Review: Secrets of Computer Espionage: Tactics and Countermeasures

Secrets of Computer Espionage: Tactics and Countermeasures by Joel McNamara
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I learned that a file can be secretly attached to another file and we would not see the attachment in the directory or anywhere else. I learned about hardware keyloggers and what they looked like. I also learned general concepts of computer spying. The book was already out of date and appeared to be written in 2002 or 2003. It was nice to be able to catch up to at least that time. The book repeatedly recommended using encryption and strong passwords that are at least 8 characters long and cannot be found in a dictionary. There were many acronyms that were explained in the book like PGP - Pretty Good Privacy. The stories peppered throughout the book were fascinating. The book even talked about sophisticated counterintelligence equipment that rang a bell with me, since my ex-fiance was a counterintelligence technician when he was in the Army. However, the author wasn't even sure it existed. I thought that was unusual because the author usually wrote very matter-of-factly about the rest of the computer equipment and accessories covered in the book. I would have liked to reassure the author. The book covered PDA's and how popular they were in the markets and even called smart-phones PDA-enabled phones. That was interesting. Overall, if this book could be updated in a new edition, I would highly recommend it.

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