case studies are good expositions
Rating:
4 / 5
Written in 2002 and with scarcely two years passing, Curtin's message is more timely this year. He warned of the perils of malware and of cracker attacks on corporate databases. Especially by social engineering.
He presents several case studies of insecure privacy applications. He analyzed the commercially deployed systems of Alexa, DoubleClick and others. Showing how cookies and server side bugs could lead to users being tracked. In some cases, as they perused many different websites that reported their activities to a central site. Other books have talked about how cookies could be misused in this way. But Curtin's analysis goes beyond a typical generic treatment and can be more instructive to you.
The malware of 2002 that he warned of has increased in sophistication and danger. No sign of abatement, so keeping the book's ideas in mind is a good idea.
Making a dry subject palatable
Rating:
5 / 5
Security and privacy are not "sexy" subjects and I was ready for a dry dissertation but this book was anything but.Although the subject matter is serious and is treated seriously, Curtin has a light and deft touch that make the book a pleasure to read. And while this book's target audience is programmers responsible for dealing with the issues of Privacy and Security, I would recommend this book to a much wider audience. Every top manager of a company that has a web site should read this book so they can understand how Online Privacy and Security could affect them and so they can ask the questions that someone needs to be asking the folks who are running and developing websites. I would also recommend the internet savvy who are curious about these two buzzwords because this book will provide them a much better understanding of the stories that have and will appear in the news related to privacy and security. The real world examples are ones that we all can relate to.
Really Good book about privacy
Rating:
5 / 5
Privacy means radically different things to different people as it is an abstract and often elusive term that is often difficult to effectively define.In a nutshell, privacy is the ability of an individual or organization to decide whether, when, and to whom personal or organizational information is released. While defining privacy is difficult, ensuring on-line privacy is even more challenging. Those required to ensure that their corporate systems and web sites are secure against prying hackers will find Developing Trust: Online Privacy and Security to be an important resource. Curtain writes in an entertaining and easy to read style; especially when he introduces topics such as attack models, privacy concepts, and threats. The book suggests prevention mechanisms and includes a few real-world case studies. If you have anything to do with electronic privacy, Developing Trust: Online Privacy and Security is a great book to read.
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