Computer & Internet Security: A Hands-on Approach

by Wenliang Du

Overview

Teaching computer and network security principles via hands-on activities

Unique among computer security texts, this book, in its third edition, builds on the author's long tradition of teaching complex subjects through a hands-on approach. For each security principle, the book uses a series of hands-on activities to help explain the principle. Readers can touch, play with, and experiment with the principle, instead of just reading about it. The hands-on activities are based on the author's widely adopted SEED Labs, which have been used by over 1000 institutes worldwide. The author has also published online courses on Udemy based on this book.

Topics covered in the book

- Software security: attacks and countermeasures

- Web security: attacks and countermeasures

- Hardware security: Meltdown and Spectre attacks

- Network security: attacks on TCP/IP and DNS

- Firewall and Virtual Private Network (VPN)

- Cryptography and attacks on algorithms and protocols

- Public Key Infrastructure

- Common hacking and defense techniques

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781733003940
Publisher:	Wenliang Du
Publication date:	05/01/2022
Edition description:	3rd ed.
Pages:	726
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.45(d)

About the Author

Dr. Wenliang (Kevin) Du is the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor of Teaching Excellence at Syracuse University. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Science and Technology of China in 1993, and got his PhD degree from Purdue University in 2001. He became a tenure-track assistant professor at Syracuse University after the graduation. He is currently a full professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Professor Du has taught courses in cybersecurity at both undergraduate and graduate levels since 2001. He promotes experiential learning in cybersecurity education. To provide students with hands-on experiences, funded by multiple grants from National Science Foundation and over a period of 17 years, he has developed over 30 labs (called SEED labs). These labs are now being used by over 1000 universities, colleges, and high schools in 65 countries. In 2010, his SEED project was highlighted by the National Science Foundation in a report sent to the US Congress. The report highlights "17 projects that represent cutting-edge creativity in undergraduate STEM classes nationwide". Due to the impact of the SEED labs, he received the "2017 Academic Leadership" award from the 21st Colloquium for Information System Security Education. In 2019, Syracuse University awarded him the Meredith Professorship for Teaching Excellence. Professor Du conducts research in the area of computer and network security, with a specific interest in system security. He has published over 100 technical papers. As of April 2019, his research work has been cited for over 14,100 times (based on Google Scholar). He is a recipient of the ACM CCS Test-of-Time Award in 2013 due to the impact of one of his papers published in 2003. His current research focuses on mobile system security, aiming at developing novel mechanisms at the operating system and hardware levels to enhance the security of smartphones and mobile devices. He also conducts research in security education, with a focus on developing platforms for experiential learning in cybersecurity.

Table of Contents

Part I: Software Security

• Chapter 1: Set-UID Programs
• Chapter 2: Environment Variables and Attacks
• Chapter 3: Shellshock Attack
• Chapter 4: Buffer-Overflow Attacks
• Chapter 5: Return-to-libc Attack and Return-Oriented Programming
• Chapter 6: Format String Vulnerability
• Chapter 7: Race Condition Vulnerability
• Chapter 8: Dirty COW Attack
• Chapter 9: Reverse Shell

Part II: Web Security

• Chapter 10: Cross-Site Request Forgery
• Chapter 11: Cross-Site Scripting
• Chapter 12: SQL Injection

Part III: Hardware Security

• Chapter 13: Meltdown Attack
• Chapter 14: Spectre Attack

Part IV: Network Security

• Chapter 15: Packet Sniffing and Spoofing
• Chapter 16: Attacks on the TCP Protocol
• Chapter 17: Firewall
• Chapter 18: DNS and Attacks
• Chapter 19: Virtual Private Network (VPN)
• Chapter 20: Heartbleed Attack

Part V: Cryptography

• Chapter 21: Secret-Key Encryption
• Chapter 22: One-Way Hash Function
• Chapter 23: Public-Key Cryptography
• Chapter 24: Public-Key Infrastructure (PKI)
• Chapter 25: Transport Layer Security (TLS)
• Chapter 26: Bitcoin and Blockchain