. One is duplicate-payment fraud, defined as the issuance of two or more identical checks to pay the same debt for a service. Second is multiple-payee fraud, which is similar, but the checks are not identical. The third type is shell fraud, the payment of alleged debts for fictitious projects or services. For each type, detailed analysis and case studies are provided.